BlackBerry has released a service that will allow its corporate and government clients to manage devices powered by their rival operating systems Android and iOS.
The service seeks to take advantage of its competitors’ high penetration of the smartphone market.
BlackBerry is facing stiff competition from Apple and Samsung devices and has already lost the top three position in regards to global market share. BlackBerry does however remain hugely popular in Africa.
The secure work space feature managed through BlackBerry Enterprise service 10 (BES 10) will allow clients to control mobile devices on their internal networks, Reuters is reporting.
The launch of the service confirms BlackBerry could be switching from retailing smartphones to services.
David Smith, BlackBerry’s head of enterprise mobile computing, said the company’s services will add more security to smartphones, which is currently a concern for many users.
“With an integrated management console, our clients can now see all of the devices they have on their network, manage those devices and connect to them securely,” Smith said.
The service, according to the company, will allow chief information officers (CIOs) to secure corporate emails, contacts, web browsing, document editing, calendars, tasks and memos.
“We now also have a secure work space on Android and iOS that allows our clients to secure and manage the data on those devices as well,” Smith added.
Since the launch of BES 10 in January, BlackBerry has installed 18,000 BES 10 servers with over half of all US Fortune 500 companies connected.
