RIM rolls out full BlackBerry Mobile Fusion platform

As corporate smartphone users opt for BlackBerry alternatives like the iPhone from Apple Inc. or Google Inc.'s Android-based devices, Research In Motion Ltd. made it clear Tuesday they are all still welcome on BlackBerry networks.

Waterloo, Ont.-based RIM has rolled out the full version of its BlackBerry Mobile Fusion platform, nearly one year after first announcing plans to evolve its Black-Berry Enterprise Service (BES) technology to be compatible with increasingly popular bring-yourown-device policies. The company first launched Mobile Fusion last month along with the release of a critical software update for the PlayBook tablet.

"For businesses and government, managing a mix of mobile devices on any scale is chaotic," Alan Panezic, vice-president of enterprise product management and marketing for RIM, said in a statement.

"BlackBerry Mobile Fusion allows organizations to manage a mixed environment of devices in the most secure, simple, and cost efficient manner possible."

Using a single Web-based console, IT staff will be able to manage any mobile device based on Apple's iOS, Google's Android, RIM's Black-Berry OS as well as the company's highly anticipated, still forthcoming, BlackBerry 10 platform. Additional new features include the ability to support more than one device per user (i.e. an employee's Black-Berry smartphone and iPad tablet) and manage individual applications or pieces of software.

Pricing for Mobile Fusion starts at $99 U.S. per user or $4 U.S. per user per month, though RIM is offering a 60day free trial and said in a release that volume discounts are available. The cost is comparable to current Black-Berry Enterprise Server fees, which start at $99 U.S. per user and also include bulk discounts such as $65.98 U.S. per user with at least 50 users.

Once the mobile device of choice for every member of society's elite (even Barack Obama fought to keep his after being elected U.S. president), high-profile corporate clients such as Dell Inc. and Halliburton Co. have stopped purchasing thousands of BlackBerrys in recent years as RIM has gradually lost share in its core enterprise market.

Thorsten Heins, a 54-year-old former Siemens executive who replaced long-time chief executive tandem Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie as the top BlackBerry boss in January after months of substantial U.S. market share declines, vowed last week to place more focus on rebuilding RIM's waning dominance in the enterprise. The company reported its fifth straight quarter of lower-than-expected earners after markets closed last Thursday.

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