BlackBerry and Microsoft announced today that they have partnered to release BlackBerry Enterprise BRIDGE, combining some of Microsoft’s most popular programs with BlackBerry’s secure, mobile working tools.
BlackBerry Enterprise BRIDGE provides the only highly secure option for using native Microsoft on both iOS and Android in regulated and security conscious organizations.
With BlackBerry Enterprise BRIDGE, organizations that want the highest levels of security for their mobile users delivered by BlackBerry, and the productivity that comes from using Office apps such as Word and Excel can now enable their mobile users.
BlackBerry says many of its largest customers have already expressed an interest in the new platform, including large banks, healthcare providers, and governments.
With rapid adoption of Office 365 by business and consumer users, some employees may use personal Office 365 accounts to work with corporate files. With the collaboration between BlackBerry and Microsoft, users no longer need to use this workaround.
The BlackBerry Enterprise BRIDGE app provides identity coherency, which makes sure the corporate identity within Dynamics matches the corporate identity within Azure Active Directory.
Additionally, all BlackBerry Dynamics apps support modern authentication with Microsoft’s Active Directory Authentication Libraries (ADAL).
Carl Wiese, president of Global Sales at BlackBerry said,
“BlackBerry has always led the market with new and innovative ways to protect corporate data on mobile devices,”
“We saw a need for a hyper-secure way for our joint customers to use native Office 365 mobile apps. BlackBerry Enterprise BRIDGE addresses this need and is a great example of how BlackBerry and Microsoft continue to securely enable workforces to be highly productive in today’s connected world.”
As part of the deal, Microsoft added that BlackBerry Dynamics, along with the company’s Secure, UEM Cloud, Workspaces and AtHoc platforms are also now available on the Azure cloud, allowing more flexibility for workers on the go.
BlackBerry Enterprise BRIDGE is a BlackBerry Dynamics-enabled and Microsoft InTune-protected app. It provides a secure bridge between BlackBerry Dynamics apps and InTune-managed mobile apps.
This secure bridge ensures that data encryption and document fidelity are preserved in the document-sharing process, and that common data leakage policies are applied.
BlackBerry Enterprise BRIDGE allows you to view, create, edit, and annotate your Office files on your mobile device inside a secure managed app environment. With BlackBerry Enterprise BRIDGE, users get access to the Microsoft apps they need, and IT can stop the leakage of corporate data outside the company firewall.
BlackBerry Enterprise BRIDGE extends mobile productivity securely to all the latest devices that your employees want to use.
Judson Althoff, executive vice president of Worldwide Commercial Business at Microsoft said,
“In an era when digital technology is driving rapid transformation, customers are looking for a trusted partner,”
“Our customers choose Microsoft 365 for productivity and collaboration tools that deliver continuous innovation, and do so securely. Together with BlackBerry, we will take this to the next level and provide enterprises with a new standard for secure productivity.”
Traveling executives can open a Microsoft Word email attachment received in BlackBerry Work using the Microsoft Word app and make edits to the document – including track changes, then email the edited document with BlackBerry Work, without risk of data leakage.
Users can meet your finance department’s deadline for monthly travel expenses while on the road. Easily create or edit a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel for mobile then email it to finance or upload to a BlackBerry Workspaces folder.
Before key presentations to customers or prospects, users can add graphics, edit text, and email it in on time using BlackBerry Work, no matter where they are.
Mark Wilson, BlackBerry CMO commented,
“The Enterprise of Things is delivering new productivity benefits related to how we work,”
“BlackBerry’s software enables workflows to improve using connected things, workplaces to blend across physical and virtual locations so employees can collaborate anywhere and anytime, and workforces to seamlessly extend across employees, contractors and partners. Hyperconnected organisations need to do all of this, and only BlackBerry can ensure it’s done in a highly-secure way.”
