????CrackBerry的傳奇繼續流傳，盡管該設備稱霸企業級市場的日子已經一去不返。隨著iPhone和基于Android平臺的智能手機份額增長，RIM（Research in Motion）的前景看來不妙，但有件事情是確定的，那就是假如RIM存活下來，那也不是因為它上周發布的某款新設備。

????在年度股東大會上，RIM公布了7款計劃在黑莓7（Blackberry 7）操作系統上發布的設備，這一系列設備以Bold 9900和Torch 2為首。這7款設備也許能暫時減緩RIM迅速丟失市場份額的趨勢。然而，在其核心市場——企業用戶——中，RIM面臨一個更嚴重的危機：各公司發現換用iPhone或Android手機越來越容易。受到來自雇員的壓力，那些原本只支持黑莓設備的IT部門，正迅速轉向業內人稱的BYOD（Bring Your Own Device，帶你自己的設備來）的系統。

????據科技調研機構MGI Research稱，目前約有30%的公司向雇員提供全額補償，讓他們自己選擇用于工作目的的智能手機；15%的提供部分補償；而僅有45%的提供公司選擇的手機。這些數字自2009年以來發生了重大變化，當時提供每種補償的公司占比僅有10%。

????作為企業設備領域的元老公司，RIM如今正在節節敗退。研究及咨詢公司Sepharim Group的鮑勃?伊根表示，當員工告訴IT部門，他們想要最新最流行的智能手機時，“他們談論的對象絕非RIM。RIM正在努力重回賽場，變得酷起來。”

????雖然RIM在財報中并未單獨列出企業市場銷售額，但其上季度總體利潤僅為6.95億美元，比前一季度的9.34億美元大為下降，比起去年同期的7.69億美元也遜色不少。盡管分析師們承認RIM目前仍是企業市場的黃金標準，但蘋果正在這片市場中迅速走強。今年1月，德意志銀行（Deutsche Bank）的證券研究部門公開叛逃至iPhone陣營，而最近據傳其它公司也在策劃轉投蘋果iOS的懷抱。早在去年夏天，美國電話電報公司（AT&T）就宣稱，該公司每10部iPhone里就有4部被賣給了企業用戶。

????值得贊許的是，RIM已經看到了這種趨勢。該公司電子郵件與管理平臺部高級副總裁皮特?德文伊表示：“我們意識到BYOD并不只是一時的‘潮流’，我們必須要重視這種情況。”

????在上周的股東會議上，面對投資者對蘋果入侵企業市場的擔憂，RIM聯合首席執行官吉姆?巴爾斯利言辭激烈地聲明，“我們比任何人都更了解企業客戶。”

????伊根稱，巴爾斯利的回答證明，RIM只是在撿投資者喜歡的話說。這種對RIM的冷嘲熱諷同樣彌漫于華爾街。在3月份時，RIM的股價還在60美元以上，不過隨后就開始高臺跳水，到6月末時，已經跌破30美元。

????瑞士銀行（UBS）的分析師們在周二的會議之后向客戶警告稱，“我們目前尚不清楚，RIM會采取何種長效措施以遏制Android和iOS在個人消費、企業和國際市場的壯大。”

????來自投資與資產管理公司Needham and Company分析師的評論則更為尖銳，他們援引了已不復存在的美國計算機公司Digital Equipment和軟件公司Lotus Development的例子，將RIM定性為“除非證明清白，否則就是有罪”。

重振雄風，再戰企業市場

????RIM正在努力打消大家的疑慮，證明自己有實力再創輝煌，該公司目前的企業策略關鍵在于“單一界面管理系統”。德文伊解釋稱，RIM的策略是向企業推出跨平臺的企業解決方案。他表示，一些企業客戶的員工正在工作中使用搭載iOS和谷歌Android系統的設備，而RIM正是迎合了這些企業的需求。通過RiM的單一界面管理系統，IT部門無需運行多種支持程序，就能集中管理各種設備。

????德文伊還表示，企業客戶正被黑莓Balance等產品所吸引，該產品巧妙地將手機劃分為企業和個人兩個層面，能充分滿足金融家和律師等雙機族人士的需求。這種劃分提供了安全保障：例如，用戶無法將數據從公司層中拷貝到個人Gmail賬戶里。但德文伊稱，用戶在日常使用中基本無法察覺到這種劃分。

????RIM同時還計劃發布基于云計算的黑莓企業服務器，它將給予企業如同內部服務器一樣的安全保障，而無需再負擔額外資源。

????RIM認識到平板電腦是企業級市場主要的機遇所在，而德文伊指出RIM正在為平板電腦PlayBook開發企業軟件（Balance將于今夏晚些時候面世）。不過，這款平板電腦的第一版反響平平，可能對其后繼產品造成壓力。

????RIM正大力宣傳這些設備，以期再現其作為消費者市場領跑者的輝煌，然而，其未來在于企業級市場。伊根承認，擴展黑莓的企業服務和功能是明智之舉。“但他們仍在將其作為刺激黑莓設備銷售的激勵手段。”

????譯者：項航

????The legend of the CrackBerry lives on, even as the days of the device's corporate ubiquity have faded to black. As iPhone and Android-based smartphones gain ground, Research in Motion's future looks murky, but one thing is certain: If RIM survives, it won't be because of one of the devices it announced last week.

