BlackBerry launches new cloud-based EMM solution

BlackBerry has today launched BES12 Cloud. A fully cloud-based enterprise mobility management solution, BES12 Cloud offers employers the chance to capitalise on growing BYOD trends by allowing secure administration of a huge range of business smartphones and tablets.

Announced at last month's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the launch sees BlackBerry's successful SaaS lineup continuing to grow. BES12 Cloud joins Secusuite and the BlackBerry 10 OS itself as one of the company's flagship software services.

As part of a partnership announced at MWC, BlackBerry has also integrated Samsung's range of secure Knox devices into EMM solutions such as BES12 Cloud. The system will also incorporate Android for Work, iOS and Windows smartphones and tablets. 

Controlled entirely via browser interface, BES12 Cloud is designed to have all of the advantages of on-premise EMM solutions whilst also using the public cloud for enhanced mobility and scalability. Hosted entirely on off-site servers, it also means that CIOs don't need to invest in costly server stacks.

The tiered pricing structure is based on annual per-device subscriptions, and ranges from $23 to $90. Lower price tiers will have less support available, with more security and management options for premium customers.

BlackBerry is the latest in a long line of companies that are utilising the power of the cloud to improve their B2B offerings. J. Gold Associates predicts that by 2016, three-quarters of Enterprise Mobility Management will be based in the cloud, with similar numbers quoted by analysts in regards to application workloads and data storage.