http://www.forbes.com/sites/richkarlgaar...rry/print/
John Chen Speaks On Saving Blackberry (BBRY)
STEVE JOBS DID IT at Apple. Lou Gerstner and Sam Palmisano did it at IBM. But tech turnarounds are rare. John Chen, CEO of BlackBerry since November, is trying again. BlackBerry is Chen’s second major turnaround attempt. His first was Sybase, a database pioneer that had been crushed by Oracle. Chen came in, found a niche in mobile data and sold Sybase to SAP in 2010 for $5.8 billion.
I had lunch with Chen in January to talk about his plans to fix BlackBerry.
Why attempt this? I thought the world would be better off with a strong BlackBerry. You know, the company has 44,000 patents. And I thought it might be a fixable thing. It will be a difficult challenge, but if it were going to be easy, why do it?
Android and Apple own the mobile market. Even mighty Microsoft struggles. Can a small player survive? Sure. Take the automotive industry; it’s not all about volume. What do you call Porsche? What do you call Lamborghini? Porsche is doing extremely well. Now, Porsche serves a particular segment of the market, doing well for its shareholders and owners. It always serves the market for a purpose, which is the whole point.
In the short term there are enough users of serious computing–meaning this is what they do for their living, this is how they operate–that want a keyboard. You have CEOs of major companies who whip out their BlackBerrys because of the keyboard. They don’t care about apps. And, by the way, from a security point of view I’m starting to worry about where these apps are actually coming from.
How many potential customers fit that profile–wanting a keyboard but not wanting apps? There’s a huge market segment out there for any regulated industry. Governments, financial services, health care. I think we can go capture those and become a winner. I have two companies in Europe now that have reversed their policies on letting people bring their own devices to work. It presents too much of a security risk. After Angela Merkel was hacked she moved straight to a BlackBerry.
Assuming BlackBerry survives the short term, what are your long-term plans? The devices will change, but the need for security, productivity and communication will continue to grow. These are the three building blocks of all things Internet and all things “connected.” Security is more than an exercise in avoiding snooping or being listened to or copied. It’s also about data security. You can’t afford to have somebody steal or change your data.
How big is the market for users who put productivity and security ahead of communication? Regulated industries’ share of IT spending is 30%. I assume the same percentage for telecom spending–30%.
Why are tech turnarounds so hard? Because the amount of time you have to execute your plan can be dramatically changed by your competitors. There’s no time to recover from mistakes. You have to be right most of the time.
Do you need a strategy, or are fast reflexes enough? You must have short-, medium- and long-term strategies. And a lot of time you have to put the medium-term strategy in play. I had to do that at Sybase many times. We’d go down these paths, and some would work and some wouldn’t. But we had laid out a long-term plan, a medium-term plan and a short-term plan. However, if the short-term plan wasn’t working, the medium-term plan would kick in. A lot of companies have only one plan. That’s great if things go perfectly, not so great if things blow up.
What makes a great turnaround team? Urgency. And an obsessive focus on the things that matter. You build a team by picking the right people–it all comes down to the right people–who understand this. Then you make those people accountable. The CEO and the team need to know the details. You can’t know the minute details about everything, but you need to know the details. In an emergency room the doctor is hands on, whereas in a teaching hospital the doctor could just, you know, act like a professor and talk someone else through the procedure. Turnarounds are different; they’re like an emergency room, and you can’t be afraid of blood.
http://blogs.blackberry.com/2014/02/bbm-2-update/
All-New Ways to BBM Me: BBM 2.0 is Here!
02.13.14 / Jeff Gadway
Earlier, we wrote about some of the features we’re working on for BBM in 2014. Today, we’re excited to be adding those great new features and more to BBM that users on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry** can enjoy. When the update becomes available later today, these new features will give you more ways to chat and share than ever before on BBM. Here are some of the highlights:
BBM Voice
One of the things we’re most excited about is bringing BBM Voice to iPhone and Android users. With BBM Voice you can make free calls* to BBM contacts anywhere in the world using your Wi-Fi® or data connection. When a BBM contact is available for a BBM Voice call you’ll see a green icon in the top right hand corner of your chat. To call them, simply touch the green icon and your call will be connected.
BBM Channels
BBM Channels lets users chat with other BBM users about topics that interest them. Customers can join channels about a range of topics from products, hobbies and sports to entertainment, fashion, cars and more. Channels can be created by brands, businesses and BBM users alike and are a great way to communicate directly and immediately with people who share common interests in the broader BBM community. By posting to their channel, channel owners immediately reach their subscribers with a message that can spark discussions.
Location Sharing powered by Glympse
We’ve all been in situations where we’re running late, meeting up with friends, or trying to find someone at a concert. Location sharing powered by Glympse is a great way to share your live location for a specific amount of time. Choose how long you want to share your location for by setting the timer – when the timer runs out your location is private again. Now you see me…now you don’t!
Pictures, Voice notes, attachments and more
With this new version of BBM there’s more to chat about because you can quickly share a pic, voice note or file with your contacts. Snap a photo or pick one from your gallery; touch and hold to send a voice note; send a calendar event or contact.
Dropbox Integration
With Dropbox built in to BBM, you can send a file from your personal cloud directly to a BBM contact. On the receiving end, save the file directly to your smartphone or add it to your Dropbox account.
New Emoticons
This new release of BBM also includes 100 great new emoticons that you can use to bring some fun to your chats. With so many new emoticons, we’ve decided to dedicate a post to helping you discover them all. Check that out here.
Larger BBM Groups
You’ve been asking for larger BBM Groups and we’ve heard you loud and clear. This new version of BBM now includes 50-person BBM Groups so you can get more of your friends, family or team in on the action.
Check out this video for a peak at all the action in the new BBM.
[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]
Be sure to check you’ve got the latest version of BBM for BlackBerry 10 (v10.3), BlackBerry OS, iPhone (v2.0) and Android (v2.0). If you want to know more about these new features, head on over to the new BBM.com to read more and check out some short how-to videos.
* BBM customers and their contacts will need to have BBM Voice, a data plan and Wi-Fi coverage to make calls to each other. Data charges may apply.
**The new version of BBM on BlackBerry (BBM v.10.3) will be available on BlackBerry 10. BlackBerry OS5 and above will also be updated but will not include location sharing or Dropbox integration. For a full list of the new features of BBM, please visit
www.bbm.com.
Dropbox and the Dropbox logo are trademarks of Dropbox, Inc.
About Jeff Gadway
I'm the head of product and brand marketing for BBM. This means I work with our engineers, product managers, growth hackers and marketing communications team to create and communicate the magic of BBM. Off the clock, I'm a dog lover, coffee enthusiast and love helping start-ups with marketing stuff.
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