BlackBerry Secure Work Space on Android, iOS

BlackBerry earned its dominant place in the corporate world by supporting its early phones with back-end tools helping worried managers to lock down devices.

The company’s security management tools helped sell phones by the container.

Today BlackBerry is no longer the only game in town. Workers are just as likely to carry iPhones or Androids.

So it makes sense for BlackBerry to offer the same management tools so businesses can secure Android and iOS devices.

As you’d expect, BlackBerry Enterprise Services integrates directly with the key apps on one of the company’s own phones.

On iPhones and Androids it means using BlackBerry apps for business work. There’s email, calendar and contacts together with a secure web browser. Creating or editing documents happens with BlackBerry’s Documents to Go.

All this is walled off in a separate area on the phone so they don’t overlap with personal data.

It’s a smart move by BlackBerry. The service costs from US$100 a year, which, realistically is in line with the margin the company makes from selling its own kit. It also gives BlackBerry the chance to stay in touch with key corporate accounts.