企业云能否拯救黑莓？

    CrackBerry的传奇继续流传，尽管该设备称霸企业级市场的日子已经一去不返。随着iPhone和基于Android平台的智能手机份额增长，RIM（Research in Motion）的前景看来不妙，但有件事情是确定的，那就是假如RIM存活下来，那也不是因为它上周发布的某款新设备。

    在年度股东大会上，RIM公布了7款计划在黑莓7（Blackberry 7）操作系统上发布的设备，这一系列设备以Bold 9900和Torch 2为首。这7款设备也许能暂时减缓RIM迅速丢失市场份额的趋势。然而，在其核心市场——企业用户——中，RIM面临一个更严重的危机：各公司发现换用iPhone或Android手机越来越容易。受到来自雇员的压力，那些原本只支持黑莓设备的IT部门，正迅速转向业内人称的BYOD（Bring Your Own Device，带你自己的设备来）的系统。

    据科技调研机构MGI Research称，目前约有30%的公司向雇员提供全额补偿，让他们自己选择用于工作目的的智能手机；15%的提供部分补偿；而仅有45%的提供公司选择的手机。这些数字自2009年以来发生了重大变化，当时提供每种补偿的公司占比仅有10%。

    作为企业设备领域的元老公司，RIM如今正在节节败退。研究及咨询公司Sepharim Group的鲍勃•伊根表示，当员工告诉IT部门，他们想要最新最流行的智能手机时，“他们谈论的对象绝非RIM。RIM正在努力重回赛场，变得酷起来。”

    虽然RIM在财报中并未单独列出企业市场销售额，但其上季度总体利润仅为6.95亿美元，比前一季度的9.34亿美元大为下降，比起去年同期的7.69亿美元也逊色不少。尽管分析师们承认RIM目前仍是企业市场的黄金标准，但苹果正在这片市场中迅速走强。今年1月，德意志银行（Deutsche Bank）的证券研究部门公开叛逃至iPhone阵营，而最近据传其它公司也在策划转投苹果iOS的怀抱。早在去年夏天，美国电话电报公司（AT&T）就宣称，该公司每10部iPhone里就有4部被卖给了企业用户。

    值得赞许的是，RIM已经看到了这种趋势。该公司电子邮件与管理平台部高级副总裁皮特•德文伊表示：“我们意识到BYOD并不只是一时的‘潮流’，我们必须要重视这种情况。”

    在上周的股东会议上，面对投资者对苹果入侵企业市场的担忧，RIM联合首席执行官吉姆•巴尔斯利言辞激烈地声明，“我们比任何人都更了解企业客户。”

    伊根称，巴尔斯利的回答证明，RIM只是在捡投资者喜欢的话说。这种对RIM的冷嘲热讽同样弥漫于华尔街。在3月份时，RIM的股价还在60美元以上，不过随后就开始高台跳水，到6月末时，已经跌破30美元。

    瑞士银行（UBS）的分析师们在周二的会议之后向客户警告称，“我们目前尚不清楚，RIM会采取何种长效措施以遏制Android和iOS在个人消费、企业和国际市场的壮大。”

    来自投资与资产管理公司Needham and Company分析师的评论则更为尖锐，他们援引了已不复存在的美国计算机公司Digital Equipment和软件公司Lotus Development的例子，将RIM定性为“除非证明清白，否则就是有罪”。

重振雄风，再战企业市场

    RIM正在努力打消大家的疑虑，证明自己有实力再创辉煌，该公司目前的企业策略关键在于“单一界面管理系统”。德文伊解释称，RIM的策略是向企业推出跨平台的企业解决方案。他表示，一些企业客户的员工正在工作中使用搭载iOS和谷歌Android系统的设备，而RIM正是迎合了这些企业的需求。通过RiM的单一界面管理系统，IT部门无需运行多种支持程序，就能集中管理各种设备。

    德文伊还表示，企业客户正被黑莓Balance等产品所吸引，该产品巧妙地将手机划分为企业和个人两个层面，能充分满足金融家和律师等双机族人士的需求。这种划分提供了安全保障：例如，用户无法将数据从公司层中拷贝到个人Gmail账户里。但德文伊称，用户在日常使用中基本无法察觉到这种划分。

    RIM同时还计划发布基于云计算的黑莓企业服务器，它将给予企业如同内部服务器一样的安全保障，而无需再负担额外资源。

    RIM认识到平板电脑是企业级市场主要的机遇所在，而德文伊指出RIM正在为平板电脑PlayBook开发企业软件（Balance将于今夏晚些时候面世）。不过，这款平板电脑的第一版反响平平，可能对其后继产品造成压力。

    RIM正大力宣传这些设备，以期再现其作为消费者市场领跑者的辉煌，然而，其未来在于企业级市场。伊根承认，扩展黑莓的企业服务和功能是明智之举。“但他们仍在将其作为刺激黑莓设备销售的激励手段。”

    译者：项航

    The legend of the CrackBerry lives on, even as the days of the device's corporate ubiquity have faded to black. As iPhone and Android-based smartphones gain ground, Research in Motion's future looks murky, but one thing is certain: If RIM survives, it won't be because of one of the devices it announced last week.

