14 DAY TRIAL // BlackBerry Business Cloud Services for Microsoft Office 365 has reached Beta stage, with RIM inviting early adopters to test the upcoming offering which was initially announced in March 2011.
Developed in close partnership with Microsoft, the new RIM service is designed to bridge Blackberry devices with the Redmond company’s Cloud flavor of Exchange.
According to the software giant, existing Office 365 enterprise subscribers, as well as customers leveraging standalone Exchange Online will be able to take advantage of the RIM Blackberry Business Cloud Services free of charge.
“BlackBerry Business Cloud Services is an easy and cost-effective way for businesses and government agencies to extend Microsoft Office 365 to BlackBerry smartphones and manage the deployment in the cloud,” revealed Alan Panezic, vice president at Research In Motion.
“We have been working together with Microsoft and select customers through an early access program and we are pleased to now launch an open beta for the service.”
The new service makes it simpler for owners of BlackBerry smartphones to access their email, calendar and organizer from Exchange Online.
With the help of the BlackBerry Balance technology, content on handsets is offered in unified form, even though it’s in fact a mix of work and personal emails, calendar info, etc.
The BlackBerry Business Cloud Services for Microsoft Office 365 also comes with management enhancements for both IT administrators and users alike. Admins get a web-based console simplifying provisioning, management and security, and BlackBerry owners can reset passwords, remotely lock and wipe their devices.
“BlackBerry Business Cloud Services will help accelerate how BlackBerry customers can realize the full benefits of the best productivity experience across the PC, browser and phone with Microsoft Office 365,” added Julia White, senior director of Microsoft’s Exchange Product Management Group.
“This new service delivers valuable enhancements to Office 365 while preserving the cost and business agility benefits the cloud offers to organizations of all sizes.”