We've heard bits and pieces about BlackBerry Balance but still no solid details (in the form of a RIM press release anyway). Our good friend Al Sacco did have a chance to sit in on a recent BlackBerry event where he heard a bit of what Balance will include. The basis of the product is to separate work and personal information on your BlackBerry smartphone. This means while you may have a work issued BlackBerry (or personal device you also use through a BES for work) you won't have to worry about mixing things up.
BlackBerry Balance looks to include access for BES admins that will only allow them to delete data and applications related to work - so your personal items will stay intact regardless. The coolest feature (and most useful) will prevent users from copying/pasting any work data or information to personal accounts or apps. If you try to copy from one to another, a warning will pop up to keep you from doing anything you dont want to do. Using BlackBerry Balance, data access can also be prevented to certain third-party apps.
Overall BlackBerry Balance will be welcomed with open arms by all BES users (for the most part). It sounds like a great product that will definitely make things easier and safer for those of you attached to a BES through your company. As we said earlier this week, it looks to be on the way so we should see it in action in the next few weeks.
Source: CIO.com
Reader comments
A few more details on BlackBerry Balance
Sounds really interesting. Can it slow the speed of adoption of other supported platforms in corporations i don't know. So its wait and watch..
I wonder what this will mean for corporations. Will users have the option to keep their BlackBerrys for a fee since the corporate data can be deleted?
As a BES admin, I am very excited about this. Maybe with this, security will allow me to use my personal BB instead of carrying two.
This is something I'm interested in! I have my own BB hooked up with my work BES, my personal calendar data (take dog to vet, pick up movies etc) shows up in my department secretary's Outlook calendar along with other coworkers. My personal data isn't private, have to resort to Google Sync and use a separate calendar app for my personal stuff.
I'm hoping with Balance I can still use Outlook for both personal & work related.
You can make your personal appointments 'Private', then secreatary will only see you have appointment and not available - she will not see detail.
Thanks rcm1301 - just got hooked up to BES a few weeks ago so I'm new to this. Will follow this advice.
^ Mark your personal appointments as 'Private' right in Outlook and the secretary can't see what the appointments are, i.e. no description.
For a BES Admin, I think this will come in handy.
With this, there is no reason why the Playbook can't be shipped with PIM and email apps built-in ready for use without the need to pair it with a BB phone.