RIM started its Tuesday by formally releasing BlackBerry Mobile Fusion. The remote administration tool is RIM’s first truly cross-platform tool and both provides the expected oversight of BlackBerry phones and PlayBooks as well as Android and iOS devices. While not as in-depth as the BlackBerry support, it can manage app loadouts, check their location if lost, remotely wipe or lock devices, and determine what access users have to network assets like VPNs.
The approach uses a single outgoing, 256-bit AES encrypted connection and is based around a web interface to make it accessible from most platforms. BlackBerry users get the advantage of Balance support, which keeps BlackBerry 7 devices’ personal and work content separate. Its overall architecture stems from BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.
Downloading Mobile Fusion itself is free, with costs varying depending on the number of people under its supervision. Companies can pay either $99 up front per person or subscribe at $48 per person per year. A 60-day trial is available to test before committing to a full deployment.