    At its annual shareholder meeting, RIM unveiled a line of seven planned devices on the Blackberry 7 Operating System, starting with the Bold 9900 and Torch 2. Those seven devices might slow RIM's rapid loss of market share temporarily. Yet within its core market -- corporate users -- RIM faces a more dangerous crisis: Companies are finding it increasingly easier to switch to iPhones and Android phones. Under pressure from employees, IT departments that previously supported only BlackBerry devices are rapidly switching to a system known in the industry as "BYOD:" Bring Your Own Device.

    According to MGI Research, about 30% of companies now offer full reimbursement for employees to use the smartphone of their choice for work purposes; 15% offer partial reimbursements, while only 45% provide company-issued phones. Those numbers have changed significantly since 2009, when only 10% of companies issued each type of reimbursement.

    As the elder statesman of corporate devices, RIM stands to lose the most this shift. When employees tell their IT departments they'd prefer to use the latest, most popular smartphone devices, "those conversations are not about RIM," says Bob Egan of the research and consulting firm Sepharim Group. "RIM's struggle is to get back in the game, to get cool."

    RIM doesn't separate enterprise sales in its financial statements, but its total income for the last quarter was $695 million, down from $934 million the previous quarter and $769 million for the same quarter last year. Analysts acknowledge that RIM (RIMM) remains the gold standard in the enterprise for now, but Apple is gaining traction in the corporate world. In January, the equity research department of Deutsche Bank publicly defected to the iPhone, and other companies have been recently rumored to plot a switch to Apple's (AAPL) iOS. As early as last summer, AT&T claimed that 4 out of 10 of its iPhone sales were to enterprise users.

    To its credit, RIM can see that writing on the wall. "We recognize that BYOD is not a fad," says Pete Devenyi, senior vice president of email and management platforms. "It's something we have to focus on."

    During the shareholder meeting last week, co-CEO Jim Balsillie had fighting words for investors concerned about Apple's inroads in enterprise, declaring, "We understand enterprise customers better than anyone."

    This answer is evidence that RIM is merely telling investors what it thinks they want to hear, says Egan. Such cynicism dominates Wall Street's position as well. RIM's stock traded above $60 this year until March, when it began a rapid descent, falling below $30 by late June.

    UBS analysts followed Tuesday's meetings with a note to clients warning "it is unclear to us what RIMM does on a sustainable basis to stem the rising Android and iOS tide in the consumer, enterprise, and international markets."

    That's not as harsh as analysts at Needham and Company, who labeled RIM "guilty until proven innocent," invoking the ghosts of Digital Equipment and Lotus Development.

Reenergizing the enterprise effort

    While RIM struggles to overcome skepticism about its ability to produce another winner, the key to its enterprise strategy lies in a "single pane of glass." That's how Devenyi explains RIM's strategy for offering the company's enterprise solutions across multiple platforms. He says RIM listened to its corporate customers who faced demand from employees to use iOS and devices on Google's (GOOG) Android OS in the workplace. Through the RIM pane of glass, IT can centrally manage a range of devices without having to run multiple support programs.

    Devenyi says corporate customers are drawn to products such as BlackBerry Balance, which does away with the two-phone financier or lawyer by subtly dividing the user's device into corporate and consumer sides. While such a division provides security -- you can't copy data from the corporate side and paste it into your Gmail account, for instance -- Devenyi claims the divisions will be largely unnoticeable in daily use.

    RIM also plans to offer a cloud-based version of its BlackBerry Enterprise Server – giving companies the same safety as an internal server, but without the tax on resources.

    RIM recognizes that tablets are a major area of enterprise opportunity, and Devenyi points to enterprise software in development for the PlayBook (Balance will arrive later this summer). Still, the lukewarm reception to the first version of the tablet might put the pressure on its successors.

    While RIM revs its engines to promote devices in the hopes of recapturing its days of consumer market leader glory, its future lies in the enterprise. Egan acknowledges that expanding BlackBerry's enterprise services and features is a good move. "But they are still using it as a carrot to buy BlackBerry devices."