[UnknownError507]

Just about everyone has been forecasting doom for Research In Motion (RIM). The Canadian tech company has been taking merciless hits of late: an onslaught of patent lawsuits, the flop that was the PlayBook�RIM's lame answer to the Apple iPad�and now, an inexcusable multi-day outage that left customers around the world without access to BlackBerry Internet and e-mail services.

There were other casualties as well. Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS) customers. BPOS and its successor, Office 365 are Microsoft cloud services that integrate with BlackBerry Enterprise Services. So, BPOS customers who deployed BES in their organizations were also left without messaging services.

It's sink or swim time for RIM. That's a given. However, this company has a few strong factors on its side, which could mean re-emergence as a top contender in the mobile space: longevity, a strong core customer base in big corporate, government, and loyal customers in foreign markets. There are some immediate actions RIM must take though:

Jim Balsillie Has Got to Go: Unlike co-CEO Mike Lazaridis, Balsillie does not come from a hard technical and engineering background. He's an MBA who focuses on the bottom line and expends lots of energy trying to buy sports teams. If I were a stockholder with a ton of money invested in RIM, I'd be calling for his head on a platter. He's been a constant problem for RIM's image�from his 2007 resignation as company chairman in the wake of a stock scandal to his lack of foresight in recognizing how critical apps would be in the mobile space. His silence at the beginning of RIM's massive outage was also noted by many in the media.

READ MORE -�

[Rootbrian]

Time and patience is all that matters. That's how I would view it.
Whoever doesn't have patience, won't ever be slow and steady. All this negativity will wear down once a turnaround is made.

Sent from my BlackBerry Bold 9700 using Tapatalk @ wapforums.crackberry.com

[Superfly_FR]

BES enterprise services have nothing to do with BIS, right ?
So why is it written that MS365 was impacted
So far I understand it, BES are company hosted while BIS is RIM's.

Did I miss something ??? Or do we have again a great so-called "expert" here ?

[mod9]

The part about shutting Lazaridis cracked me up! LOL

I am amazed that some people still think RIM doesn't have anything to worry about.

That was an interesting article. Definitely, a new way of thinking is needed over at RIM.

[Rootbrian]

BES enterprise services have nothing to do with BIS, right ?
So why is it written that MS365 was impacted
So far I understand it, BES are company hosted while BIS is RIM's.

Did I miss something ??? Or do we have again a great so-called "expert" here ?

I guess that "expert" isn't really an expert in my opinion.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Superfly_FR]

I guess that "expert" isn't really an expert in my opinion.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Well, My Antoine jumped in the mud again ...

[Superfly_FR]

The part about shutting Lazaridis cracked me up! LOL
I am amazed that some people still think RIM doesn't have anything to worry about.
That was an interesting article. Definitely, a new way of thinking is needed over at RIM.

Very few then ... even fanboys do agree that marketing and sales forces are far from being examples. So do I.

[lnichols]

I agree with the steps the company needs to take as laid out in the article:

1. Co-CEO isn't working and if one of the two have to go, then Jim is definitely the weakest link. And if Mike L insists he needs Jim to run the company with him then both need to go.

2. Outage shows that infrastructure needs to be improved and tested more.

3. They do need an Enterprise tablet. I think that the Playbook can become that Enterprise tablet they mention in the article, but RIM has to deliver with 2.0 upgrade as it is not Enterprise ready now.

4. RIM's marketing is abysmal and Mike L needs to be locked away to run things but not interface with the public.

Anyone who cannot at least agree with the article on at least three of those four points is a died in the wool fanboy. RIM can once again be a great and highly respected company to consumers, business/government, and the media, but some changes are needed to facilitate that.

[Blackberry_boffin]

Basically RIM knows "most" of what they need to do. The thing is can they?
This doubt of leadership qualities has lingered on for too long. There rarely is a smoke with no fire nearby.

[psufan32]

iPad is already making major headway into the corporate world. There isn't even really a "tablet market." There is simply the iPad. It is already being heavily tested in the medical field, hospitality industry, and in academia. Take any train into NYC during morning or evening rush hour and you'll see many, many businessmen/women with iPads. IT departments all over the place are already incorporating iPhones into their networks and business and company specific app development is already underway.

[guerllamo7]

I think RIM does not need to get rid of co-CEO structure to succeed. What they need is a phone that just wows everyone. The OS7 phone is actually better than the iPhone 4 but you would not know that from the reviews. The OS7 phones will be purchased by existing BlackBerry users for the most part and some returning to BlackBerry for them. However, to capture the imagination and create excitement RIM needs the BBX phone.

A gestures based, 3.7" inch screen that has the best TAT UI imaginable. It must have dual cameras and be able to chat both with the Playbook, other BBX phones AND android phones and tablets.
It must have Voice navigation (hopefully the UI is TAT built), a great stock app, weather app, and ten other awesome apps preloaded.
It must also have BB Movies, BB Music, a great book reader.
It should also have NFC and mobil hotspot.

If BlackBerry can deliver on the stuff they (almost) always have on reliable, secure, real time communications AND deliver on a great UI that is powered by at least a 1.2Ghz dual core processor and has a ton of content, even the biggest critics will have to take pause and be awed by this new phone.

