BlackBerry's UEM now provides secure monitoring of smartglasses for the enterprise

The smartglasses category appears to be an enterprise-only affair for now. While analysts like Gene Munster and others call for the product to eventually be bigger than the iPhone, the failed attempt by Google to get its Google Glass into the consumer space was a sign that people are just not ready for such a device. However, in the business world, smartglasses free up workers' hands while they receive information directly to their eyes. This increases corporate productivity.

Just the other day, BlackBerry and Vuzix announced a partnership that allows the Vuzix M300 smartglasses to work with BlackBerry's UEM (Unified Endpoint Management) software. This will allow a company's IT department to manage weararbles for the enterprise over multiple platforms. IT professionals will be able to monitor how these devices connect and work with other devices in a company's mobile fleet, including smartphones, tablets and laptops.

According to BlackBerry, it's UEM solution enables users to:

• Manage BlackBerry 10, iOS, macOS, Android (including devices that use Android for Work and Samsung KNOX), Windows (including Windows 10 tablets and computers), and BlackBerry OS (version 5.0 to 7.1) devices
• Use a simple web-based interface to manage BYOD, COPE, and COBO devices and protect business information
• Manage complex fleets of devices using comprehensive reporting and dashboards, dynamic filters, and robust search capabilities
• Keep mobile workers connected with the information that they need
• Configure high availability to minimize service interruptions for device users
• Allow users to activate their own devices with BlackBerry UEM Self-Service
• Ensure data security across iOS, Android, Windows, and BlackBerry devices

Allowing BlackBerry to make sure that Vuzik's M300 smartglasses remain secure is another step toward broadening the use of the device as a viable tool in the enterprise. It also shows how BlackBerry is able to expand the use of its UEM and widen its source of revenue away from hardware. You can see more about using BlackBerry's UEM for smartglasses by clicking on the video found at the top of the story.

This is how BlackBerry has reinvented itself. No longer trying to be a hardware provider for the enterprise, the company is content to make software that allows the hardware manufactured by others to be used safely in the business world.

source: BlackBerry