BlackBerry has integrated its Secure Platform with the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, according to a prepared statement.
Now, the following BlackBerry solutions are available on Azure:
- UEM Cloud: Offers an enterprise mobility management (EMM) solution to help end users manage an organization's iOS, macOS, Android, Windows 10 and BlackBerry 10 devices.
- Workspaces: Provides secure file storage, synchronization and sharing.
- Dynamics: Delivers an advanced, mature and tested container for mobile apps.
- AtHoc: Provides networked crisis communications for all-purpose alerting and mass emergency notifications.
The Secure Platform allows companies to manage and protect their mobile devices and connected things and secure communications for all messages and file types, BlackBerry indicated. It also helps prevent hackers from penetrating devices and computers, provides intelligence for secure supply chain communications, ensures patient confidentiality in healthcare and protects assets in the financial industry.
BlackBerry Enterprise Bridge
In addition to the Secure Platform-Azure integration, BlackBerry and Microsoft have unveiled BlackBerry Enterprise Bridge, a joint solution that enables organizations to use Microsoft mobile apps from within Dynamics.
With Enterprise Bridge, end users can enjoy a consistent experience when they open, edit or save a Microsoft Office 365 file on any iOS or Android device, BlackBerry stated. Enterprise Bridge also provides IT departments with the assurance that their company's data is secure and in compliance with corporate and regulatory policies.
How Does BlackBerry Enterprise Bridge Work?
Enterprise Bridge is a BlackBerry Dynamics-enabled and Microsoft InTune-protected app. It provides a secure bridge between BlackBerry Dynamics apps and InTune-managed mobile apps, BlackBerry said, and ensures that data encryption and document integrity are preserved in the document-sharing process.
Furthermore, Enterprise Bridge allows end users to access Office files on their mobile devices inside a secure managed app environment. This ensures that users can securely access Microsoft apps and IT departments can stop the leakage of corporate data outside of a corporate firewall, the comoany noted.
Enterprise Bridge also provides identity coherency, BlackBerry said. It verifies a user's corporate identity within BlackBerry Dynamics matches the user's corporate identity within Azure Active Directory to further reduce the risk of data leakage.
Wall Street Reacts
BlackBerry recorded a 1.4 percent year-over-year increase in net sales in fiscal year 2017, and the Microsoft agreement could help the company further accelerate its revenue growth.
The company's shares today rose 4 percent immediately following its Microsoft partnership announcement, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, BlackBerry has projected net sales growth between 1 and 3 percent in FY18.
