The cloud has come into its own – especially in the enterprise mobility management (EMM) space. According to Jack Gold from analyst firm J. Gold Associates LLC, approximately 75% of EMM solutions will be deployed in the cloud by 2017, with on-premises solutions mostly reserved for legacy installations. Further, high capability EMM installations beyond simple mobile device management will represent 50% of deployments, up from 25% in 2014. This reflects the ease of enabling higher end capabilities like file management, app stores, single sign on and data security when provisioned by cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) systems.
Bringing EMM into the cloud reduces the workload of administrators while allowing enterprises to both secure a wider range of devices through identity-based (rather than device-based) mobility management and lessen the risk of shadow IT. Cloud EMM isn’t without roadblocks, however. Many organizations are wary about cloud privacy and security, particularly in regulated industries.
Properly implemented, however, a cloud-based EMM platform can be just as secure as one that’s deployed on-premises. That’s why Microsoft and BlackBerry – leaders in the cloud and EMM markets, respectively – are announcing a new partnership. Starting today, BlackBerry UEM (Unified Endpoint Manager, formerly known as BES12), is available through Microsoft’s cloud service platform, Azure (scroll down to the bottom for a quick overview).
“We’re dedicated to making [BlackBerry UEM] available in every configuration enterprises require – cloud and on-premises – and we’re excited to make it available on Azure,” Mark Wilson, SVP and Chief Evangelist at BlackBerry, explained in a Q&A on the combined offering. “We see customers increasingly gravitating to Azure for all kinds of cloud-based enterprise solutions, and it makes sense that [BlackBerry UEM] is accessible to them this way, too.”
According to Wilson, deploying BlackBerry UEM on Microsoft Azure allows the companies to offer a “best-of-both-worlds” scenario. BlackBerry UEM is a solution designed with the compliance needs of the most strictly regulated industries in mind, while Azure places an emphasis on the customer’s control over its own data. Thanks to the proven track records of both Microsoft and BlackBerry in this regard, even organizations with concerns about cloud adoption can enjoy the benefits of cloud EMM.
“Consolidating and simplifying the way enterprise tools are deployed, hosted and managed saves time and money,” added Microsoft Canada’s National Security Officer John Hewie.
How much time? Writing in BlackBerry’s Developers blog, Ed Bourne details how he set up mobile devices to work on Blackberry UEM and Azure in just 20 minutes.
“That’s why it makes sense to leverage Azure to host [BlackBerry UEM],” said Hewie. “There are technical and business benefits to scaling up this way, and the net result is better ROI.”
Organizations that deploy BlackBerry UEM on Microsoft Azure will also benefit from easier licensing and access to technical support from both BlackBerry and Microsoft; customers still on BES5 can also use this opportunity to upgrade to BlackBerry UEM.
“Both companies are really excited about this new venture, and we’re looking forward to watching more and more Azure-hosted [BlackBerry UEM] deployments emerge in the weeks and months ahead,” said Wilson.
Want to learn more about the partnership, and what it can do for your business? Check out the white paper, which contains the full Q&A with Wilson and Hewie. Or read Ed Bourne’s account of how quickly you can set up BlackBerry UEM on Azure. You can also get started with a free 60-day trial of BES12 on the Azure Marketplace.
Microsoft Azure integrates a diverse array of cloud services into a single platform. With Azure, you can easily build and deploy modern, cross-platform Web and mobile applications, store and recover data in the cloud with ease, run large-scale computing jobs including data analysis, leverage the Internet of Things and a great deal more. Used by over 80% of Fortune 500 companies, Azure is a robust cloud solution designed around security, privacy and control.
BlackBerry UEM, meanwhile, is BlackBerry’s industry-leading multi-OS EMM platform, designed for intuitive, single-screen mobility management. With BlackBerry UEM, you can manage your mobile workers’ access to applications, data and content with ease. Using BlackBerry UEM also equips your organization with scalable architecture, support for a diverse array of SaaS applications and deployment types, a complete set of EMM policies and profiles, and BlackBerry’s renowned end-to-end security.
For more on BlackBerry UEM Licensing, visit BlackBerry Enterprise Webcast Central for archived presentations on this and other enterprise solutions from BlackBerry.