In an earlier post about BlackBerry Blend, I explained how I used it to access important information from my BlackBerry Passport from thousands of miles away. In an emergency, Blend came through for me. Blend has also made my life more convenient and comfortable at a much closer proximity.
Brrr, do you know how cold it gets in Canada?
I’m not typically one for stereotypes, except when I can use them to my advantage in corporate blog posts to paint a more interesting picture. In this case, I’m playing up the notion that my home country is an icy tundra, year round.
On this particular day in July, I had just finished shovelling out of three feet of snow, warmed up the car and drove into the office. It wasn’t until after I’d hauled myself through various parking lots, security checkpoints and four flights of stairs to reach my desk that I realized I had arrived there sans BlackBerry Passport.
I pressed my nose on the frosted window pane, looked in the general direction of my car and muttered some less-than-savoury words to myself. Alas, my BlackBerry was sitting on the passenger seat, and I was a frigid five-minute walk away from retrieving it. I had an impending meeting to attend, and a series of tasks to tackle throughout the morning. I would be BlackBerry-less for at least a few hours. . . the horror. I returned to my desk defeated and feeling lost without my BlackBerry, when it hit me. . . Blend! I exclaimed.
(Read about six other scenarios where BlackBerry Blend can save your day.)
I didn’t even miss a beat
I was at my desk, so naturally I had access to my corporate email and calendar via my standard email client (Outlook in this case), and my desk phone. Let’s face it, though: the real conversations are happening via text and BBM. I logged into Blend and was able to easily keep on top of everything, as if my BlackBerry was right at my side.
One thing that I really like about Blend is that it makes it easy to share articles and links with people via BBM. I do a lot of reading, research and meme-ing (is that a thing?) on my computer via the browser. If I want to share that over BBM, I would first have to get the link from my computer to my BlackBerry (usually by email). . . but with Blend I can just paste the link. It saves a few steps, and those equal precious seconds that I’m more than happy to have back.
It just works. . . really
The astonishing thing for me (other than the fact that forgetful-me forgot my BlackBerry somewhere again) was that my BlackBerry was connected over cellular and my computer over Wi-Fi. . . they don’t have to be on the same network, or EVEN the same technology. In my first post, I described how well it works when both devices are on Wi-Fi. . . but Blend doesn’t limit you to just that. In my next post, I’ll demonstrate how and why you would use USB (yet another way to connect).
Bring it all home, now
BlackBerry Blend is a simple program that is FREE to our customers that adds incredible value. It allows you to connect to priceless information on your BlackBerry with your PC/Mac or tablet. This innovation brings the productivity of BlackBerry Hub onto countless other screens and puts you in control of what device you work from. Best of all, it’s secure, making clever use of BlackBerry’s renowned infrastructure, because IT managers need to sleep through the night, too. I’ve become the vocal BlackBerry Blend cheerleader around the office because it has genuinely improved the way I work AND bailed me out of some situations not once, not twice. . . but thrice.
****
Smart IT managers know that there are three very good alternatives to BYOD. But what are the strengths and weaknesses of mobile deployment models such as CYOD), COPE) and COBO)? And how do you choose what’s best for your organization?
In a webinar on Thursday, May 28th (2015), BlackBerry director of security Alex Manea will be examining all four mobile deployment models and looking at the pros and cons of each.
Webinar attendees will also receive a new 100-page e-book from BlackBerry: The Definitive Guide to Enterprise Mobile Security: Strategies and Tactics for Business and IT Decision-Makers.
Co-edited by Manea and BlackBerry blogger Eric Lai, the e-book offers comprehensive strategies and actionable tips for tech and business managers wrestling with how to manage and deploy devices in a secure, future-proof way.
The webcast will air on Thursday, May 28th at 11:00 AM EDT, and will include a live Q&A with Alex. Register for Alex’s webcast HERE. You can also register for these webinars hosted by BlackBerry security experts:
June 4th: The 8 Keys to Developing a Bullet-Proof Enterprise Mobility Management Strategy, hosted by Nader Henein
June 11th: How to Create a Secure, Boundary-less Enterprise with Mobile Containers and Enterprise File Sync and Share, hosted by Jay Barbour
You can also register and listen to these webinar recordings after they are broadcast.
