Hi all. Another in-depth interview with a great GroupWise partner. I had the opportunity to speak to Paul Bellchambers of Research In Motion (RIM).

His focus is on the Novell GroupWise email platform in Europe Middle East and Africa.

Gert: Welcome to the GroupWise world, what is the importance of GroupWise to RIM?
Paul: Thank you for the warm welcome. GroupWise is an important email platform for the BlackBerry solution. We are working closely with Novell to ensure that we maximise the capabilities of our technologies with the capabilities of GroupWise. GroupWise is a natural platform for us to target, especially with the strong user base and technical community and the way that the two technologies combine to enable organisations to mobilise their teams beyond the use of email. The BlackBerry solution is a natural and obvious extension to mobilise the GroupWise environment.

Gert: What do you see as the capabilities the BlackBerry solution brings to GroupWise?
Paul: GroupWise offers a range of capabilities which have been extended by the ‘Teaming + Conferencing’ features that have been added by Novell. The BlackBerry solution expands the ways an organisation can collaborate and share data, making the decision-making process quicker and more responsive.

The security offered by the BlackBerry solution ensures that data sharing between the network and the smartphones gives organisations the confidence needed when mobilising their business. It provides more than just email on the move – the range of applications available enable organisations to equip mobile workers with a range of capabilities beyond email. This delivers improved productivity across the business and offers employees greater flexibility through access to key applications and data at anytime wherever they are in the world.

The value of the BlackBerry solution lies in its natural extension of the GroupWise environment making individuals and businesses more productive, effective and flexible.

Gert: How can developers work with RIM to create applications for BlackBerry smartphone users?
Paul: Application partners play an extremely important role to both RIM and ultimately BlackBerry end-users. A wide range of business-focused applications such as CRM, ERP, HR, Systems Management, Safety, Duty of Care and many more are available for the BlackBerry solution. Also popular, are lifestyle applications such as Facebook for BlackBerry smartphones, games (Guitar Hero III has just been launched!) as well as applications that help people live their lives to the full. We currently have over 725 BlackBerry Alliance Partners working to develop applications for BlackBerry smartphones. This is a growing programme and we would encourage any interested developers to get in touch if they want to be involved.

Business related BlackBerry smartphone applications tend to extend the capabilities of an organisation, in particular enabling its workforce to be truly mobile, with access to all the information they need, regardless of where they are. Using the BlackBerry Mobile Data System , developers can improve, develop or extend existing applications for a mobile workforce. We are seeing a growing number of applications being developed for BlackBerry smartphones, which leverage the specific capabilities of the device, such as GPS, camera and so on. These applications are innovative and enable organisations to offer capabilities not normally provided through traditional mobile devices. BlackBerry smartphone applications extend beyond the email experience for individuals using the devices.

Gert: How does RIM support the GroupWise community?
Paul: We have a range of support services for the BlackBerry solution which provide our users with comprehensive technical support and software maintenance. These services offer a single point of contact, free software upgrades, thereby maximising the capabilities of the BlackBerry Enterprise solution.

In addition, we recently announced the BlackBerry Owners Lounge in the UK. The plans are to roll this out further across Europe in the near future. This provides information on the BlackBerry solution, including new announcements as well as hints and tips for BlackBerry smartphone users, free downloads and exclusive offers.

Gert: What does the future hold for RIM and GroupWise?
Paul: We aim to continue to work with GroupWise users and developers to understand how RIM can help with evolving business objectives and challenges.

Find out the latest news by going to the BlackBerry GroupWise website, http://blackberry.gwcheck.com.

_