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What is BlackBerry Mobile Fusion?

By IsaacKendall on 29 Nov 2011 03:09 pm
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BlackBerry Mobile Fusion

Listen to the BlackBerry Mobile Fusion Webcast

Earlier today we posted the RIM press release announcing BlackBerry Mobile Fusion. They just wrapped up a webinar which gave more details about this coming service, but the question many have is just what is BlackBerry Mobile Fusion?

The simplest answer is that Mobile Fusion is a Mobile Device Management(MDM) platform that fuses the deployment and management of multiple device platforms to on console. It should be said that this is nothing new and there are many MDM options out there, but for my it's exciting because with the Fusion announcement we have a better look at how the PlayBook and BBX devices will be handled at the corporate enterprise level.

Mobile Fusion will allow a corporate admin to provision multiple devices on multiple platforms for one user. In an example in the webinar a user had a BlackBerry Torch 9180, BlackBerry PlayBook, iPhone 4S and a Samsung Galaxy Tab setup under his profile. Fusion connects to BES 5.0.3 and higher allowing for deployment of BES IT policies on the BlackBerry smartphone and device management in a one-stop-shop console.

Mobile Fusion Admin Console

As you can see it's just a matter of clicking on the appropriate tab of the device you wish to administer. One thing that RIM emphasized several times is that the Mobile Fusion will allow the users to still "have fun with their device". Users want choice, flexibility and fun with their smartphone and Fusion allows for that while not comprising corporate security. The system will utilize the BlackBerry Balance protocol which puts up a wall between corporate and personal information and data.

Some interesting features outlined today are:

  • Employee self-service site, which allows user to remote wipe and remote lock device
  • No limits on number of devices a user can have provisioned
  • Mobile Fusion is capable of managing up to 10,000 devices at any one time
  • Fully supports virtualized server environments

Although no pricing details are available at the moment, they have stated that this product will be competitive with what current market offers.  RIM is accepting requests from the corporate community to enter a beta beginning January. To be considered for the beta, customers are being directed to their RIM account manager. BlackBerry Mobile Fusion is expected to launch in March 2012.

As an incentive for current BES clients to upgrade from an older version of BES to 5.0.3 they are offering a free 16GB BlackBerry PlayBook when an upgrade is purchased.

Topics: Enterprise Solutions BlackBerry Enterprise Server BlackBerry Mobile Fusion Enterprise

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IsaacKendall IsaacKendall 76 (articles) 24 (forum posts)
27 comments

Wolf35Nine

Thanks. I was just reading the other announcement article on this.

swervable

Will this work with BES cloud services and office 365?

jason18

it would be awesome if i could get this without having to use BES.. hint hint lol

Thunderbuck

Apparently, this will either work on its own or alongside BES.

What *I* really want to know is if there will be an "Express" version offered. Hint, hint...

BurninatorX

Sorry for the unrelated post, but does Crackberry text now align on the left for anyone else using Chrome as a browser? It's driving me insane. Every article/comment is left aligned!

theHip

I'm confused... You read left to right don't you? Everything in the english language is left aligned dude.

Yandar

Its the irritating ads that take up the right third of the page that does it.

BBThemes

look at the pic!!! service books for a playbook!!

RinoBed

does it mean that I can access my corporate e'mail with a iphone or an android phone? It would be GREAT!

Shlooky

I am able to do this for months now. I think they are talking about the overall management of non BB devices holistically.

I am excited about this because I don't have to go out and buy another BB device, i can just go buy whatever I want for my next phone. Thinking Ice Cream Sandwich device would be perfect.

rollingrock1988

I am so excited for this. This is great news.

Everyone has bee waiting breathlessly for this to happen. RIM need not worry about the other aspects of their business, i.e. smartphones, because they have released this.

Stockholders can stop worrying now.

theRock1975

Software and services are 25% of their revenue. Fantastic move imo

imkdd

Does it encrypt the messages both in transmission and while stored on the device a la Good? If not, then I think that, while a step in the right direction, it will be of little interest to enterprises that deal with sensitive data.

frankzaman

Really really nice! To see the slides go here:

http://webcast.streamlogics.com/audience/index.asp?eventid=98320733

buckwylder

this is HUGE news

awesome actually

it will give enterprise clients a chance to try an inferior product, then wisely choose a nice bbx fleet after being thoroughly disappointed

lol, nah, just jokes eh - anyways, this is cool, nice work RIM

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Foreverup

Hey Kevin

Can you report if this will mean that Carriers will now be offering BES plans for non-BB phones?

BigBallsB

I know this off topic but i havent seen a post up about this on crackberry yet and didnt know if anybody knew but

playbooks are back on bestbuys website along with refurbished ones starting at $150

Robert22

I hope there will be a free Express version of Mobile Fusion avilable, something like BES Express now.They are some limited functions there, but its enough for our small company.

flnetman62

Some more information:
* Fusion is just the management console that ties BES, BES Express, Bes for PlayBook, and BES for iOS/Android together - since each uses their own separate database. Think of the Frodo's one ring to rule them all :)

* BES uses a separate database from BES Express

* BES for Playbook is based on BBX OS on the PlayBook - along with all BBX phones in teh future - new BES required, separate from BES we currenlty use.

* BES for iOS and Android: separate BES at this time, possible add on to BES - from company called Ubitexx, announced back in May.

Management of devices has nothing to do with Office 365, google apps, etc: the MDM can permit or deny access to apps from a particular device or user. Products such as Afaria, Good, MobileIron and Airwatch already are doing this.

RIM needs to have a common back end datab ase as well as the common front end dash board - the infrastructure costs for servers and database management will be large for this. Also, this is still an onpremise solution with BES/BES Express so it is fees on top of fees instead of an SaaS service.

wolfier

> Also, this is still an onpremise solution with BES/BES Express so it is fees on top of fees instead of an SaaS service

No offence, but I believe being SaaS or not has nothing to do with fees. Google's services are SaaS and they charge fees (to companies who use Google). BES Express is not SaaS and it's free.

They're two totally unrelated concepts. Being SaaS does NOT mean "no fee", and being onpremise doesn't mean "fees on top of fees" either.

jinxygrrl#cb

Have you heard of spell check?

El Platanero

bring on the 7.1 update to my 9930 and 2.0 update to my playbook and all will be well.

1canuck2

This product has NOTHING to do with delivering BBM or BES email integration to PlayBook, iOS, or Android.
Mobile Fusion does not mean you can expect to get BBM or BB email experience on anything other than a BlackBerry.
The delivery of BBM and native email to Playbook is not being solved by this product.

This is an Mobile Device Management (MDM) tool.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_device_management
It lets you manage config, settings and apps that are pushed/allowed/blacklisted on a device. It should let you remotely wipe these devices. It really looks like it is just the Ubitexx solution rebranded with a little tighter BES integration for BB devices than Ubitexx probably had pre-RIM buyout.

yesu das

http://mobdevmgm.blogspot.com