The growth of workplace mobility has increased the demand for business applications and thus the opportunity for enterprise developers. With the BlackBerry 10 platform, we are committed to supporting the development of enterprise-grade mobile apps, as well as the BlackBerry developer community behind them.

Today, we’re pleased to announce the first BlackBerry & SAP Mobile Apps Challenge to provide innovators like you with an opportunity to reach millions of business users. By participating, you will gain access to BlackBerry and SAP virtual boot camps and expert coaching. In addition, finalists will gain valuable marketing opportunities, public exposure and could win up to $10,000 in prizes.

This initiative represents a longstanding partnership between BlackBerry and SAP and our mutual commitment to mobile innovation in the enterprise. Here’s some more information on how you can participate:

If you have an application or an idea that you would like to submit, you can enter the BlackBerry & SAP Mobile Apps Challenge today! Stay tuned to the Inside BlackBerry for Business Blog for updates and announcements – we look forward to your submissions.

What SAP applications does your organization use for business? Share with us in the comments below.

The BlackBerry Enterprise Developer Partnership team was on hand to showcase the latest in BlackBerry technology including BlackBerry 10, and show how easy HTML5 applications can be developed for or ported over to the BlackBerry platform. At each event, most of the developer teams built their apps using HTML5 and showed demonstrations of these applications running on BlackBerry devices, including both the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device.

All of the BlackBerry versions of the applications were built with HTML5/BlackBerry WebWorks, and considering that they were built in a day and half – and that they all connected to theSAP HANA platform using oData – it was quite impressive. This really illustrates how quick and easy it is to develop effective enterprise applications on the BlackBerry platform, with very little time and development effort.

At the end of the day a winning app was selected. At the Healthcare focused Innojam hosted in Las Vegas as a part of SAP TechEd, the app “Nurse Assist” was crowned the victor. At The Innojam hosted at SAPPHIRE NOW in Madrid , the theme was connecting people in larger cities with each other, and the “WeCare” app emerged victorious:

Nurse Assist (winner in Las Vegas)

Nurse Assist is designed to help mobile nurses in their day to day activities, keeping them better informed about patients and providing an easy and effective way to update patient records. It even provides the quickest way to get to their next appointment. This app was designed to run on the BlackBerry platform using HTML5/WebWorks, and was integrated with SAP solutions on the back end to enable the user to pull the latest information, and to update patient records and information. The application was demonstrated on a BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device.

WeCare (winner in Madrid)

The WeCare application was the winner at the Madrid Innojam, and was designed to better connect people in large cities with their neighbors; similar to the experience of those living in smaller towns and communities. The app makes it easier for people living in large cities to easily and securely connect with their neighbors to help out with shopping, carpooling, babysitters, and more. The app connects to SAP HANA for the latest information and updates, and was integrated with various social media tools like Twitter & Facebook.

To learn more, check out a full video recap of the Las Vegas event and the Madrid event.

For more information on developing applications integrated with SAP solutions on the back end, check out the SAP for BlackBerry Development Guide, and for more on BlackBerry development best practices, check out the BlackBerry Enterprise Development Guide.

We also hope you will take the time to check out all the new and exciting news and information on the upcoming BlackBerry 10 platform. Have you developed business or government apps using BlackBerry WebWorks? Share your experience in the comments below.

Last week the BlackBerry® 10 Jam World Tour – Enterprise Edition was held in Madrid, Spain. 121 developers took part in some very interesting sessions, demonstrations, and workshops. With these events, Research In Motion® (RIM®) aims to help enterprise developers find out what the BlackBerry® 10 platform has to offer and provide experts in building applications to show developers the wide variety of tools currently available. These tools include BlackBerry® WebWorks™ using HTML5, CSS and Javascript®, and the NDK/Cascades™ leveraging C++. On this occasion, attendees also become versed in BlackBerry MDS-CS, BlackBerry® Enterprise Service 10, and BlackBerry advantages in security.

Read more at the Inside BlackBerry Developer Blog »

As more and more smartphones and tablets enter the enterprise, there is increasing desire to extend enterprise data beyond the desktop and into mobile. There are also more complexities when developing and deploying an app in an enterprise environment, such as data and device management, security, cross-platform and cross-device development, and connectivity for your application. With its core DNA rooted in the enterprise, the BlackBerry® platform addresses these issues with app development and deployment solutions – and as a developer, these can be leveraged to deliver a richer and more secure application.

The guide posted below will help developers make the right development decisions, leveraging the right tools and resources. This can save valuable time and money, and ultimately help build better applications. Key topics covered are:

• Overview of BlackBerry® WebWorks™
• Building HTML5 Applications with Native-Like Functionality
• Using Existing Web Development Frameworks
• BlackBerry WebWorks Resources
• Tools and Code to Help You Get Started Today
• Deploying and Managing Client Applications
• Securing Enterprise Content

Check out the guide below and share your thoughts and feedback in the comments.

