The Data Driver

BlackBerry and VoxSmart, a mobile surveillance and compliance firm, are announcing today the companies have partnered to help financial services firms comply on time with the European Union’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (“MiFID II”). Together with BlackBerry UEM (Unified Endpoint Management), which connects and manages endpoints, VoxSmart’s patented technology VSmart™ will provide financial services firms with the ability to capture, record, store and analyze mobile voice, text and third-party instant messaging applications such as WhatsApp and WeChat.
MiFID II, which comes into effect on January 3, 2018, demands that all financial services firms in Europe must keep records of all services, activities and transactions for at least five years. Records include all electronic and instant messaging communications, telephone conversations and text messages related to or intended to conclude in a transaction, even if one does not occur. The directive seeks to make financial …

BlackBerry and NantHealth, a cloud-based information technology provider combining science and big data to transform healthcare, announced the first secure clinical genome browser that gives doctors unprecedented access to patients’ genetic data on the BlackBerry® Passport smartphone - The NantOmics Cancer Genome Browser.
The NantOmics Cancer Genome Browser platform on the BlackBerry Passport enables deep, interactive reporting on genomics data for physicians and other treatment providers in clinical settings - for example, giving oncologists a powerful view into the individual genetic alternations that make each patient’s disease unique and highlighting relevant treatment options. The BlackBerry Passport’s large high resolution screen enables clinicians to view a patient’s chromosome at an individual base-pair level. It is the first in a series of innovative offerings being developed jointly by BlackBerry and NantHealth for use by healthcare professionals.

While BlackBerry is set to be a history, rumors are rife that BlackBerry Messenger will arrive on Andriod phones allowing users to BBM from their Andriod phone or tablet. This will certainly help a number of enterprise customers who are diehard fans of BBM. However, it is yet not certain as to when this BBM will be available on the Google Play story for download.

By: Jagan Ramaswami, Director (Consulting), Strategy & Technical Insights, Frost & Sullivan ****** Blackberry has been an early leader in the enterprise connectivity space. Many companies have lost time and money pursuing unsuccessful product strategies in this segment, where Blackberry once ruled flying high on simplicity and security. The platform is still meaningful today and can add value as a forward or backward integration play, and that is why companies such as SAP, Cisco and Google have shown interest in Blackberry.
Frost & Sullivan believes the potential interest by suitors ranging from Google and SAP to Cisco, LG and Samsung, is but a vindication of the enterprise capabilities that Blackberry forged and developed over time. For most suitors the backend platform and messaging solutions, not devices, could be the primary consideration.