Why do people still use Blackberry?

Keyboards, security, and IT requirements seem to top the list.

According to an article written by Jon Brodkin of Arstechnica.com, there are a few reasons people still use Blackberry and will likely continue to use Blackberry for some time to come. There are still 70 million Blackberry users, so to anticipate them going away soon is a bit unrealistic. The market share for Blackberry has fallen from 18.7% to 11.7% in the second quarter alone. Despite their financial problems, service problems, dying investor confidence, the consumerization of IT, and lack of any new device capable of the advanced user experience iOS and Android users get, Blackberry still has some very strong things going their way.

“If it were up to IT managers there would still be only one solution out there and it would be called Blackberry”, says Dan Croft, CEO of Mission Critical Wireless, which helps businesses manage mobile deployments. What is being seen is not a removal of RIM from enterprises, but an addition of non-Blackberry devices. Even though iOS and Android support encryption, ActiveSync security policies, remote wipes, and tracking services, RIM security is more robust and easier to implement – especially after a company invests in a BES server. All Blackberry communications are routed through RIM’s Network Operations Center which adds a layer of encryption and tracking/logging of Blackberry communications – sometimes essential for corporations who need to comply with regulations around archiving such as those included with Sarbanes Oxley. But this also presents another layer for failure as seen with Blackberry’s global outage earlier this month.

There are also questions around the iOS and Android platform when it comes to securing the contents of a device. Being able to install apps can present a problem when users have their way with Dropbox, Box.net, and other “cloud” storage solutions. The legal department in most enterprises (Newmont included) usually are completely against putting company documents on a server they have no control over. Failing to present documents during an audit because the company did not know where they were stored could be a legal nightmare.

The article goes on to mention some other things like the desire for hard keyboards and the fact that there are people who use Blackberry simply because they have no choice, their IT department forces them into one device only with little regard to the alleged boost in efficiency that iOS and Android offers.

Read the article here: Why people still use BlackBerry: keyboards, security, and IT requirements – 10/24/2011