BlackBerry: "We are very much alive, thank you"

BlackBerry Interim CEO John Chen today posted a stern and spirited open letter to all BlackBerry enterprise customers with one unifying message: BlackBerry is here to stay. The letter emphasizes the company's mobile device management (MDM) and enterprise mobility management (EMM) services through BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 (BES10). In other words, it is geared up and continuing to gear up for managing enterprise mobile devices no matter the platform, be it iOS, Android or (gulp) BlackBerry OS. Just to drive home the point, the logos for all three systems appear in the letterhead.

"In short, reports of our death are greatly exaggerated," Chen wrote, paraphrasing Mark Twain. To make the case in the face of "the hype from media and competitors," he presents four key points:

Our EMM customer base is much larger than any of the other vendors in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Mobile Device Management – and is growing.

We manage more mobile devices than any other vendor. Period.

We move more secure mobile data than anyone else.

We have substantial cash and are not a small VC-backed 'pure play' MDM player seeking additional funds every year.

The company is restructuring after having been on the market for some time and finally receiving an investment from Fairfax Financial and other investors. The company will continue to operate independently, but under the advisement of Fairfax. It will focus on four main areas, according to the open letter: multi-platform handsets, EMM, multi-platform IM and email, and embedded systems.

BlackBerry will also continue research into new enterprise and security measures. Chen pressed security as something all of its customers should be concerned about. He took the opportunity to further press the point that BlackBerry is not all about BlackBerry devices, but managing all devices for businesses no matter the operating system or manufacturer.

"We understand the realities of the enterprise mobility market better than anyone else, and we're in the game for the long term," Chen said.

SOURCE: BlackBerry for Business