[tgtallinn]

BMW is reportedly set to acquire 57,000 Lumia Windows Phones for its employees
I read about this news, and can't help thinking that the downfall of nokia should open some opportunities to BlackBerry. but why you think it wasn't the case here?

[RubberChicken76]

BMW is reportedly set to acquire 57,000 Lumia Windows Phones for its employees
I read about this news, and can't help thinking that the downfall of nokia should open some opportunities to BlackBerry. but why you think it wasn't the case here?

Could very well be because
1. it's an existing Symbian account
2. The sales team responsible for it at Nokia went to Microsoft
3. They have longs tanding relationships with that particular account.
4. They've been working this deal for a long, long, long, long, long time

[lnichols]

Microsoft has a heck of a sales team and a huge footprint in the enterprise already. They can say that they can provide a complete, end-to-end solution. Most companies have already invested in the licensing to support it all with Microsoft, just have to buy the phones.

Posted via CB10

[tgtallinn]

OK, but here qnx shall help entering the account as well.
Is BlackBerry strategy to contain at mdm level to keep a foot in, to grow later on handset? And are they only intending to grow with more software integration of cms, erp systems.
Or do they give up handset and focus on qnx embedded devices (IoT ladder beginning). But how far they can climb this ladder?

[EchoTango]

I think Blackberry is still reeling from the past few years of market share meltdown and is still largely retrenching and focused on bringing products to the enterprise market. I think they are not yet to the point in the re-launch cycle of developing strategies for individual customers or even most market segments. I think they are focused on the higher margin regulated sectors which this client clearly is not a part of.

With the leaner/smaller company you have to pick your battles carefully and not get pulled into the commodity game with the likes of Microsoft or Android.

[RubberChicken76]

Microsoft has a heck of a sales team and a huge footprint in the enterprise already. They can say that they can provide a complete, end-to-end solution. Most companies have already invested in the licensing to support it all with Microsoft, just have to buy the phones.

I hear you, but I don't think it's a simple as that. if it were, Windows Phone would be massively entrenched in enterprise and no one would have gotten a foothold due to Windows Mobile before it.

[ccbs]

Another missing enterprise deals. United airlines just announced acquisition of iPhone 6 plus for its flight attendants.
United Airlines Bringing Apple's iPhone 6 Plus On Board for Flight Attendants -- CHICAGO, Dec. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

[Dave Bourque]

Another missing enterprise deals. United airlines just announced acquisition of iPhone 6 plus for its flight attendants.
United Airlines Bringing Apple's iPhone 6 Plus On Board for Flight Attendants -- CHICAGO, Dec. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Such a stupid choice for a business phone... not even remotely compact and costly.

Posted via CB10

[asherN]

Such a stupid choice for a business phone... not even remotely compact and costly.

Posted via CB10

So every business that does not choose BB is stupid?

[Dave Bourque]

So every business that does not choose BB is stupid?

No... don't put words into my mouth... a cheap android, windows phone or BlackBerry that is released around this year would make more sense financially.

Posted via CB10

[Cesare21]

So every business that does not choose BB is stupid?

I think his point is that the phone being given doesn't suit the work profile and is also terribly expensive.

Posted via CB10

[Prem WatsApp]

I think his point is that the phone being given doesn't suit the work profile and is also terribly expensive.

Posted via CB10

First point I'd make, I'd worry about its durability in such an environment or for such a use case. :-)

Those 'berries or Lumias are more likely to take a beating...

? ? ? Zzzzwipetypetapped from The Maskport - Zzzzmoqin'.... ? ? ?

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

No... don't put words into my mouth... a cheap android, windows phone or BlackBerry that is released around this year would make more sense financially.

Posted via CB10

Do you have any idea how much they paid for those iPhone 6? Corporate deals can greatly affect the discounts on devices.

Then there is the issue of maybe there is an custom App that United wants to use, and it was built to work with iOS only. And as the article states they are already using iPads, so sticking to one platform make their IT Departments job much easier. And the 6+ because of it's size as a phablet is the best suited form factor for that App they are using that appear to be an instructional guide.

Apple is know #1 in business... they got there for some reason. Spending and extra $700 on a device that might save them thousands yearly on printed materials or individual training, could easily be justified.

[asherN]

To add, iOS developers are plentiful. OS10, not so much. From a business perspective, if you are going to be developing custom apps, you'd go with the platform where you have the most developers.

[anon(832122)]

Such a stupid choice for a business phone... not even remotely compact and costly.

Posted via CB10

Why did you assume that they cared about the phone being compact? Not a lot of people seem to care about that today given the popularity of big screen devices.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[app_Developer]

To add, iOS developers are plentiful. OS10, not so much. From a business perspective, if you are going to be developing custom apps, you'd go with the platform where you have the most developers.

I agree. Our internal app store at work now has 8 iOS apps and 2 for Android. The iOS apps are also more fully featured than their Android counterparts. The app gap is becoming a bigger issue in large enterprises. This is something that BB should keep a very close eye on if their enterprise strategy includes BB10.


Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk

[early2bed]

I'll bet United Airlines chose the iPhone 6+ for its compatibility with whatever in-flight data systems they are using now or in the future. Whatever systems they are using from whatever vendors they have will probably be best compatible with iOS.

They probably prioritized readability over compact size as flight attendants might be reading text while they are standing and in poor lighting conditions. If you have employees who are often in their forties and older, you had better ensure that they can easily read seat numbers, names, etc. on these devices or you will cause a lot of problems - and you don't want them walking around with reading glasses.

[Prem WatsApp]

I'll bet United Airlines chose the iPhone 6+ for its compatibility with whatever in-flight data systems they are using now or in the future. Whatever systems they are using from whatever vendors they have will probably be best compatible with iOS.