When IT departments want to solve business issues, they often evaluate all of the products available and find what solutions fit best for the particular problem that they are solving. With the introduction and availability of mobile applications to the general business community, the idea of evaluating the right tools at an in-depth level to solve problems often becomes a forgotten art. Unfortunately a lot of time gets wasted trying to use a hammer as a screwdriver with apps that appear functional, but don’t integrate with your infrastructure or lack on security and connectivity.

The BlackBerry® Enterprise solution contains tools geared toward the enterprise customer when it comes to enterprise application solutions, starting with straightforward connectivity behind the firewall. But it doesn’t stop there. Having the ability to push data to a mobile device offers up many opportunities for solving real business problems.

Take, for example, the idea that executives commonly need to be kept up to date on sales performance, inventory, or business intelligence. With the BlackBerry solution, it is very easy to push that out to your executives via a browser channel or a BlackBerry® WebWorks™ application. For example, you can build in notifications and an icon that shows when that new information is available for them, and once they click on the icon, it can change to show that it’s already been read until a new push is received. All of this can be done using BlackBerry developer tools that are readily available. As an added bonus, the information can be made available offline, such as when busy executives are flying. After all is said and done, you’ve got a fantastic example of a functional enterprise app without the hassle of creating a VPN connection and attempting to connect with company servers behind the firewall. Problem solved!

Tip: Check out sample code that allows you to push company data to devices.

Now let’s take that a step further and say you have a field service technician who needs to be able to respond in conformity with a specific Service Level Agreement (SLA). The BlackBerry push ability allows you to build in a confirmation that the technician received the notification, as well as acknowledgement back from the technician that the work order has been accepted. In this scenario you’re working towards a higher level of response for the level of service that your customers expect and demand. Again, the problem solved and response time, accuracy, and customer satisfaction can be improved.

We’ve designed all levels of the BlackBerry solution to help solve challenges like the examples mentioned above. The back end servers and management tools, the devices themselves, and the developer resources all come together to provide a straightforward opportunity to design and deploy enterprise apps.

What problems have you solved with BlackBerry enterprise apps? Share in the comments below.

Think BlackBerry® DEVCON is only for developers? Then you may be thinking that BlackBerry DEVCON 2010 isn’t for you. Today, I’m hoping to convince you otherwise!

If your organization is looking to deploy mobile applications to your employees or wanting to use apps to better engage with your customers, then you should consider joining join us for this year’s conference (taking place September 27-30 in San Francisco), where you’ll be able to learn from – and network with – some of the industry’s brightest minds.

Apps are changing everything. If you’re a CIO, part of a leadership group or in charge of strategic development, you probably want to know everything you can about the latest developments and trends. DEVCON is where you can get an overview of the types of technologies available for BlackBerry® smartphones and why application development may be easier than you think.

In addition to the breakout sessions and panel discussions, BlackBerry DEVCON will provide business leaders with a quick understanding of the latest technology and industry trends. And, much like WES, this is a ‘hard-working’ conference – while I always have fun, these conferences turn a firehose of information on you, so be prepared to soak it in!

Here are themes/topics on this year’s program that will be relevant to business leaders:

• Super Apps: Leveraging the best of the BlackBerry platform, Super Apps offer the kind of seamless experiences that end users simply can’t live without. But what are these apps, who’s developing them, and how/why should you drive your development team in this direction?

• Mobility Pavilion: This perennial favorite showcases the organizations who are building interesting applications and creating compelling app experiences for their customers. There’s nothing like seeing these apps live to better understand how you might deploy these in your organization. Here’s a list of the sponsoring companies who will be at this year’s conference.

• Web Platform: Understanding what the BlackBerry® Web Platform ahs to offer and how it extends the value of your existing enterprise applications will be a critical business opportunity – especially since these apps can be successfully deployed from start to finish within days instead of months! This session is a good place to start learning – COM32: Create Powerful Enterprise-ready BlackBerry Widgets

• Payments and Monetization: As a business leader it’s important to have an understanding of the highly-anticipated Payment Service for BlackBerry smartphones, which can allow you to sell digital content and services from within your BlackBerry application and BlackBerry Widgets. This can drive new revenue and product opportunities in a simple, captive, uninterrupted user experience. This session is a good place to start learning: DEV51: Everything You Need to Know about the New Payment Service for BlackBerry Apps

BlackBerry DEVCON has proven to be a successful conference in the annual tech-industry calendar and is a valuable (and efficient) way for business managers to jump-start their mobile application business plan.

I’d love to hear your comments, or if you have any questions on how BlackBerry DEVCON benefits Business Leaders. Otherwise, I look forward to seeing many of you on site in San Francisco!

Make sure to register soon as DEVCON is right around the corner!