BlackBerry has announced a major expansion to its BYOD plans with the acquisition of British start-up Movirtu.
The London-based company provides multiple identity solutions for phone users, meaning customers can have multiple numbers to be active on a single device.
This means that employees can switch between business and personal profiles without the need for multiple devices or SIM cards, allowing for separate charges to be billed to the company and the employee.
BlackBerry says it will support the deployment of Movirtu technology by mobile operators on all major smartphone operating systems, meaning iOS and Android will be included, a major sign of reconciliation between the software providers, and one that could help attract the many business customers still clinging on to their BlackBerry devices.
"In a BYOD and COPE world, there remain a number of efficiency and convenience challenges facing enterprises, employees and mobile operators alike," said BlackBerry CEO John Chen.
"The acquisition of Movirtu complements our core strategy of providing additional value added services, and it will leverage our key assets, including our BES platform, along with our existing global infrastructure which is connected to a large number of mobile operators around the world."
No specific terms of the deal were disclosed, including the amount BlackBerry paid to acquire Movirtu, or what will happen to the company’s workforce.
"BlackBerry is the best partner to help us carry forward our vision of redefining the mobile experience by introducing virtual identities," said Carsten Brinkschulte, CEO, Movirtu. "We address the challenges of BYOD and COPE by providing our unique and innovative technology solution through BlackBerry’s existing relationships with mobile operators and customers around the world."
BlackBerry will be hoping this new acquisition will help it reverse the company’s recent downturn in fortunes, shown by a recent study which showed that it will soon fall behind Windows Phone in terms of market share.
