Satan may have to strap on his ice skates. In a move many people wanted but few thought they would ever see Research In Motion is opening the door to finally let other devices play with the famed BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server). There are few details about what services will be included but read after the jump for what we do know.

RIM is calling this new offering BlackBerry Mobile Fusion. RIM a short time ago would have told you there was no way you would ever see other phones talking to BES. With many recent flops in the company history, like the PlayBook, it may be sink or swim time for RIM and the BlackBerry brand. Mobile Fusion will control Android and iOS devices in ways similar to BB devices currently. Features like remote wipe and allowing different policies for corporate or personally owned devices will be there as well. Is it too late though? Microsoft’s Exchange Server already offers remote wipe and policy controls on Android devices using the ActiveSync protocols.

There are still a lot of questions that come to mind also about what you can do with BES on Android or iOS, such as custom applications. Many companies out there have custom web applications that are developed for ticket systems or dispatching technicians. CNET points out that most companies are shifting to the bring your own device ideals. This is something that also really hurt RIM when almost everyone and their brother began carrying smart phones everywhere. I carry three phones on me at all times and one of them happens to be a company BlackBerry that I would honestly rather be without. When it comes down to it though this is a nice offering that I am sure many administrators will love to see. Could we possibly see RIM phase out the phones themselves all together in the near future and just be a software company?

Source: CNET

Related articles

• RIM unveils BlackBerry Mobile Fusion for enterprise, extends reach to Android, iOS (engadget.com)
• RIM aims to dress Android & iPhone in BlackBerry suit (slashgear.com)