Blackberry has been seeing its once dominate hold on smartphones decreasing a great deal lately. The one place they still had the market on lockdown is for businesses who need an enterprise device to give to a workforce. Samsung now has its eyes on that market with the launch of SAFE (Samsung for Enterprise) in Europe. For Samsung, this is just the beginning of a global rollout, which will see it going directly after RIM in the one part of the market RIM still controls.
Enterprise devices are all about security for companies. Equipping a crew with these devices allows them to communicate with each other while keeping company secrets safe and secure. Android devices were not really equipped for this, but SAFE should change that. Samsung first changed this with the launch of SAFE compatible Galaxy S III devices in the US back in June, and this is the next step in Samsung taking over the corporate world as well.
The program includes SAFE Platform, SAFE Partner Program, and SAFE Quality Assurance. These combine to support a range of function such as dedicated apps for data and email, on-device encryption, virtual private networks and mobile device management. All of these are critical in a corporate environment where security rules all.
Samsung is trying to make it easy for IT departments to evaluate SAFE’s security features. According to Jae Shin, VP of Samsung’s B2B Alliance Division, “many IT departments find that when it comes to testing the security of mobile devices, it is extremely difficult to evaluate the various platforms and products available. SAFE provides clear security features. It allows users, IT departments and app developers to work to a common standard.”
[via TNW]