They probably prioritized readability over compact size as flight attendants might be reading text while they are standing and in poor lighting conditions. If you have employees who are often in their forties and older, you had better ensure that they can easily read seat numbers, names, etc. on these devices or you will cause a lot of problems - and you don't want them walking around with reading glasses.

Will it last a trans-Atlantic or even non-stop SF-Tokyo ...?

�   Zzzzwipetypetapped from The Maskport - Zzzzmoqin'....   �

[early2bed]

Will it last a trans-Atlantic or even non-stop SF-Tokyo ...?

�   Zzzzwipetypetapped from The Maskport - Zzzzmoqin'....   �

They are probably designed to be stored in wall cradles rather than pocketed. Plus, there isn't going to be a lot of cellular roaming going on with these devices.

[Bbnivende]

Cheap fleet price deals . Basically they need to sell at cost or just above when combined with a BES upgrade.

[RubberChicken76]

To add, iOS developers are plentiful. OS10, not so much. From a business perspective, if you are going to be developing custom apps, you'd go with the platform where you have the most developers.

Or the apps your business uses off-the-shelf. That's the biggest problem I'm finding with BlackBerry 10 right now. While it actually does have a number of the apps we use natively, many others are only on Android and either don't run well and/or are not actually available unless you get them from a place like 1market.

I dread every time someone at work books a meeting in GoToMeeting (slow Android app) instead of Webex (solid BlackBerry 10 app) for this very reason.

[EchoTango]

This is one of main features of the Classic.

I think many of the enterprise clients are looking for end-to-end solutions, at least initially and the Classic enables this offering. Both the Q10 and the Z10 have been (rightly or wrongly) panned by the market, enabling device challenged companies like Mobiliron, Good and IBM to flourish. With the combination of multiplatform BES and a reasonable fleet device (the Classic) offering, Blackberry has a significantly stronger story to tell potential clients.

In the technology outsourcing game, a common CIO request was; "I want one throat to choke".

[allengeorge]

You need app compatibility to win enterprise deals. Short of BB10 doing something revolutionary that changes market share dramatically (>15% installed base) you're not going to see BB10 do well.

My armchair CEO strategy:

Focus on a few verticals and try to build critical mass of installed base, developers and apps in each one.

Invest more into mobile device containerization technology.

Partner with Microsoft for best-in-breed Office 365 integration (OS-wide).

Position BBM as the enterprise communication suite (replacing SIP phones, Hangouts/Lync etc.)

And, of course, a lot of technical and UI/UX cleanup along the way...

Take my opinions for what they're worth

Posted via CB10

[MobileZen]

You need app compatibility to win enterprise deals. Short of BB10 doing something revolutionary that changes market share dramatically (>15% installed base) you're not going to see BB10 do well.

My armchair CEO strategy:

Focus on a few verticals and try to build critical mass of installed base, developers and apps in each one.

Invest more into mobile device containerization technology.

Partner with Microsoft for best-in-breed Office 365 integration (OS-wide).

Position BBM as the enterprise communication suite (replacing SIP phones, Hangouts/Lync etc.)

And, of course, a lot of technical and UI/UX cleanup along the way...

Take my opinions for what they're worth

Posted via CB10

Good points.

I believe John Chen has already reallocated development resources into enterprise apps after dropping the consumer apps. So one of the value-add propositions is that for clients, he has in-house developers to create or augment business apps to meet their requirements. Can be done natively using the TAT created cascades framework or packaged using the android player (would be nice if BB10 can also run iOS apps - was rumored this was achieved but due to proprietary rights was never brought to market) for BlackBerry devices and for other mobile platforms. If he has the developers and engineers available to create throughout the stack, there is no need to go to third party vendors (always a headache when it comes to end-to-end solutions) but if it is needed, he'll need to establish the partnerships to make it more exclusive. Their enterprise app-deployment/management will need to be marketed better as that can manage all types of apps from multiple platforms.

Yup, let's see more refinements in the containerization on multiple OS' for the different methods of mobile management - BYOD, COPE, CYOD. The EMM space is quite crowded but if BlackBerry has a solution that allows for maximum security and flexibility with competitive pricing, it will help keep BlackBerry is mind for any future products or services.

For the enterprise, they already have Office365 support through BES but they need to refine that further for better integration with Office apps and Exchange email. This leads to the BlackBerry Business Cloud that will need to be marketed out. Also push the BlackBerry Identity and VPN authentication services for better efficiency and cost savings/avoidance.

For enterprise communications, BlackBerry needs to push the benefits out and I think John Chen has reorganized the business streams to do that along with monetizing for better security and value added services. Unified communications still not utilized in enterprises due to outdated infrastructure and fragmentation. Existing enterprise communication infrastructure is highly expensive, complicated and hardly used. I've had superior experiences using BBM for video and voice calls.

Show the productivity, security and software superiority in BlackBerry with Blend into Windows and MacOS. Shake out all the bugs to make it as seamless as possible. Develop the BlackBerry Hub for each platform.

Anyways, that's it for now. Gotta go but good convo starter.


Posted via CB10

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

STABILITY.... #1 reason that many enterprise customers are looking at other solutions.

Sure Apps, Compatibility, Form Factors... there are many reasons that different companies chose one platform over another. Many of these other platforms have sales representative visiting large IT departments - BlackBerry doesn't do that anymore. And while no one knows what the future holds... is anyone asking if Apple will sell devices in 12 months? If Microsoft were to buy Good, would you worry that it might be shutdown?

I think Chen has worked very hard to stabilize the company and make it appear like they are in it for the long haul. But the simple truth is, no one really knows until the company can show growth in sales and revenues, along with they are able to make a profit.. And then do this several consecutive quarters.

Just as investors are staying away from BBRY, companies are not wanting to invest into their products and then lose everything either.