Waterloo-based Blackberry Ltd. has forged a partnership with Google Inc.’s new Android for Work service, enabling cross-platform business enterprise on BlackBerry devices, according to an announcement on Wednesday.
As BlackBerry’s market share continues to dwindle – 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2014 – the company has shifted its approach to competitors, most notably Google’s Android operating system, allowing Android apps to run on the company’s BlackBerry 10 platform. With the latest version of BlackBerry’s operating system (10.3.1), many Android applications are now accessible directly through BB10’s Amazon Appstore app, although a number of them suffer from compatibility issues.
BlackBerry also created a partnership with Samsung late last year that brought the company’s popular BES 12 enterprise mobile device management software to Samsung Android devices.
“I am not afraid of competing when I know I am more nimble. I never think [that] going alone is the right strategy. But we have a value add that no one else can do,” said BlackBerry’s CEO John Chen, in a recent interview with the Financial Times.
Google’s new set of enterprise tools are designed to allow smartphones to become a digital hub for both personal and professional purposes, with a distinct division between the two worlds. Analysts see the business enterprise space as Google’s next area of expansion.
BlackBerry shares rallied following the announcement — closing up 2.3% in New York and 2% in Toronto — but some analysts questioned the long-term benefits of the deal.
“BlackBerry is one of two dozen companies included [in Android for Work], so I am not sure what it really means for BlackBerry as it’s not even close to an exclusive relationship, but I guess it is good they were one of the many included,” said Michael Walkley of Canaccord Genuity Inc.
However, the partnership does exemplify BlackBerry’s reputation for security.
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“One shortcoming of the Android platform is security. They’re partnering with BlackBerry in order to directly address that,” Kevin Stadtler, president of Stadtler Capital Management LLC, told Bloomberg.
Android for Work pits Google and BlackBerry against Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc, which have been targeting the corporate market for a number of years. Last year Apple forged a partnership with International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), allowing the company to create applications focused on businesses and government agencies.
“BlackBerry is working with Google to provide customers with solutions they can confidently deploy on all major mobile platforms within their organization,” said Billy Ho, BlackBerry’s executive vice-president of enterprise products and value-added solutions, in a statement.
Android for Work allows users to create a separate profile for personal and work use, isolating and protecting business data in the process. Employers will be unable to see a user’s personal data; applications downloaded for business purposes are marked with a badge.
This feature is specific to the latest version of Google’s Android operating system, 5.0 Lollipop.
To ensure Android devices that aren’t compatible with Lollipop will still be able to use Android for Work, Google is creating a separate legacy app that delivers mail, contacts, calendars and browsing, all managed by a company’s IT department.
A special version of the Google Play Store – allowing companies to restrict which apps users can download – is also a Google Play for Work feature, as well as a suite of business apps including Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes and Google’s suite of applications such as Docs, Sheets and Slides.
BlackBerry Enterprise Server 12 will also manage devices running Android for Work. BlackBerry premium services – BBM Meetings, BBM Protected, WorkLife and VPN Authentication by BlackBerry – will also be compatible with Android devices.
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., another Google and BlackBerry partner, has its own business-focused security platforms called SAFE and KNOX. With Android for Work, Google has also created partnerships with Samsung, Sony, HTC, LG, and a variety of other major smartphone manufacturers.
Google announced its Android for Work platform approximately eight months ago during its I/O press conference in June, 2014.
With files from Business Insider