From the way we drive, shop, and receive healthcare to the way we manufacture goods, construct buildings, design infrastructure, and grow food, connectedness has changed the way consumers and businesses run in the digital age. Thanks to the growing pervasiveness of the IoT (Internet of Things), hyperconnectivity is even further revolutionizing the way people live and work.
BlackBerry defines hyperconnectivity as “the interconnectedness of people, organizations, and machines,” and in this era of hyperconnectivity and the IoT, the company says end-to-end security is non-negotiable. The company recently unveiled an EoT (Enterprise of Things) platform called BlackBerry Spark, which allows OEMs (original-equipment manufacturers) to connect complex end points that require high levels of security and safety, including industrial equipment, autonomous vehicles, and consumer AI (artificial intelligence) devices like smart speakers.
The platform allows OEMs to manage smart end points and leverage AI no matter what operating system they’re using from a single pane of glass, also giving end users the flexibility to move between personal and work profiles seamlessly and securely. BlackBerry Spark is an open platform, and it offers industry-specific safety certifications, such as ISO 26262 in automobiles. The EoT platform also comes with “snap-in” hooks to add leading public and private cloud and other computing services.
Alongside the new EoT platform, BlackBerry has also announced new services and capabilities as part of BlackBerry Spark, including contextual device management for AWS (Amazon Web Services) IoT, which allows connected devices to deliver expected value without opening organizations up to unnecessary risk. New services and capabilities also include a manufacturing service for IoT-device OEMs in the form of a remote and secure workstation that provisions and assigns secure tokens and certificates, as well as expanded capabilities for the BlackBerry Enterprise BRIDGE solution, and Spark Intelligent Security, a service to create digital identities based on continuous, contextual authentication, among other capabilities.
To help drive adoption of its BlackBerry Spark platform, BlackBerry is also focusing on growing its global partner and channel ecosystem. For instance, in the last quarter, the company says 140 new channel partners joined the BlackBerry Enterprise Partner Program, and enterprise ISV (independent software vendor) partners grew by 25% in the past year. Through these partnerships, BlackBerry says its customers will have access to more applications, secured software solutions, and cloud services than ever before.
As organizations continue to struggle with the complexity of the IT environment, companies like BlackBerry offer the ability to deploy mobility solutions for their employees, including those that leverage IoT and AI technologies, while maintaining the security and safety protections necessary to safeguard company data to the best of their ability. As hyperconnectivity continues to change lives and the workplace, ensuring connected end points are not only reliable and valuable but also safe and secure will prove to be one of the biggest challenges of this digital era. In the enterprise space, it may not be possible to ignore the benefits of digitization and mobility solutions for workers any longer, but that doesn’t mean companies can afford to take shortcuts in the realm of security.
Want to tweet about this article? Use hashtags #IoT #M2M #security #enterprise #data #BlackBerrySpark #EoT #software #AI #artificialintelligence #cloud #connectivity #blockchain #machinelearning #cybersecurity