Good news for RIM (RIMM): It may win back a big government client that decided weeks ago to switch to the iPhone. The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) is planning to launch a pilot program next year that will test out RIM’s upcoming BlackBerry 10 phones and the new BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 platform. ICE has roughly 17,600 employees, so if RIM can convince the agency to adopt BlackBerry 10 it will be a huge win for a company that has seen many significant government and corporate clients switch to other devices over the past year. RIM will likely have to work much harder to convince the likes of Yahoo (YHOO) CEO Marissa Mayer, who recently suggested that she didn’t even thank of BlackBerry devices as smartphones anymore. RIM’s press release follows below.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Launch BlackBerry 10 Pilot Program
Washington D.C. – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) announced today that it will begin a pilot program with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for the new BlackBerry® Enterprise Service 10 mobile enterprise management solution and BlackBerry® 10 smartphones in early 2013. ICE will be among the first government organizations to pilot the new BlackBerry 10 solution.
“ICE has been a valued BlackBerry customer for years, and our commitment to government agencies has influenced the development of the BlackBerry 10 platform.” said Scott Totzke, Senior Vice President, BlackBerry Security, Research In Motion. “Along with providing workers with secure access to behind-the-firewall confidential information, BlackBerry 10 can help organizations fully leverage the potential of mobile technology to offer new services, improve service delivery and increase organizational productivity. We look forward to sharing more features of the BlackBerry 10 platform at our global launch event on January 30.”
RIM recently announced that the BlackBerry 10 platform has received FIPS 140-2 certification ahead of launch. The certification will enables government agencies to deploy BlackBerry 10 smartphones and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 from the day of launch. RIM first introduced mobile device management solutions more than a decade ago and continues to be a global leader in providing mobility solutions to government agencies.
