Even as it struggles to compete with its rivals, BlackBerry makers Research in Motion (RIM) have announced a new security tool for mobile devices, including Android and iOS devices, called ‘Mobile Fusion’. RIM is expected to launch the new security tool in the first quarter of the next financial year.
The Mobile Fusion security tool enables corporate IT staff control and manage passwords, apps and software on a wide gamut of devices, including iPhones, iPads and Android-based smartphones. The tool allows companies to remotely lock/wipe a stolen/missing devices. “What our enterprise customers are looking for, and the opportunity for us, is to become the de facto platform,” RIM’s vice-president for enterprise product management, Alan Panezic, is quoted as saying. “We will take full advantage of whatever security capabilities are provided by the core operating system. We’re not going to hold that back in any way, shape or form.”
RIM also highlights the rapid increase in the company-provisioned and employee-owned (Bring Your Own Device or BYOD) categories of the enterprise market. It further says the surge in BYOD devices has created new challenges for the companies and IT departments, as they have to manage and control wireless access to confidential company information on a corporate network. This has led to increase in demand for such mobile device management solution.
The new software comes months after RIM took over device management company Ubitexx in May. MobileIron, BoxTone and several others also provide such device management tools. RIM’s BlackBerry however, has been a preferred choice for the companies and government agencies as it provides round-the-clock e-mail access. However, several companies have now switched to Android-based devices, while many workers prefer using their own Apple/Android devices to access their corporate e-mails and other works. Check out more details on the new Mobile Fusion tool here.
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