WATERLOO, Ontario, March 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BlackBerry Limited (NYSE:BB) (TSX:BB) today announced it is furthering its leadership in securing the Enterprise of Things (EoT) with a wide-range of new software capabilities aimed at making it easier for users, IT managers, and developers to do more, securely.

Companies choose BlackBerry to connect and secure their endpoints, which are both physical (e.g., smartphones, tablets, wearables) and digital (e.g., messaging, files, voice, text), as well as aid them in the development of smart systems. The company does this with BlackBerry Secure, an end-to-end EoT platform, comprised of its enterprise communication and collaboration software and safety-certified embedded solutions.

Available this Spring, the world’s largest banks, hospitals, law firms, manufacturers and governments will now be able to have the same secure desktop experience on any mobile device – anytime, anyplace – with the following new BlackBerry Secure capabilities:

Features to Improve User Productivity

• Securely use Microsoft mobile apps with BlackBerry Enterprise BRIDGE. By making Microsoft’s mobile apps seamlessly available from within BlackBerry Dynamics applications, such as BlackBerry Work, users will now have a consistent experience when opening, editing, and saving a Microsoft Office 365 file such as Excel, PowerPoint, and Word on iOS^® or Android™ devices.
• Unplug from work afterhours. With BlackBerry Work’s new Do Not Disturb feature, enterprises can block email and calendar notifications for their employees outside of normal business hours. This feature can be overridden by individual users. 
• Keep your personal number private. With BlackBerry WorkLife, outbound calls on a BYOD device use an employee’s desk number, not their personal number, which keeps their personal number private. This desk-to-mobile convergence also allows employees to place calls on their BYOD phone by just dialing desk extensions, and more importantly ensures that enterprises in regulated industries can maintain call recording to ensure compliance.
• Share photos, videos, PDF’s and other files on persistent group chats within BlackBerry Connect.

Solutions to Simplify IT Management of Endpoints and Notifications

• Deploy pre-configured and secure Android devices on-demand and at scale. BlackBerry’s zero-touch enrollment ensures the activation flow kicks off immediately, minimizing the steps employees must take to get up and running.
• Manage the communication of IT notifications with users from a single platform, leveraging phone, text, and mobile notifications to drive improved compliance. For example, IT managers can now simply send a text message to all users for alerts such as “power outage in building C” from BlackBerry UEM.
• Support and provide Apple iOS devices that can be easily shared by shift workers via a “check-in, check-out” process. BlackBerry’s process doesn’t require apps and device configuration to be removed and then re-added when changing users, simplifying IT’s job and the end-user experience.

Software for Developers to Build Highly-Secure Systems and Apps

• Build mission- and safety-critical systems, such as automotive systems, rail transportation controls, healthcare machines and industrial automation systems, with BlackBerry’s QNX OS for Safety 2.0. Based on BlackBerry’s most advanced and secure embedded QNX SDP 7.0 operating system, the new software platform is certified to ISO 26262 ASIL D and IEC 61508 SIL3, the highest levels achievable for the respective standards.
• Gain access to user- and feature-level analytics. BlackBerry Analytics enables developers to understand how users interact with applications on a daily or monthly basis, as well as the impact that device type, OS version, or form factor has on feature usage.
• Quickly build secure file sharing into Android applications that offer 256-bit file encryption with the new Workspaces Android SDK.
• Provide greater security and control for corporate application, such as managing Face ID as a means for accessing BlackBerry Dynamics apps on iPhoneX, as well as prevent iOS screen recording and sharing of Dynamics Apps.

“The Enterprise of Things is delivering new productivity benefits related to how we work,” said Mark Wilson, Chief Marketing Officer, BlackBerry. “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 organizations need to do all of this, and BlackBerry can ensure it’s done in a highly-secure way.”

Why BlackBerry Secure?
BlackBerry holds more than 80 security certifications in the industry. Gartner, Inc., the leading provider of research and analysis on the global information technology industry, gave BlackBerry the highest product scores for all six use cases in its Critical Capabilities for High-Security Mobility Management¹ for the second year in a row. The company was also named a Leader in its 2017 Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Mobility Management Suites.²

BlackBerry Secure World Tour
CIOs, CSOs, and business leaders will be able to demo and learn more about the new software features during the company’s first BlackBerry^® Secure™ World Tour which will take place in ten cities in May and June. During the all-day event, attendees will also learn how to develop a holistic security strategy, with tools to enable boundary-free collaboration, and best practices for digital business processes that will transform the way their organizations work. Click here to register to attend the BlackBerry Secure World Tour, and visit BlackBerry.com for more information on BlackBerry Secure.

About BlackBerry
BlackBerry is an enterprise software and services company focused on securing and managing IoT endpoints. The company does this with BlackBerry Secure, an end-to-end Enterprise of Things platform, comprised of its enterprise communication and collaboration software and safety-certified embedded solutions.

Based in Waterloo, Ontario, BlackBerry was founded in 1984 and operates in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Middle East, Latin America and Africa. The Company trades under the ticker symbol “BB” on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. For more information visit BlackBerry.com, and follow the company on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

¹ Gartner, Critical Capabilities for High-Security Mobility Management, by John Girard, Dionisio Zumerle, Rob Smith, August 24, 2017.
²Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Mobility Management Suites, by Rob Smith, Bryan Taylor, et al., June 6, 2017.

Disclaimer: Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

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