Hard Work pays off for BlackBerry 

Such is the case with mobile developer BlackBerry who announced that it will become a preferred enterprise mobility management (EMM) of Google’s Android for Work. The partnership will see the two firms collaborate to launch a new cross-platform solution known as BES12.

“BlackBerry is working with Google to provide customers with solutions they can confidently deploy on all major mobile platforms within their organization,” Billy Ho, executive vice president of Enterprise Products and Value-Added Solution for BlackBerry said in a press release.

“Android for Work with BES12 will provide customers with another option to enhance their mobile security and the productivity of their employees, and the peace of mind that they will not have to relinquish any control over corporate data, sacrifice user experience or introduce more complexity into their environments,” Ho added.

Designed to help businesses create a dedicated, secure profile for their data and apps, the integration of Android for Work into BES12 will simplify the management of platform-level activity, thus reducing the need for application wrapping.

BES12 will provide users with unbridled access to Google Now and IT-approved apps from the Google Play Store. Furthermore, the BES12 environment will makes the administration of Android for Work-enabled mobile devices easier by streamlining device platform and deployment model management.

The Android partnership will also extend to other BlackBerry services, including BBM Meetings, BBM Protected, VPN Authentication and Worklife. A preview of the new platform will be available in March, while the full launch of BES12 will take place in the second quarter of 2015.