U.S. Gov. Says ByeBye Blackberry, and Hello Apple!

Obama carries his iPad to the limo. Source whitehouse

Yes, this is Steve Job's dream come true!
The US Government has long had a strict Blackberry rule. If you used an Email enabled phone, it was a Blackberry. Why would the United States Government limit it's employee's to just one smartphone? Because of their Secure Messaging System. Blackberry promises some of the most secure mobile Email in the world. That coupled with 256 bit encryption on the phones at a hardware level, their Government model phones are extremely secure.

However, users can speak very loudly and in my experience, users want iPhones and they want Droids. In many cases employees will carry two phones. A Blackberry for work and an iPhone or a Droid for home. They like the interfaces and the apps. The availability of software to do almost anything you can imagine, is very alluring. But what about security? Well you can lock down iOS and Android devices through strict rules implemented by your administrator. Apple and Google both have been working very hard as of late on Active Directory integration with their devices, as have Microsoft.

This has been a rolling storm for a few months now, but it now is finally coming to a boil. RIM is losing it's long held grip in the U.S. Government.The Government is allowing other devices and they are predominately iPhones and iPads rolling in. The savings from this change should be immense, in the billions. A few Government offices are also planning to move their Email to "the cloud", using Google and Microsoft services. Blackberry still has the majority of the Government market, but you can expect that to change rapidly in the coming months. This will have a trickle down effect thru-out Big Business as well and you will continue to see RIMs numbers dwindle.

When Kundra, the U.S. Top Information Officer, was asked what he typically hears from workers about gov­ernment- or corporate-provided technology, Kundra replied, “It’s not a question of whether they don’t like it. They despise it.” He also said, “The line between work and home in terms of technology is beginning to blur.” So what is his answer? "Give it to them!" Let the workers use whatever device they want and apply very strict security settings.

Charlie Wolf, an analyst for Needham & Co is quoted as saying, “The best way I can describe BlackBerry is as a one-trick pony, The one trick was their secure messaging platform. Management has yet to understand that the world has changed. They didn’t understand that it was a software game going forward.” This is where Apple led the way and Google soon followed. With constantly advancing Operating Systems and ever evolving development platforms, The iOS and Android devices have dominated the market. Apple has the market majority for the time being, but I personally see the Government population of devices being close to 50/50 in 2 years. With Blackberry only having a very limited showing. This is based off what I have seen in the lower end of the spectrum.

Welcome to the "Federal Government 2.0" One with a plan to embrace new technology.

Source: Washington Post
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad 2

The End of Blackberry?

First of all, As you guys know I do not usually cut, copy and paste and article from another source into my blog. However, today's piece is an exception. It is so well written and informative that I just cannot help but paste it word for word and link for link... So I have quoted the original article from InfoWorld and Galen Gruman below.



I hate to kick someone when they're down, but since the wounds are self-inflicted, I'll get over it in this case. Yesterday at its BlackBerry World show, Research in Motion co-CEO Jim Balsillie demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that the BlackBerry is dead. For the last few years, I've marveled in a horrified way as the once-top smartphone creator dug itself deeper into a pit of denial about the changes in the mobile market. It's hard for a company to adjust to a new reality, especially after a decade of success that bred complacency. But RIM isn't even trying any more.

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