BlackBerry will be bringing BES12 to Android Lollipop, as well as integrating its features with Google Play for Work. The move was made public in a joint announcement with Google, and marks another step for the company as it expands its suite of enterprise solutions to other platforms.
Google is likely to be the bigger beneficiary of this announcement, as it can now boast the same kind of security features that have made BlackBerry so popular with government organisations. That being said, Samsung devices running on Android have had the benefit of Samsung Knox – the Koreans own version of an enterprise suite – which already has some integration with BES12.2.
BlackBerry had recently registered a domain name for androidsecured, which had initially fueled speculation that the company was preparing to release announce an Android powered smartphone. While that has not yet happened, this partnership may indicate that it could be happening soon. BlackBerry CEO John Chen was quoted during the recent earnings call as saying that he would make an Android device if he could find a way to secure the platform. Right now, it looks like BlackBerry has done just that.
Expanding services to other platforms and operating systems is not entirely a new idea. Microsoft has also been expanding its suite of apps to other platforms as it also faces BlackBerry’s limited market share.
[Source: BlackBerry via CrackBerry]
