With an ever-changing work schedule and a heavy volume of incoming email messages every day, Graves relies on her BlackBerry® solution to communicate with her team efficiently. NCompass International’s offices are spread across the world, from London to New York City.

“NCompass has been a loyal BlackBerry shop for many years and allocate only BlackBerry smartphones under the company’s corporate plan” said Graves. “Personally, I can’t function without it. I use BlackBerry smartphones as an extension of my job and my life, and they’ve always worked for me.”

NCompass International often runs branding events at concerts that take place in stadiums bursting with thousands of screaming fans. Despite the loud noise and commotion, Graves and her team communicate with one another using BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™), a reliable method that is crucial to the success of her events. Graves has even incorporated BBM into concert performances, encouraging fans to message will.i.am during the Black Eyed Peas’ BlackBerry-sponsored World Tour in 2010.

Graves and team leverage BlackBerry smartphone features to keep track of the many moving parts involved in NCompass’ brand activation events. For a recent launch, NCompass planned a large three day live event involving 10 separate initiatives in one 16 acre location, with more than 500 journalists. In the lead up to the launch, Graves took advantage of her integrated calendar functionality to ensure all timelines were met, and used her BlackBerry smartphone throughout the event to communicate with staff, anticipate any potential issues, and monitor social media activity occurring in near real time.

“In this business you need to be able to access information immediately and coordinate a lot of different people,” said Graves. “There is a lot of pressure because you need to be the best of the best, and consistency and reliability in your communication is a crucial part of that.”

Since Graves travels so often, she also benefits greatly from the data efficiency the BlackBerry smartphone offers. Whether working in NCompass International’s Rio de Janeiro office or at an event in Asia, her email, internet browser and messaging all function seamlessly and most importantly, economically.

Graves says NCompass International has deployed about 20 BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablets, mainly to its production and new business staff, who consider the portability of the seven-inch screen and the functionality of BlackBerry® Bridge™ as key features. BlackBerry Bridge allows staff to connect their BlackBerry PlayBook tablets to their BlackBerry smartphones and access their email, calendar, BBM and other data.

“In this job, we always need to be ahead of our clients,” says Graves. “And the BlackBerry solution allows us to do that, all the time.”

Have a success story similar to NCompass International? Let us know at success@rim.com. How does your BlackBerry help you communicate more effectively in your work? Share in the comments below.

The annual Regulatory Compliance Conference for the American Bankers Association (ABA) took place in Orlando this past week (June 10-14, 2012), and we were pleased to attend and support the financial services community. Eric Nicolaisen, Charles Wong and myself were there exhibiting BlackBerry® solutions that address the regulatory compliance needs for mobility. The ABA was founded in 1875, and represents all banks (foreign, national, state, and local) that operate in the United States. Their primary activity is lobbying for policy and political presence in Washington, DC.

The key buzzwords at the Conference were Dodd-Frank, FINRA, and SOX, which address issues such as consumer protection & advocacy, archiving of oral & written communications, and auditing. Recent success stories around call recording and BlackBerry® Mobile Voice System were prominently featured, and invoked further discussions around BlackBerry® Mobile Fusion, BlackBerry® Balance™, and solutions to assist in facing the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend as banks are slowly allowing their employees to connect their personal devices to corporate messaging and applications.

Case studies that were showcased included Nomura (2012 Wireless Achievement Award Winner at BlackBerry World™) and Bank Am Bellevue. These EMEA-based banks had to comply with the UK’s FSA 10/17 Policy for Call Recording, and in each case, these banks achieve regulatory compliance. The case studies were relevant to all banks that operate in the UK and are engaged in activities that are regulated by FSA Policy 10/17, in addition to recent policies on archiving written & oral communications in Dodd-Frank. (Case studies are also posted at www.blackberry.com/mvs if you wish to read further on this)

BlackBerry’s presence at the conference was undoubtedly strong; many individuals were stopping us in the exhibit hall or even the elevators to share their passion for their BlackBerry devices. We were particularly excited to make attendees aware of the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet running OS 2.0. After demonstrating the features and capabilities, their first impressions were fantastic, especially for the winner of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet that was drawn for a prize. Special congratulations go out to Mary Clouthier, VP of Enterprise Compliance at Fifth Third Bank, a major bank based in the midwest. To say she was happy about winning would be an understatement – she immediately asked where she could purchase a HDMI cable and BlackBerry® Mini Keyboard.

