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TORONTO and NEW YORK — Research In Motion Ltd. is about to make it as easy for BlackBerry users to get business information wirelessly as it is to trade e-mail.
RIM has said for a long time that e-mail was only the first step in its plans to extend the power of the desktop PC to an individual's palm and reduce the need for carrying a laptop.
A month after Apple Inc. revealed plans to launch its consumer-friendly iPhone into the corporate e-mail world, RIM said yesterday the BlackBerry will soon deliver direct ties to company databases for managing customer relationships.
The Waterloo, Ont., company and SAP AG, one of the world's largest business software companies, said that they have developed a mobile version of SAP's popular tool for company sales forces.
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"Have we really cracked the code in terms of beyond the desktop? I think today we genuinely have, in a big time way," Jim Balsillie, co-chief executive officer of RIM, said in an interview.
The two companies said the product will be released within weeks, and added that all of SAP's applications will eventually run on a BlackBerry. The German company's products include software for managing finances, sales, marketing, purchasing, inventory, product lifecycles and supply chains.
In one example of how the new technology will work, sales representatives in the field will be able to get immediate alerts on their BlackBerrys of any sales leads generated by SAP's customer relationship management software, which allows companies to make sense of giant databases of customer information.
The product is the next step in getting people to think of RIM's technology as more than just a wireless messaging device, Mr. Balsillie said.
"When you think of BlackBerry, you think of [a] BlackBerry e-mail device. You don't think, there's my BlackBerry secure packet tunnel. They key is when people say, 'there's my BlackBerry workflow machine.' "
Between yesterday's announcement and the appearance on the web of a photo of what's said to be RIM's latest cell phone, the company's stock is up nearly 10 per cent this week.
Bill McDermott, president and CEO of SAP Americas and Asia Pacific Japan, described the work of the two companies as transformational. "People die for freedom. That happens all over the world, every day," he said in an interview. "In a business context, this unleashes freedom. Because people who were formerly tethered to somebody else's rules, somebody else's processes, can now be free to manage their work life on their own terms."
Analysts said RIM is trying to move into an area that is still vastly underserved for businesses and other organizations. Almost two-thirds of U.S. businesses have made their "commodity" data - such as e-mail - mobile, said Chris Silva, an analyst with Forrester Research. But only 28 per cent have mobile access to inventory management tools and 23 per cent to sales force information.
"This is a significant announcement for keeping RIM's grip on enterprise users," he said.
He noted, however, that the news involves just a single partner for RIM.
By comparison, Apple is moving to build many partnerships to help it compete in the corporate sector. The Cupertino, Calif., company recently released a software kit for developers to start writing mobile programs for its iPhone, currently the No. 2 selling smart phone in the U.S. behind the BlackBerry. Less than 10 per cent of companies have plans to use the iPhone, but that will change as Apple adds secure e-mail and other features, Mr. Silva said.
Peter Misek, an analyst with Canaccord Capital Inc., said RIM will quadruple the potential size of its market by adding business tools like SAP's to its roster of mobile services.
For Apple to catch up to RIM would require a $5-billion to $10-billion investment and two to three years of development, he added.
Research In Motion (RIM) Close: $134.34, up $3.70
