Enterprise mobility needn’t be risky

Being enterprise-ready especially for industries that have the most stringent regulations is no easy feat. And, for companies looking to break into the enterprise, it’s become harder to execute than they imagined, writes JOHN SIMS.

Enterprise and governments’ use of mobile technology has changed drastically over the past few years, but at the same time cyber attackers and cyber criminals have become increasingly savvy. A solid security foundation is essential in such an environment and while BlackBerry’s history is rooted in security our competitors can’t say the same.

Most recently, researchers at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev announced that they discovered a major vulnerability that allows a hacker to easily intercept data of a Knox-enabled Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone. Ultimately, Samsung provided a statement that the vulnerability was with Android, but this shows the challenge that Samsung has with continually developing Knox to survive in a hostile environment.

Coupled with previous issues that have come to light regarding their security, this critical vulnerability calls into question is Knox ready for enterprise and government customers who cannot risk the security of their mobile data?

With Samsung still battle testing its enterprise platform and fixing security bugs, industries that require the most stringent security needs can trust that there’s nothing more secure than a BlackBerry device managed by a BlackBerry Enterprise Server period. And that’s why we are the only enterprise mobility management vendor and handset maker that has received the Department of Defense ‚”Authority to Operate‚” certification.

Blue Hill Research reminds us that Samsung announced Knox at Mobile World Congress in February 2013, and nearly a year later customers are still waiting to go into full production. Frankly, this is because security is hard and it is not possible to condense thousands of person years of learning into 12 short months.

Furthermore, Knox only works on select Samsung devices. For those highly ‚”regulated‚” customers those that require the strictest security levels bring your own device (BYOD) is not an option. However, there are a significant number of enterprises where BYOD is the way forward. Knox has no flexibility for the BYOD trend.

As we take a step back and evaluate the mobility management landscape, there are clear reasons why achieving enterprise-ready status is no easy feat. First, analyst research shows that BlackBerry has almost 61 percent of MDM market share in large enterprises. This point highlights that we have the trust of our customers and the experience when it comes to managing large, complex mobile environments.

Second, security is paramount. BlackBerry is unmatched when it comes to security, which is why for more than a decade we have worked closely with governments around the world, including all seven of the G7 countries.

Finally, BlackBerry continues to evolve, but as we do so we will keep the needs of our core customer segments at the center of all plans. Enterprise security, productivity and communications will remain fundamental to all that we do.

These are the reasons why BlackBerry has earned the trust of more than 80,000 enterprise and government customers worldwide four times more than the ‚”pure play‚” MDM vendors combined. That means we’re still the industry leader in mobility management. With the recent changes in our leadership team and our strong commitment to our customer base in the regulated industries, we aim to continue to be the leader.

* John Sims is the President of Global Enterprise Solutions for BlackBerry.

*