Yesterday, at an enterprise event in San Francisco, Samsung and BlackBerry announced a partnership that combines Samsung’s Knox platform with BlackBerry’s BES12 cross-platform EMM solution. The purpose of this partnership is to boost Android security by leveraging BlackBerry’s end-to-end encryption expertise. This seems like a strange, unlikely move, but Chris Behringer, Bloomberg Head of Enterprise Mobility, says “BlackBerry and Samsung’s creation of an integrated enterprise solution for Android makes sense. Security is a top priority for us, and this combined offering provides a new versatile option to the marketplace.”
BlackBerry’s smartphone market share may have declined, but the company’s reputation as an enterprise-and-security powerhouse remains strong. On the other hand, Samsung is one of the top leaders in the US marketplace. The company’s Knox platform has been developed as an answer to the Bring Your Own Device debate, by allowing users of Samsung smartphones and tablets to make a smooth transition between work and personal data, quickly and securely, on a single device. When it comes to the security software, however, there have been reports of security flaws, which has cast some doubt on the service. Injong Rhee, Senior Vice President of KNOX Business group, Samsung Electronics said: “We share the goal to provide enterprises with the most secure mobility solutions through this partnership with BlackBerry. Samsung KNOX is focused on delivering secure mobility solutions to enterprises and, combined with BES12, we will offer more options for customers that need enhanced levels of security on Android devices.”
John Sims, President of Global Enterprise Services, BlackBerry said :“It is a natural progression in our path to providing our customers with more alternatives to meet their evolving mobile needs. Samsung KNOX offers a number of hardware and software security features and our partnership allows us to tightly integrate these capabilities with BES12.”
In conclusion, this partnership is a win-win situation. BlackBerry would strengthen Knox’s security pedigree, while simultaneously introducing BlackBerry’s BES 12 software into companies that decide to adopt Samsung’s Knox platform. It’ll be available in early 2015, with more information on subscription prices to come. For more info visit Blackberry’s press release.