Since the beginning of BlackBerry®, the enterprise has been a crucial area of focus for the core business of Research In Motion® (RIM®). This has continued throughout the years and with the ever-growing demand of mobile applications, we remain committed to the success of the enterprise developer. The application space is heavily directed by the consumer and end-user demand, yet they often fall short to the needs of the enterprise. RIM is in a position where it can meet both needs by being a “behind the firewall” solution and by maintaining a cloud-friendly approach. Rest assured we are committed to designing and producing great products for the enterprise and also providing the right platform to help transform your business for the better with mobile solutions.

Why should businesses develop for the BlackBerry platform?

The BlackBerry platform has a heritage of strengths and opportunities for enterprise applications. As we approach the launch of BlackBerry® 10, the opportunities to drive communication, efficiency, and to mobilize your workforce with enterprise applications are rapidly growing. Here are a few strengths of the BlackBerry platform for enterprise developers:

• The development platform is standards-based
• We provide an enterprise mobility management solution to complete the full picture of employee devices, corporate data, and enterprise apps
• Worldwide leader in mobile security
• Mailbox integration
• Push technology

The best part about BlackBerry in the enterprise is that is solves many of the challenges presented during the application development cycle. First and foremost, the problem of connectivity is taken care of as BlackBerry is the only “behind the firewall” solution. Additionally the development platform has been significantly improved approaching BlackBerry 10, and we support a standards-based strategy leveraging tools like HTML5, C++, and Eclipse.

Also included is a full set of management tools, security and APIs to allow you to take full advantage of BlackBerry smartphones. Tied together with the ability to push content to your users, this makes your possibilities for the functionality of enterprise apps endless. Imagine, for example, building your application to tie right into the mailbox of a BlackBerry smartphone, providing intuitive access to crucial information for executives and employees.

What is the Enterprise Developer Lab at BlackBerry Jam Americas 2012?

For the first time during our BlackBerry® Jam events, we have created a lab for enterprise developers to bring their applications in and get consultation on how to improve, and more importantly, how to develop for BlackBerry 10. We are in the middle of a transition to this new platform, and we want to ensure that you fully understand the power that is at your fingertips as well as help you bring existing apps to BlackBerry 10. I have heard from several customers that it would be ideal to have someone available to guide them through the development process in order to take their app from Java® to BlackBerry 10; what better way to start by having a lab for enterprise developers to meet with the experts who can help get you started? Essentially you are getting a free consultation on building and customizing your application for your company on a brand-new, powerful mobile computing platform. We want to make you look like a rock star!

Why are we launching the Enterprise Developer Lab?

We’ve decided to launch the Enterprise Developer Lab as a way of getting closer to enterprise developers and helping to ensure their success. With the turbulent environment of the mobile space, we want to make sure that you have a chance to learn and try new things with assistance. We also recognize that some of these discussions are private to your organization, so one-on-one interaction is required to not let your company secrets out in the open. We believe in partnership, and building this lab as part of our BlackBerry Jam Americas conference is a great way for us to work together.

We look forward to your success while you develop the enterprise grade applications to help increase productivity and change the way that your business operates.

Come Jam with Us!

San Jose, California from September 25-27
Follow #BBJam and @BlackBerryDev on Twitter®, as well as the Inside BlackBerry Developer Blog

Lotusphere 2011 is just around the corner, and we’re very excited to once again be part of this great event within the IBM® Lotus® Community. From January 30th to February 3rd, we’ll be in Orlando, Florida supporting the event at Booth 433/438 and our BlackBerry® Break-Out Room in Europe 5 – so if you are planning on attending Lotusphere, be sure to stop by and say hello!

Don’t miss the opportunity to find out more about BlackBerry® Enterprise Server Express or the BlackBerry® Enterprise Server for IBM® Lotus® Domino®, the BlackBerry® Clients for IBM® Lotus® Sametime, BlackBerry® Client for IBM® Lotus® Connections and BlackBerry® Client for IBM® Lotus® Quickr™, BlackBerry® Mobile Voice System, Chalk™ Pushcast™ Software, BlackBerry developer tools, BlackBerry® 6 OS and more! You can also stop by our booth to check out the BlackBerry™ PlayBook® tablet and see a demonstration.

As always, our BlackBerry Break-Out Room will be hosting our information-packed sessions, and will be also hosting our very first JumpStart developer session on Sunday, January 30th, plus our BlackBerry labs on Thursday February 4th. For more information on our sessions, email EnterpriseSalesPrograms@rim.com to receive a PDF file of the session brochure, and start planning your Lotusphere week now! Also, make sure to stay tuned to @BlackBerry4Biz on Twitter for our coverage during the event.

Additionally, if you’re looking for a great app to help out your Lotusphere 2011 planning, check out LSMobile – it’s a Lotusphere sessions app by The Turtle Partnership, based on the Domino Sessions Database by Ben Langhinrichs of Geniisoft. It includes all the session data with features such as:

• Browse by Date and Time
• Keyword search by session number, speaker name, location or free text in the abstract
• Add a session to your calendar
• Send in feedback on sessions
• Details of vendors displaying in the Product Showcase

The Turtle Partnership are also working on providing some Twitter and foursquare check-in features in the next update (as well as an update to their entry in BlackBerry App World), which should be ready early next week. In the meantime, the app can be installed OTA for the BlackBerry® Storm™ smartphone series, BlackBerry® Torch™ smartphone series, and all other devices.

Are you going to be at the show? Which session are you most excited about?