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| The BlackBerry in finance | ||||
| 11th December 2006 Despite a growing number of wireless devices and solutions to enable wireless interaction between the office and those in the field, the Blackberry has stood the test of time. But is it the smart choice for the FD and his team? Mark Dye, FSN's contributing editor reports. Some events leave a lasting mark on your life; the first time you rode a bike, your first pet and the birth of your first child to name but a few. But your first BlackBerry, surely not?  Well, according to a number of high-flying executives, yes. As well as making a positive impact on productivity and improving the bottom line as a result, the BackBerry has thrown up a number of exciting possibilities and unlikely scenarios along the way – there are countless episodes of people sitting comfortably at their desks and watching emails pop through on their BlackBerry before they've even hit the desktop. Indeed, buoyed by the growth in wireless platforms, the total number of global BlackBerry subscribers has risen to more than 6.2million this year, with Research in Motion (RIM), the company that produces the Blackberry, taking pole position in the global PDA space with a 22.5% market share according to Gartner. In addition, this global coverage now spans more than 200 carrier partners in over 90 countries. The latest evolution in this, the BlackBerry Pearl, has impressed and offers excellent voice quality, good messaging capabilities, has a large screen, a camera and multimedia player to boot. When you put this together with a package that offers a fixed monthly fee with no additional charges depending on emails sent and received, then such a solution can seem compelling. As Avi Greengart, principal analyst, mobile devices, at Current Analysis, puts it, "There are plenty of competitors on the market, but none with such a laser focus on messaging, security, and management." He points to its strong end-to-end security as a particular strength. Earlier in the year the company succeeded in achieving the Communications Electronics Security Group accreditation, which has enabled two million government officials who handle 'restricted' information to benefit from the solution. Peter Roxburgh, senior verticals marketing manager at RIM, says there are other benefits too. For instance, when switched on, the device uses a secure system to generate secret keys to encrypt all inbound and outbound messages between the handheld and the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, and this can be done wirelessly. These keys, he says, ensure that data remains wholly unreadable during its transit from or to the device, with only the handheld and the server having the keys to decode the messages. "The encryption standard used is Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), which is a widely trusted encryption technology that is considered computationally infeasible to break. All data remains encrypted in transit and is never decrypted outside the corporate firewall," he adds. One handy thing beside handsets being password protected is the ability to remotely lock and wipe all data on the devices if they are lost or stolen. "The BlackBerry has a well thought out security scheme," says Greengart. "With the right IT policies in place, data is secure throughout the delivery chain and encrypted on the device as well. However, all data, in encrypted form, does need to pass through a Network Operations Center which is controlled by RIM, not the customer." However, according to Rob Bamforth, principal analyst, service provision and mobility at Quocirca, there are some concerns regarding setting up the BlackBerry server with an internal email system, but the main longer-term concern is the proprietary nature and integration to applications beyond mobile email. He also suggests that while email data costs may be constant, they can seem a little high for some, one reason he believes BlackBerries tend to be deployed to senior staff or those who really need them. "For many it's an additional device to the mobile phone, not a replacement, and this also bumps up costs," he says. Even so the device has struck a chord with businesses the world over. Today, 29 of the top 30 German DAX companies deploy BlackBerry, with the solution also being used by 75% of the CAC 40 companies listed in Paris . Within the financial services arena Charles Stanley, one of the UK 's largest and longest established private client stockbrokers, has been using the BlackBerry solution with success across its network of 25 branch offices throughout the country. "This is exactly the kind of mobile platform that we needed and we've just begun to scratch the surface of what's possible with BlackBerry," says Mark Smith, ICT Manager for the company. Roxburgh says that companies in the financial services sector have also deployed specific financial applications enabling employees to access useful information on the move – things like customised versions of online services such as Bloomberg and MarketTerminal. Bamforth reasons that the most important consideration is deploy something that can be justified in the short term, and forms part of a longer-term strategy. "For some users the Blackberry will be the right tool on both counts, for some only on the first and that's where tactical decisions need to be taken," he says. One last thing to bear in mind with this is business continuity planning and best practice, namely the ability to store and retrieve crucial data anywhere, explains Roxburgh. A good real life example of this, he says, is Prudential UK , where employees use BlackBerry to guarantee the delivery of business critical information to senior mangers electronically. "With BlackBerry, Prudential's ability to locate business continuity plans via their BlackBerry devices was invaluable during the terrorist attacks on London last year, despite the mobile networks experiencing serious disruption." Whether or not the BlackBerry sounds like it's the missing part in your mobile solution comes down to two things, due diligence and a clear sense of direction. For it's part, RIM has always been an innovator and it can be no small coincidence that these devices are known as 'CrackBerries' to the disciples that use them. |
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