BlackBerry to Acquire Good Technology: It’s Not About the Phones!
If you only follow the mobile phone space to see what other gadgets attorneys are using, the news that BlackBerry recently signed an agreement to acquire Good Technology in a cash deal valued at $425 million may not have registered on your radar. After all, the majority of attorneys who use smartphones use Apple Inc.’s iPhones according to the latest American Bar Association 2015 Legal Technology Survey Report, as reported by Jeff Richardson.
But if you’re charged with securing smartphones in law firms, the news brings you more options to secure client and firm data on mobile devices. The acquisition brings to BlackBerry increased support to manage applications and security on multiple mobile device operating systems, including Apple Inc.’s iOS, Google Inc.’s Android and Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 10.
Good Technology protects customer privacy with application-level encryption, data-loss prevention techniques and secure communication between applications. With BlackBerry 10, BlackBerry Enterprise Server 12 (BES12), and the company’s experience in managing Android and Samsung Corp.’s KNOX-enabled devices, the BlackBerry-Good combination will provide customers with numerous options to employ bring-your-own-device (BYOD) programs and deploy corporate-owned, personally enabled (COPE) devices.
Despite BlackBerry phones’ fall from grace and the iPhone’s meteoric rise, circa 2007, the Waterloo, Ontario-based business has remained focused on enterprise mobile management (EMM). If the acquisition is approved by regulators, BlackBerry will advance its position in EMM and may overtake the current leader, AirWatch by VMware, majority-owned by EMC Corp.
BlackBerry COO Marty Beard and Good Technology CEO Christy Wyatt discuss how the two companies will mesh and deliver a combined vision here. More coverage: Forbes Inc., Reuters.com.
Attorney Sean Doherty is a freelance writer based in Brooklyn, New York. Email: sean@laroque-doherty.net. Twitter: @SeanD0herty.
