BlackBerry has named Ralph Pini to be its new Chief Operating Officer and General Manager for Devices. In a company Q&A, Pini reveals his priorities for the devices business.
Pini first joined BlackBerry in 2012 when his company, Paratek Microwave, was acquired by the Canadian business. Pini served as Vice President for Radio Frequency Technology at BlackBerry before today's announcement.
In a company-posted Q&A, Pini stated his main priorities when it comes to its devices business:
The shifts and disruptions taking place in enterprise mobility today all signal great opportunity for BlackBerry to grow its customer base. I'm focused on three critical components to drive that. One, expanding on choice: we're continuing to support customers who rely on BB10 even as we make more options available to those companies transitioning to Android. Two, leveraging security: more companies are adopting BYOD and enterprise fleet strategies that are creating enormous endpoint security challenges for IT – no one is better positioned to solve these challenges than BlackBerry, whether it is with BB10 or Android. Three, building on the BlackBerry pedigree. As governments and enterprises confront these new user-driven dynamics and demands in mobility, BlackBerry is uniquely positioned to elevate Android as a more viable, hardened option to meet the demands of government and enterprise customers who need the highest levels of security. The bottom line, I want to give enterprise decision-makers everything they need to define and implement their EMM strategy.
He also talked where his first focus will be in the devices division.
My initial focus will be on customers, carriers and partners as each is a crucial component to achieving device profitability, while also expanding distribution beyond BlackBerry's traditional channels. We are working on delivering innovation and new products that we hope will exceed expectations while still delivering the gold standard of security that is synonymous with BlackBerry, and ultimately drive the growth of our business.
Pini will take the place of Ron Louks in the COO and device manager jobs. The Wall Street Journal reports that, according to a BlackBerry spokesperson, Louks left the company last week.
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