BlackBerry has announced a roster of productivity and security enhancements to its enterprise software platform designed to power the ‘Enterprise of Things.’
As part of BlackBerry Secure, the company’s Enterprise Mobility Suite aims to provide secure, management policies and controls across key platforms (iOS, Android, Windows 10, macOS, and Samsung Knox) and device ownership models such as BYOD and Corporate Owned.
According to the firm, the solution can be delivered on premise, as a cloud service, and now includes the following features to improve productivity and security:
- Manage and secure Microsoft Office 365 mobile applications: IT can manage and apply protection policies to Microsoft Office 365 mobile applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint from BlackBerry UEM.
- Access business data on unmanaged laptops: Users of BlackBerry Access, will now be able to securely work with business data on their personal or BYOL (Bring-Your-Own-Laptop) Windows 10 and MacOS computers.
- Provide in-line comments, @mentions and DocuSign: BlackBerry’s secure Enterprise File Synchronisation and Sharing (EFSS) solution, BlackBerry Workspaces, has been updated to allow in-line comments, @mentions and alerts. DocuSign has also been integrated, adding a key workflow for legally binding documents such as loan applications and financial transactions.
- Leverage application analytics: BlackBerry Analytics can now track daily and monthly active users, daily minutes used, usage by OS type and version, daily launch count and user engagement by feature (such as 1:1 chat vs group chat). This application analytics capability gives IT and developers the key insight they need to increase business productivity, such as modifying UX flow, modifying training or altering maintenance schedules.
- Manage more wearables: BlackBerry has extended its endpoint management software capabilities to include modern workforce devices such as smart glasses. Applications specific to wearables, such as Ubimax and Atheer, can also be securely managed.
“The explosion of devices and consumer applications is making it increasingly difficult for enterprises to balance information security and compliance with productivity and connectivity,” said Billy Ho, executive vice president of enterprise software, BlackBerry. “MDM and EMM are simply not enough, which is why we offer a Unified Endpoint Management platform that lets companies secure and manage these devices, plus the associated applications. By making it easier to use, we are removing one of the biggest IT challenges – getting employees to use corporate applications.”
