RIM has announced that its BlackBerry Business Cloud Services will now be made available for Microsoft Office 365. Primarily meant for business and government organizations, the expansion will allow BlackBerry device owners to use Exchange Online and other such Microsoft services on their smartphones through a cloud based medium.
Along with business data plans, this facility will also work on RIM handsets which are being used with consumer data plans. It is expected to offer wireless synchronization on BlackBerry gadgets to not only Exchange Online, but also to the organizer data and calendar. Enhanced with BlackBerry Balance technology, the service should provide a seamless view of work or personal content on the mobile device, while keeping it secure and segregated.
“RIM is pleased to launch BlackBerry Business Cloud Services for Microsoft Office 365. This new cloud-based option allows customers to cost-effectively support mobility across their organizations and easily manage and secure their BlackBerry deployments,” commented Alan Panezic, Vice President, Enterprise Product Management and Marketing at RIM. “We continue to build upon the end-to-end BlackBerry solution for our business and government customers with both on-premise and cloud-based solutions, a range of technical support options to suit any size organization, and a growing ecosystem of apps and services for users.”
Users are further provided with online access to self-service smartphone security functions. In case of theft or loss of the mobile phones, it allows owners to remotely wipe or lock content, and reset the device password as well. In addition to this, a web-based console permits IT administrators to seamlessly manage and secure these handsets from just about anywhere.
The BlackBerry Business Cloud Services for Microsoft Office 365 has been made available in 50 countries. It can be downloaded for trial or subscribed for through the official BlackBerry or Microsoft website.