If you’ve come out of the conference hungry for more, check out details on BlackBerry solutions for the financial services industry, read more case studies, and don’t miss the CIO’s Guide to Call Recording with BlackBerry smartphones.

What regulations does your industry need to comply with? How have mobile solutions helped enable compliance? Share in the comments below.

Adam R. is heading up the BlackBerry® Products and Deployments track at BlackBerry World™ 2012. This track is designed for IT administrators managing BlackBerry solutions in their enterprise who want to get more out of their infrastructure. Adam is a veteran of BlackBerry World and the Manager of Enterprise Product Management at Research In Motion® (RIM®) – his team spearheads the BlackBerry products designed for our enterprise customers. I wanted to get his take on this track and what we can all look forward to. Here’s what he told me about the sessions and why they’re so valuable to our attendees:

Biz Blog: What can attendees look forward to in your track this year?

Adam R.: The strategy behind the BlackBerry Products and Deployments track this year is to really let our customers know about the new software products that are coming down the pipe from RIM. We’re featuring many sessions on BlackBerry® Mobile Fusion because this product is really the evolution of the much-favored BlackBerry® Enterprise Server. Understanding what this product is about really shows where RIM is heading in the future for managing BlackBerry devices along with other devices. BlackBerry Mobile Fusion is really part of a larger topic, Mobile Device Management, which is an issue we know many organizations are now struggling with. There is a proliferation of employee-owned devices or a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trend in organizations that’s creating challenges for IT teams. The BlackBerry Products and Deployments track will show how BlackBerry is addressing this key challenge.

Biz Blog: Is this a track that will appeal mainly to IT administrators?

Adam R.: I’d say yes and no. IT administrators are the ones struggling with questions like: how do I manage all these devices my employees are bringing to work? How can I not worry about enterprise data leaking? So yes, we have a big focus on what we’re doing to offer the tools that IT administrators need so they can have control while still allowing users to have the device experience they want. There are many sessions such as Mobile Device Management: Reducing the Administrative Challenges that are deep dives into this material.

But I think this track has a broader appeal to anyone who is an IT decision-maker, or even executive level leaders. When we talk about Mobile Device Management, it’s not just about the servers – it’s about the strategy for how to deal with overall mobile issues like voice management. One of the key sessions here is The BlackBerry Office: Replace Laptops and Desk Phones for Your Mobile Workforce. We also have sessions like BlackBerry Web Services: Simplify Your BlackBerry Administration that will appeal to developers looking to interact with the BlackBerry Enterprise Server on a programming level. So it runs the gamut.

Biz Blog: How do you think people should choose which sessions to attend in your track?

Adam R.: If I was to give anyone advice about BlackBerry World, it would be to try to attend as many sessions as you possibly can. It’s a fantastic place to learn about things you already have in your environment and to hear about other services that may be new to you. One of the great advantages of this conference is you get to see what your peers are doing – not just in your industry, but also in other industries. You’re sitting next to people who share your interests, but often from a different perspective. Some of the key sessions in our track focus on new products that make like easier for administrators like BlackBerry® Balance technology, BlackBerry Mobile Fusion and the BlackBerry® Device Service:

• Balance Technology: Supporting IT and User Needs
• Support iOS and Android™ Devices with the New BlackBerry Universal Device Service
• Introduction to BlackBerry Mobile Fusion
• The New BlackBerry Device Service: Overview and Features

There are also sessions that are favorites for our attendees, and we’re running them again this year:

• Introduction to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server for Microsoft® Exchange, Lotus® Domino® and Novell GroupWise®
• BlackBerry Security and Why it Matters to You
• Mobilizing Microsoft Business Apps for BlackBerry

Biz Blog: Why do people tell you they come back to BlackBerry World every year?

