Netbooks are getting a great deal of attention in the tech industry because they’re seen as the stepping stone from laptop to mobile. RIM does not see the netbook as competition and will continue to make powerful smartphones that will ultimately make the netbook obsolete.
“Form factor is a personal preference but it’s got to be something that lasts the better part of the day and you can hold up to your ear and clip onto your belt,” he said in response to our question about his vision for future products. “Those are a very tight systems constraints for a netbook.”
In response to the netbook offering a keyboard and screen experience not available for mobile, Jim says:
“If you want richer keyboards and richer displays you can just use perphiperals and bluetooth.”
Bob Stutz an executive from business software supplier SAP, which delivers business applications to BlackBerry devices, went on to completely dismiss the netbook.
“We’ve been down this route with these kinds of devices,” he said, “Why we are doing this with RIM today is because these (other) devices don’t work,” he said, noting that consumers want sturdy, inexpensive and well connected devices.
“Customers really have been down the gamut … They’ve been down this path. At the end of the day what we’ve really found is that if they can do it on a BlackBerry that’s what they’ll want.”
RIM and SAP have announced a new BlackBerry Sales Client for SAP CRM. This client gives sales reps, a major client base for RIM, the ability to get secure, real-time access to customer information in SAP CRM with the same seamless and intuitive experience they have come to expect from BlackBerry. The new solution is being showcased by SAP and RIM at SAPPHIRE 2009 and was recognized at the show with an SAP Pinnacle Award for Innovation.
The BlackBerry is an incredible tool for sales people and companies such as Maximizer CRM are always looking to improve the sales rep’s ability to track clients and increase sales. SAP and RIM are providing a custom solution for SAP CRM clients that will help organizations generate additional revenue in a time when cash flow is crucial.
Features of RIM and SAP’s solution include:
Instant Access to Up-to-Date Information – In just one or two clicks, users can gain access to up-to-date client information from a BlackBerry, including contacts, sales leads and logged activities.
Push-Based Notifications – The new solution can automatically push all customer data updates in the SAP CRM system immediately to the user, as well as pushing sales leads immediately to the sales representative’s BlackBerry inbox with one-click access to the new information.
Access to CRM Data Anytime, Anywhere – This new solution enables contacts and account information to be continuously accessible on BlackBerry, and a local cache system allows access to certain information even if the user is outside of network coverage.
Advanced Security – SAP’s established enterprise application security combined with the renowned wireless security of the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution provides end-to-end encryption to help protect confidential customer information whether stored on a BlackBerry, in transit, or in the SAP CRM application. IT administrators can also securely deploy the BlackBerry Sales Client for SAP CRM to users over-the-air.
We talked for a bit with the glue that put SAP and BlackBerry together, namely involving the ability to push out approval requests over the SAP server. This was kind of a big deal at WES this year, and this interview really outlines the extent of SAP and BlackBerry’s partnership for integration. Check out 3i’s site for more info, and you can download our interview here.
Hey guys! Got a bunch of videos from our first day at WES. We’re going to keep adding more after the jump as the day goes on, so keep hitting this post. For now, enjoy the BlackBerry Bold.
After the recent announcement of SAP’s CRM software appearing natively on BlackBerry, ZDNet editor Larry Dignan got a chance to sit down and talk with RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie about a number of things. High on the list of subjects was, of course, the recent Kickstart leak, as well as the rumors of a touchscreen. Balsillie pointed out two things: first, that RIM is “not religious” about any form factor, and secondly that leaks aren’t always correct. They also spent a great deal of time talking about RIM’s strategy in the B2B (business to business) space, as compared with their efforts in the consumer or B2C space. Balsillie said that you need both to successfully sell phones, and that “ninety percent of the work you do in B2B works for B2C.”
German-based enterprise powerhouse SAP has announced that they will be natively integrating their CRM software into the BlackBerry, with the rest of their business suite to follow. BlackBerrys with SAP’s CRM software will be shipping in the next couple months, and SAP’s EVP and general manager promised that the rest of the suite would be brought on board in “months, not years.” The article raises concerns over the outages that plagued RIM earlier this year, and the effect is might have on mission-critical business apps, but RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie said they were “not acceptable” and that they had taken steps to prevent them from ever happening again.
Yeah, it sounds ridiculous, I know, but there are some companies that are putting iPhone before BlackBerry, such as German software developer SAP. Their latest mobile customer relationship management package will be coming out for iPhone before BlackBerry or Palm. It’s easy to fob this decision off as one company making a poor business decision, but the fact is RIM isn’t completely stone-walling Apple’s progress into the enterprise market. Even if Apple remains the underdog in enterprise mobility, not unlike its status in the computer market, they can still manage to nab a healthy slice of the pie. Nobody’s expecting BlackBerry to be ousted as Corporate King anytime soon, but there will be points where it’s rubbing shoulders with Apple. It’ll be interesting to see who else makes the switch as the iPhone settles in.
We talked for a bit with the glue that put 
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German-based enterprise powerhouse SAP has 
Yeah, it sounds ridiculous, I know, but there are some companies that are putting iPhone before BlackBerry, such as 
