BlackBerry is back in the news today as the company is making a move further into the enterprise mobility management space. BlackBerry is buying the Sunnyvale, California-based company Good Technology in an all-cash deal worth $425 million. For BlackBerry, the purchase is about investing into cross-platform mobile device management for enterprise customers, an increasing focus for the company since it’s reign as the top handset maker was stifled by iOS and Android.
Enhanced by Good, BlackBerry will expand its ability to offer a unified, secure mobility platform with applications for any mobile device on any operating system – supported with security that has been certified by governments around the world embedded in every component of the mobility infrastructure.
Included in Good’s portfolio of products is the Good Collaboration Suite for iOS and Android which includes enterprise-focused calendar, email, messaging, and document sharing apps for business customers.
In announcing the acquisition, BlackBerry notes that iOS makes up a majority of Good’s install base at 64% with Android and Windows Phone following. BlackBerry has also had its hand in more consumer-focused apps with BlackBerry Messenger for iOS plus a number of business-centric apps for the platform.
The two companies shared an executive Q&A to discuss the deal. Particularly interesting in that was Good CEO Christy Wyatt’s comments on wearables including the Apple Watch:
In addition to smartphones and tablets running iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry OS, Good will enable BlackBerry to add support for wearables. This is something we do today for both Apple Watch and Android Wear.
BlackBerry’s purchase of Good Technology comes as Apple itself grows its MobileFirst enterprise initiative with IBM and entering into a new agreement with Cisco to improve enterprise services for iOS users.
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Two thoughts….
1. Wait a minute…. Blackberry has $425 million laying around?
2. It’s an all-cash deal. Apparently, the company getting bought didn’t want one single shred of Blackberry’s stock. That should tell you what they think about their own company’s ability to lift Blackberry out of the drain.