The approval has given the smartphone manufacturer’s efforts to recover its glory a boost in the right direction.
The United States Department of Defense (DoD) will allow customers to use Blackberry’s mobile security software to manage devices on the agency’s network that are powered by iOS and Android.
BlackBerry is positioning itself as the mobile market leader in security technology for big businesses and governments.
Recently, Blackberry Limited acquired Secusmart GmbH, a German mobile security company, to enhance its security offerings for enterprise patrons. This led to BlackBerry CEO John Chen telling employees that it is now time to focus on boosting sales from the new device and software launch, which was a positive and welcome change from company layoffs.
The company, which is based out of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, announced that customers of the U.S. DoD that are BlackBerry users and/or who use smartphones or tablets that run iOS or Android and are linked to the BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) 10 technology, are now authorized to send each other sensitive information.
BlackBerry stated that “The (Security Technical Implementation Guide) approval provides additional confidence for government agencies considering a more open mobile environment with a selection of devices and operating systems.”
Blackberry has high hopes that its next generation mobile security software, BES12, will give it a leg up over the competition.
Businesses and governments utilize supposed mobile device management software to manage smartphone security and software that enterprise customers oversee or issue for their staff. BlackBerry has several competitors in his field, such as Citrix Systems Inc. Airwatch (owned by VMware Inc.), International Business Machines Corp., and MobileIron Inc.
BES12 will be launched by BlackBerry near the end of 2014 and the company is betting on this mobile management software to give them the edge they need over their competition. So far, according to Chen, the feedback the company has received from testers of the technology has been positive. Chen stated that six customers in North America and Europe were testing the tech and that an additional six would begin testing in July.
According to a spokeswoman from the company, the DoD’s approval for BES10 does not include BES12. Each version of the mobile security technology is approved separately.