RIM actually has an advantage because they are coming in with the newest and latest OS an will have a freedom and flexibility the iPhone lacks yet more secure and hopefully with better battery life than droids.

RIM clearly has a shot. The ball is in their court. We will see a big part of this next Tuesday. I say RIM is the new come back kid.

[psufan32]

I think RIM does not need to get rid of co-CEO structure to succeed. What they need is a phone that just wows everyone. The OS7 phone is actually better than the iPhone 4 but you would not know that from the reviews. The OS7 phones will be purchased by existing BlackBerry users for the most part and some returning to BlackBerry for them. However, to capture the imagination and create excitement RIM needs the BBX phone.

A gestures based, 3.7" inch screen that has the best TAT UI imaginable. It must have dual cameras and be able to chat both with the Playbook, other BBX phones AND android phones and tablets.
It must have Voice navigation (hopefully the UI is TAT built), a great stock app, weather app, and ten other awesome apps preloaded.
It must also have BB Movies, BB Music, a great book reader.
It should also have NFC and mobil hotspot.

If BlackBerry can deliver on the stuff they (almost) always have on reliable, secure, real time communications AND deliver on a great UI that is powered by at least a 1.2Ghz dual core processor and has a ton of content, even the biggest critics will have to take pause and be awed by this new phone.

RIM actually has an advantage because they are coming in with the newest and latest OS an will have a freedom and flexibility the iPhone lacks yet more secure and hopefully with better battery life than droids.

RIM clearly has a shot. The ball is in their court. We will see a big part of this next Tuesday. I say RIM is the new come back kid.

Success today is about FAR more than just spec'ed phones and fancy UIs. It is about the entire mobile computing experience, and how everything ties together. THAT is where BB lags and where they will have a very difficult time making ground.

[kbz1960]

Success today is about FAR more than just spec'ed phones and fancy UIs. It is about the entire mobile computing experience, and how everything ties together. THAT is where BB lags and where they will have a very difficult time making ground.

They have to start somewhere and at least they are doing that.

[jasonvw]

I agree Jim needs to step down as co-ceo. Mike has to stay. He's is blackberry.
Think they need to concentrate on just a couple phones per year. Say all touch, 9900/9790 and Torch. They also need to make them a bit future proof. No excuse that the 9800 doesn't get some parts of os7, give us 6.1. They also need to take control over the updates and not let carriers have full control of it.
They also need to get certain developers on board and no matter the cost. Netflix needs to be there. Skype needs to be there. Hulu needs to be there, etc.
The overall user experience needs tweaking. I believe BBOS is actually a very good OS, it just needs some tweaking. I look at things on the torch, when you maximize the panels, it should go all the way to the top, you'd get a complete extra row of icons, just a waste of space there. Small things like that should be dealt with. Desktop manager needs to be able to backup apps, especially those downloaded from app world. BB protect needs to be able to backup bbm contacts. It should be the 1 stop place for all ota backups and restores. Also make a premium version that will allow people to backup more stuff like photos and videos.
Now lets face it, bbm is their killer app. The competition is catching up, its time to do some major updates there. How about voip for bbm contacts and video chatting? Seriously can you imaging what would happen if they implemented that? It would be huge!

The next year or 2 is critical for RIM I think. QNX has to run smooth and no jittery lag anywhere. If that means they have to spend more money on better hardware so be it. And all the same issues I have with BBOS need to be dealt with for QNX.

[Rickroller]

However, to capture the imagination and create excitement RIM needs the BBX phone.

A gestures based, 3.7" inch screen that has the best TAT UI imaginable. It must have dual cameras and be able to chat both with the Playbook, other BBX phones AND android phones and tablets.
It must have Voice navigation (hopefully the UI is TAT built), a great stock app, weather app, and ten other awesome apps preloaded.
It must also have BB Movies, BB Music, a great book reader.
It should also have NFC and mobil hotspot.

It had better come with alot more than that! Most of those features have already been available to the general consumer for almost 2 years now. A 3.7" phone with navigation, music, and movies..as well as wifi hotspot? Yawn. I can guarantee you if that is all RIM brings to the table with BBX..then they might as well pack it in right now..cuz nothing in there is going to wow anyone.

[olga421]

and whats the wow factor regarding the iphone???? don't tell me it has better encryption then BLACKBERRY.Pc mag there so biased no other companies can do wrong only RIM lol

[anon5129477]

It had better come with alot more than that! Most of those features have already been available to the general consumer for almost 2 years now. A 3.7" phone with navigation, music, and movies..as well as wifi hotspot? Yawn. I can guarantee you if that is all RIM brings to the table with BBX..then they might as well pack it in right now..cuz nothing in there is going to wow anyone.

\

Someone needs to build an app for the CME futures too


CAN YOU HERE ME? CME.COM FUTURES APP FOR QNX!!!

[papped]

Wonder if I'm the only one who stopped reading after PCmag...

[Xterra2]

The co-CEOs should go

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[UnknownError507]

The co-CEOs should go

In my opinion NON of the CEO's should go, the only thing RIM should do is to wake up and Relies devices within 2 months of the announcement and im shore consumers will be happy.