????At its annual shareholder meeting, RIM unveiled a line of seven planned devices on the Blackberry 7 Operating System, starting with the Bold 9900 and Torch 2. Those seven devices might slow RIM's rapid loss of market share temporarily. Yet within its core market -- corporate users -- RIM faces a more dangerous crisis: Companies are finding it increasingly easier to switch to iPhones and Android phones. Under pressure from employees, IT departments that previously supported only BlackBerry devices are rapidly switching to a system known in the industry as "BYOD:" Bring Your Own Device.

????According to MGI Research, about 30% of companies now offer full reimbursement for employees to use the smartphone of their choice for work purposes; 15% offer partial reimbursements, while only 45% provide company-issued phones. Those numbers have changed significantly since 2009, when only 10% of companies issued each type of reimbursement.

????As the elder statesman of corporate devices, RIM stands to lose the most this shift. When employees tell their IT departments they'd prefer to use the latest, most popular smartphone devices, "those conversations are not about RIM," says Bob Egan of the research and consulting firm Sepharim Group. "RIM's struggle is to get back in the game, to get cool."

????RIM doesn't separate enterprise sales in its financial statements, but its total income for the last quarter was $695 million, down from $934 million the previous quarter and $769 million for the same quarter last year. Analysts acknowledge that RIM (RIMM) remains the gold standard in the enterprise for now, but Apple is gaining traction in the corporate world. In January, the equity research department of Deutsche Bank publicly defected to the iPhone, and other companies have been recently rumored to plot a switch to Apple's (AAPL) iOS. As early as last summer, AT&T claimed that 4 out of 10 of its iPhone sales were to enterprise users.

????To its credit, RIM can see that writing on the wall. "We recognize that BYOD is not a fad," says Pete Devenyi, senior vice president of email and management platforms. "It's something we have to focus on."

????During the shareholder meeting last week, co-CEO Jim Balsillie had fighting words for investors concerned about Apple's inroads in enterprise, declaring, "We understand enterprise customers better than anyone."

????This answer is evidence that RIM is merely telling investors what it thinks they want to hear, says Egan. Such cynicism dominates Wall Street's position as well. RIM's stock traded above $60 this year until March, when it began a rapid descent, falling below $30 by late June.

????UBS analysts followed Tuesday's meetings with a note to clients warning "it is unclear to us what RIMM does on a sustainable basis to stem the rising Android and iOS tide in the consumer, enterprise, and international markets."

????That's not as harsh as analysts at Needham and Company, who labeled RIM "guilty until proven innocent," invoking the ghosts of Digital Equipment and Lotus Development.

Reenergizing the enterprise effort

????While RIM struggles to overcome skepticism about its ability to produce another winner, the key to its enterprise strategy lies in a "single pane of glass." That's how Devenyi explains RIM's strategy for offering the company's enterprise solutions across multiple platforms. He says RIM listened to its corporate customers who faced demand from employees to use iOS and devices on Google's (GOOG) Android OS in the workplace. Through the RIM pane of glass, IT can centrally manage a range of devices without having to run multiple support programs.

????Devenyi says corporate customers are drawn to products such as BlackBerry Balance, which does away with the two-phone financier or lawyer by subtly dividing the user's device into corporate and consumer sides. While such a division provides security -- you can't copy data from the corporate side and paste it into your Gmail account, for instance -- Devenyi claims the divisions will be largely unnoticeable in daily use.

????RIM also plans to offer a cloud-based version of its BlackBerry Enterprise Server – giving companies the same safety as an internal server, but without the tax on resources.

????RIM recognizes that tablets are a major area of enterprise opportunity, and Devenyi points to enterprise software in development for the PlayBook (Balance will arrive later this summer). Still, the lukewarm reception to the first version of the tablet might put the pressure on its successors.

????While RIM revs its engines to promote devices in the hopes of recapturing its days of consumer market leader glory, its future lies in the enterprise. Egan acknowledges that expanding BlackBerry's enterprise services and features is a good move. "But they are still using it as a carrot to buy BlackBerry devices."