BlackBerry Copies IOS 4 Feature in Server Upgrade

From PC World: Research in Motion released BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server) 5.02 today, an update that, in an unusual turnabout, copies a mobile management capability from the iPhone's iOS: the ability to manage corporate data separately from personal data. That allows, for example, IT to block access to corporate email and contacts from a device if a user leaves the company or loses the BlackBerry, while leaving the user's personal data intact. Apple introduced a similar capability in its iOS 4.0 in early June.

RIM says the new feature is designed for businesses whose employees provide their own smartphones, as many now do. It essentially creates a new "employee-liable" policy that disallows access to corporate systems if the device is locked; employees can continue to access their personal email and contact information as well as make phone calls using their personal cell service account.

But IT can't take advantage of the new BlackBerry capability just yet; handhelds will need the forthcoming new version of the BlackBerry OS to work with the new capability, RIM says. Also, the free BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express server won't have the new capability until late 2010.

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