"Enterprise messaging in India is still maturing"

Recently BlackBerry launched BBM Protected, the first solution in the eBBM Suite for enterprise-class messaging.To know how BlackBerry provides secure, productive mobile collaboration and communications in the enterprise space, Dataquest spoke to Manoj Khilnani, Country Marketing Head - Enterprise, BlackBerry India. Excerpts

 What is BBM Protected?
BBM Protected is a new service that allows enterprise users to take advantage of the speed, reliability, and privacy of BBM for faster communication, collaboration and decision making while providing security-conscious organizations the enhanced security benefits of an on premise solution coupled with the convenience benefits of a cloud solution. It has been designed for organizations with the need to protect corporate data at rest and in transit.

These could be customers in regulated industries like financial services or government as well as highly security conscious organizations like law firms, or healthcare providers.

Security-conscious organizations are caught between a rock and a hard place today when it comes to secure IM. Many consumer IM apps don't meet the security needs of IT while the enterprise IM apps deployed by IT leave end users seeking more utility and a better mobile experience. It also offers an enhanced security model for BBM messages sent between BlackBerry smartphones that protects corporate data end-to-end with additional encryption.

How does eBBM work?
BBM Protected, the first value-added solution in the eBBM Suite, brings regulated industries the most secure and reliable real-time mobile messaging experience in the industry.

BBM Protected offers an enhanced security model for BBM messages sent between BBM Protected works by adding an additional level of encryption to messages sent between BBM Protected users by exchanging a set of public keys that are unique to those two users.

The first time two BBM Protected users attempt to message each other, a secret passphrase shared by email, SMS, phone or in person. Once the secret passphrase is verified, public signing and encryption keys are exchanged between the two users allowing for this advanced encryption of messages.

Enterprise users will be able to use BBM Protected to securely message colleagues inside the company for work as well as chat and share with family and friends outside the company. BBM Protected chats aren't limited to users inside the company either; employees can chat securely with BBM Protected users at others companies too - they do not need to be on the same BES server and no federation between servers is required.

How this application is different from other service providers? How is it activated?
Not all secure instant messaging apps are created equal. BBM Protected is the most secure, most convenient and offers the best end user experience. It is the only secure IM client to use a FIPS 140-2 validated cryptographic library. BBM Protected builds on the proven BlackBerry data security model for data at rest and it uses 3 layers of security for data in transit to protect messages

Is BBM Protected be available for iOS and Android?
We are currently working towards it. BBM Protected for iPhone and Android will be available in the next few months
 

Can you explain the relevance of enterprise messaging in today's corporate world?
India is still a market that is maturing when it comes to enterprise messaging but it holds great potential for growth. Enterprise messaging is important because employees do not always communicate through mobile or emails and it is critical for companies to protect the corporate data. Keeping the demand and security into consideration, we have introduced enterprise messaging - BBM Protected which brings the most secure and reliable real-time mobile messaging experience in the industry.

What is the cost of a BBM Protected User License?
BBM Protected User Licenses are available at a cost of $29.99 per user per year. Customers can purchase BBM Protected User Licenses through their BlackBerry Account Manager or authorized BlackBerry reseller.