BlackBerry invests in mobile management with $425m Good Technology acquisition

Canadian mobile company BlackBerry has moved to strengthen its mobile device management offering with the acquisition of a major competitor in that space – Good Technology – for $425 million.

BlackBerry’s core offering, even when it was a successful smartphone player, was its secure mobile platform, which was the default for enterprise mobile email for some time. Good Technology also specialises in providing secure mobility to BlackBerry is both enhancing its offering and removing a major competitor.

A few years ago, when it was clear it had lost the smartphone market to Apple and Google, BlackBerry restructured into four main business units: smartphones, BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server – the mobile platform), BBM (the OTT messaging app) and QNX (its automotive platform). This was similar to the restructure of Nokia, but BlackBerry has yet to find a buyer for any of the four units.

There have been few signs of a turnaround in the smartphone and BBM units and QNX operates in mainly separate area, so it looks like BlackBerry is doubling down on the BES unit, hence this acquisition, with a strong position in mobile device management also useful for the exploding IoT industry.

“By acquiring Good, BlackBerry will better solve one of the biggest struggles for CIOs today, especially those in regulated industries: securely managing devices across any platform,” said BlackBerry CEO John Chen. “By providing even stronger cross-platform capabilities our customers will not have to compromise on their choice of operating systems, deployment models or any level of privacy and security.

“Like BlackBerry, Good has a very strong presence in enterprises and governments around the world and, with this transaction, BlackBerry will enhance its sales and distribution capabilities and further grow its enterprise software revenue stream.”

“Enterprise customers today demand stringent security and the most flexible platform across all mobility strategies,” said Christy Wyatt,CEO of Good Technology. “We are excited to join BlackBerry, where together we will be the most comprehensive mobile platform in the market. Good has worked hard to deliver the highest levels of security across operating systems and applications. Our trusted Good solutions will also help BlackBerry to accelerate its Internet of Things platform for managing endpoints beyond mobile devices.”