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IBM and RIM Mobilize Web 2.0 Capabilities

New Mobile Web Solution Brings Social Networking, Enterprise Collaboration and Information on Demand to BlackBerry Smartphones

 IBM and Research In Motion are taking mobile work far beyond email by delivering to mainstream business professionals the full line of Web 2.0-powered IBM Lotus® collaboration software and information on demand on the market-leading BlackBerry® platform.

The joint initiative enables customers to securely manage their communications, contacts and schedules and collaborate and network through social software, all from within the familiar, intuitive interface of their BlackBerry smartphones. This includes the general availability of the new BlackBerry Client for IBM Lotus Connections, IBM’s social software for business, at a time when eMarketer forecasts that mobile social networking will grow from 82 million users in 2007 to over 800 million worldwide by 2012.

This year, for the first time, more people in the world will have a mobile device than a landline telephone. IBM’s Institute for Business Value predicts one billion mobile Web users by 2011 and a significant shift in the way the majority of people will interact with the Web over the next decade.

“As the world enters the ‘Era of the Mobile Web’, mobile devices like BlackBerry are outnumbering TV’s, credit cards and PC’s, and are becoming increasingly critical to business operations for companies of all sizes globally,” said Bob Picciano, GM Lotus Software. “Today’s announcement extends the portfolio of IBM’s industry-leading social computing and collaboration offerings available to customers as they increasingly rely on their BlackBerry® smartphones.”

“The organizational and personal benefits of the Lotus collaboration suite together with the mobility and security advantages of the widely-adopted BlackBerry platform provide an unmatched solution for enterprise customers,” said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at Research In Motion.

IBM and RIM are making the following technologies portable and accessible, anytime and anywhere:

  • Portals & Dashboards: IBM WebSphere Portal and IBM dashboard software lets businesses build Web sites and single screen dashboard views that deliver information, applications and processes personalized to the individual BlackBerry smartphone user.
  • Social Networking: The BlackBerry Client for IBM Lotus Connections helps people tap into the collective knowledge of others and find the people and information they need for the task at hand while on the go.
  • Messaging and Calendaring: BlackBerry® Enterprise Server for IBM Lotus Notes and Domino enables access to key email and calendaring functions as well as custom applications built with Lotus Domino.
  • Unified Communications: The BlackBerry Client for IBM Lotus Sametime lets people access their full buddy list, send and receive instant messages, view presence information and convert an IM session to a phone call with a simple click.
  • Business Intelligence: IBM Cognos 8 Go! Mobile business intelligence software is the industry’s first business intelligence solution designed specifically for the BlackBerry platform. It provides personalized secure business information in the right context to allow people to view and interact with dashboard-style reports to make informed decisions while they are on the move.

The BlackBerry platform is the only mobile enterprise solution to provide mobile access to all major Lotus collaboration solutions today. The proven, market-leading BlackBerry platform enhances the mobile experience for these solutions by enabling the following capabilities:

  • Automated Data Delivery and Synchronization – The push-based architecture of BlackBerry® Enterprise Server automates data delivery and synchronization, enabling timely alerts and notifications within Lotus applications on BlackBerry smartphones.
  • Easy Deployment – The mobile device management capabilities of BlackBerry Enterprise Server allow IT groups to centrally manage and wirelessly deploy BlackBerry client software for Lotus applications.
  • Market-Leading Enterprise-Class Security – The BlackBerry platform is based on a proven security architecture that helps ensure the confidentiality and integrity of wirelessly transmitted information between backend servers and BlackBerry smartphones. With support for more than 400 over-the-air wireless IT policies and commands that enable IT administrators to wirelessly enforce security settings, BlackBerry Enterprise Server meets even the most stringent IT requirements.

Businesses from around the world are already turning to IBM and RIM to help them take collaboration on the road. Financial services giant MetLife is among them.

“Lotus Notes on BlackBerry is used to connect diverse groups at MetLife, including sales and administration,” said Tony Arroyo, IT Manager, MetLife, New York. “Soon we will move forward with Sametime. There is also interest in the advanced collaboration tools within Lotus Notes 8.”

Standard Life PLC, a global financial services firm based in the United Kingdom with 7 million customers, has over 1,100 employees using BlackBerry smartphones and 10,000 employees using Lotus Notes to collaborate and access the corporate intranet, teamrooms and emergency contact lists.

“Lotus software on BlackBerry is critical to our business as it allows Standard Life to enable better collaboration across the world at any time,” said William Campbell, Desktop Services Manager, Standard Life, who is also presenting at the Wireless Enterprise Symposium this week. “We have taken BlackBerry way beyond email, adding a high level of rich functionality resulting in what one of our users calls ‘the laptop in your pocket.’”

Johnson Controls, Inc., based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has 140,000 employees specializing in the design, manufacturing, and installation of automotive systems and non-residential climate control systems. The company provides automotive batteries and all parts of the interior systems in cars and light trucks. Reliance on Lotus Notes via BlackBerry smartphones has grown and now Johnson Controls is moving ahead with Lotus Notes 8.01 with BlackBerry.

Some of the world’s most discriminating technology experts work for the Aerospace Corporation, headquartered in El Segundo, California. Aerospace Corp. employees access Lotus Notes & Domino on their BlackBerry smartphones as they provide independent technical and scientific research, development, and advisory services to national-security space programs and major projects for the United States Air Force, the National Reconnaissance Office, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, commercial companies, and leading universities.