Research in Motion has unveiled a new technology called BlackBerry Balance which will make it easier for customers to use their smartphones for work and play. The software is designed to let users keep personal and professional data separate, which means you can use a BlackBerry smartphone on a secure corporate network while still using Twitter, Facebook, or Gmail on your phone to keep in touch with your friends.
While the data is stored separately, end users can view a unified view with all content showing up in the same areas. You won’t have to flip back and forth between a corporate and a personal environment — a solution that some companies have been proposing for Android and other platforms.
IT administrators will be able to set policies using BlackBerry Enterprise Server so that users won’t compromise corporate security.
BlackBerry Balance requires BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.03 or later and phones running BlackBerry OS 6.0 and up.
On phones, data or files created by business apps won’t be accessible in personal apps, so you can’t share corporate contact info or documents via Twitter. And if a user tries to do something that isn’t allowed by IT policy then they’ll receive a notification on the phone.
Here’s the coolest part though — if you leave your job, you can keep your phone. BlackBerry Balance lets administrators remotely wipe business data without touching the personal data on your BlackBerry. On the other hand, if you lose your phone, your IT department can optionally wipe the entire device.