Adam R.: People tell me that it’s the quality of the content. There’s not a lot of product marketing or sales going on. The sessions are really focused on helping give people a deep understanding of the product or strategy. Plus, I really like reconnecting with people I’ve met over the years. It’s exciting for me to see how their deployment has progressed and what they’re trying now.

For anyone who registers for BlackBerry World and signs up for the sessions in the BlackBerry Products and Deployments track, our speakers are almost entirely from the product management side of RIM — so they have a sound knowledge of the products. If anyone has unanswered questions, this is the place to be!

To our readers, tell us which administrative challenge you’re facing and what you hope to learn at the conference. Answer in the comments below.

The BlackBerry Solutions for Your Organization and Industry track at BlackBerry World™ 2012 is always popular because of its broad appeal. It attracts business leaders, IT architects and senior managers working with BlackBerry in their enterprise or government organization. I talked to Wes M., the track leader and Senior Market Development Manager at Research In Motion® (RIM®) to get his views of the sessions this year.

BIZ BLOG: Since your focus is government customers, are the sessions in this track designed mainly for government audiences?

Wes M.: We always have terrific attendance from people in government at this track, given that many of the sessions are geared toward government interests. But we’ve also found a lot of other enterprise attendees from different industries who want to come and learn at these sessions. In many ways, governments can be thought leaders, and a lot of people want to come and hear what’s taking place. For example, we’re featuring a session called Strengthening Law Enforcement with BlackBerry Solutions that talks about police cars mounted with the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet. The takeaway from this session is how tablets can be used in any aspect of public service or field service to mobilize access to important information, easily and cost-effectively.

BIZ BLOG: How did you determine which sessions would be the best to feature this year?

Wes M.: This is my fourth BlackBerry World, so we did two things. First, we looked at the most highly rated sessions from last year, and that gave us a core set of sessions which we then adapted to reflect today’s technology developments. So you’ll see sessions like BlackBerry and Government: Boosting Productivity and Reducing Costs and Best Practices for Enterprise Mobile Social Networking.

Then we focused on key customers that could tell their story so our attendees could learn from a colleague’s experiences. Banking on BlackBerry: How Financial Services Companies and their Customers Benefit looks at the success banks are having reaching out to their customers with mobile banking apps. There’s also a good session on the opportunities in healthcare covered by BlackBerry in Healthcare: Enhancing Communications, Care and Collaboration.

BIZ BLOG: Are there any hot topics you want to highlight?

Wes M.: There are a lot of new opportunities we’ll be featuring, such as using Citrix Receiver™ on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. Now you can begin accessing information from your desktop from anywhere you are in the world. This is really relevant for the U.S. Federal government, which is a huge advocate of teleworking. Citrix Receiver is a perfect remote access solution for people that can’t be at the office but need to access their office PC.

BIZ BLOG: Are there any events beyond the sessions that government attendees will want to attend?

Wes M.: Government Day is always really useful. We often have about 200 people registered for this event on Monday, April 30th, 2012. This year we have a worldwide focus, so there will be speakers from Latin America, Asia-Pacific and North America. It’s a unique opportunity to hear about compelling mobile applications using the BlackBerry solution that are being deployed by governments around the world. Customers from several regions will be discussing how their challenges have been solved with BlackBerry smartphones and BlackBerry tablets. This year, we’ll be hosting a panel that’s really going to get people involved in talking through the issues that affect governments today.

It’s easy to be a part of this event. When you register, indicate you were planning to attend Government Day, and you can add this to your record by logging back into the registration system or by contacting Registration Services at registration@blackberryconferences.net.

Why will you attend the sessions in this track? Let us know in the comments.