BlackBerry Partners With Google To Secure Android For Work Devices

BlackBerry said Wednesday that it has teamed with Google to secure and manage phones equipped with Google's enterprise platform, Android For Work. Via the partnership, BlackBerry's BES12 will provide an extra layer of security for devices utilizing Android For Work.

"I'm excited … this means that BlackBerry is going to be a viable solution and will increase the visibility of BlackBerry in the market space," said James Hawkins, president and CEO of RedHawk IT Solutions, a Woodridge, Va.-based BlackBerry partner. "Android devices have provided more ease of use for a lot of the commercial space. This partnership will close that divide between Android clients while inserting BlackBerry's security products."

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BlackBerry touts its BES12 as a cross-security platform, allowing for company management of employee devices and apps utilizing iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry.

Google's Android For Work platform, meanwhile, works on the other end of the spectrum to ensure that employee devices are safe for business. Android For Work is a code platform keeping mobile data for business and personal means separate for end users.

’BlackBerry is working with Google to provide customers with solutions they can confidently deploy on all major mobile platforms within their organization,’ said Billy Ho, executive vice president of BlackBerry's Enterprise Products and Value Added Solutions, in a release. ’Android for Work with BES12 will provide customers with another option to enhance their mobile security and the productivity of their employees, and the peace of mind that they will not have to relinquish any control over corporate data, sacrifice user experience or introduce more complexity into their environments.’

BlackBerry also revealed the expansion of its cross-platform efforts to support Android through value-added services such as BBM Meetings, Worklife by BlackBerry, and BBM Protected.

Partners applauded the overall partnership as a helping to solve the issues surrounding BYOD, while promoting flexibility and securing corporate data.

"BlackBerry is doubling down on what they’ve always done best: giving corporate IT better control over the mobile devices in the workforce," said Michael Gold, president of Mountain View, Calif.-based partner Intermedia. "This is a crowded space. … AirWatch, MobileIron and others are all offering similar solutions, and Microsoft is planning to launch something similar in the near future, as well. So it’s the natural evolution of any company serious about providing mobile security."

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However, for BlackBerry partners, the move reaffirms the company's commitment in its enterprise-based strategy going forward.

"For us, it solidifies the fact that BlackBerry is still relevant in security and the enterprise," said Rick Jordan, director of mobility sales at Tenet Computer Group, a Toronto-based solution provider. "It's another piece of the puzzle that [BlackBerry CEO] John Chen is piecing together to show that BlackBerry does have a place in the market, and does have a solution strategy to enterprise mobility management."

Intermedia's Gold agreed, pointing to BlackBerry's management tools as the company's strong suit for staying relevant in the smartphone market.

"I think BlackBerry has a promising future providing management tools on top of other mobile operating systems," he said. "As a BlackBerry partner, we share the common goal of giving IT administrators greater control over their mobile workforce. We’ll evaluate their new services to see how it can augment the remote device wipe, centralized management consoles and mobile policy enforcement tools we already offer."

PUBLISHED FEB. 26, 2015