Blackberry's Storm: For Enterprise Users, It's the iPhone BeaterBlackberry's Storm: For Enterprise Users, It's the iPhone Beater

The Blackberry Storm's preliminary reviews have been inconclusive. However, let me be definitive: for the enterprise user, the Storm will be a major winner and should have enough pizzazz to take much of the iPhone pressure off IT departments.

The coolest thing I saw at VoiceCon last week was the new BlackBerry Storm, the first touch screen handheld from Research in Motion (RIM). While the Storm wasn't on display in RIM's booth at the show, a number of their executives had their own Storms, and they made a point of showing them off. Due to be released officially tomorrow, the device's preliminary reviews have been inconclusive. However, let me be definitive: for the enterprise user, the Storm will be a major winner and should have enough pizzazz to take much of the iPhone pressure off IT departments.As with any mobile device, the assessment hinges on your key applications and how it measures up in those areas. As I have noted before, email and text remain the key applications for enterprise users, and in those areas the Storm has it all over the iPhone. When you add that together with battery life, business application support, and all of those management and security features that are so important to enterprise IT departments, there's frankly no comparison.

While Apple did turn the handset market on its ear with the iPhone, that commotion was centered on consumer rather than enterprise requirements. iPhone's appeal is based on a great look, a snappy user interface, great entertainment features, and the best mobile Web browser we have ever seen. For text entry, however, the iPhone is less than ideal. Accomplished iPhone users say that they eventually accommodate themselves to the iPhone's imprecise soft QWERTY keyboard, particularly with the help of Apple's adaptive correction technology. Business people who need to get their emails out will have thrown the thing out the window before they reach that stage.

The superiority of the Storm's text entry functions are clear from the first click- the click is the key. When you enter text on the Storm, the screen gives slightly and returns a notable "click," which is accompanied by a little "explosion" effect around the key. The combination of the two results in a level of first-day typing accuracy that is light years ahead of the iPhone's.

That basic functionality is combined with the other mobility features that RIM has incorporated in their devices over the years. Held vertically, the Storm's touch screen displays the two-letters per key Sure-Type keyboard format used on the Pearl. Turned horizontally, the display shifts to the full QWERTY format. The idea is that a user can go for the one-handed Sure-Type format (when dragging a wheelie bag behind them through the airport), and then switch to the faster full-QWERTY format when they are free to use both hands.

The Storm maintains all of the other convenience features that BlackBerry users have come to prize. Those include "smart-first-click" and dial from text, and it also features a neat select-copy-paste function. While I didn't see it demo'd, the Storm should also support the BlackBerry clients for Microsoft OCS and IBM Sametime as well as the various PBX mobile UC clients. For IT departments however, the biggest feature is support for the overall BlackBerry security environment. The iPhone depends on consumer-oriented solutions like using the iTune store for software distribution, but users still have to accept applications that are downloaded to the device. If I'm a network manager pushing out an important security update, I don't want the implementation to be "discretionary."

If you look at the accompanying chart, you will see that the iPhone still has a lot of pluses, however, most are in areas that are important for consumer frills, not enterprise applications. About the only critical enterprise capability that is missing in the Storm is Wi-Fi support. RIM does have Wi-Fi in a number of devices (the ones with model numbers that end "--20"). The Storm is being sold to operate on Verizon's CDMA network, but it can shift to GSM for international use.

As you look at the box score, you will note some anomalies with the Storm. RIM has included a number of consumer goodies, recognizing the growing importance of their consumer business. In the most recent analyst call, RIM noted that 60% of sales in the most recent quarter were to consumers rather than business users. So a better camera and support for Bluetooth wireless headphones are showing up on the Storm but not the iPhone.

Conclusion My focus in wireless is the enterprise, and with the Storm, RIM has delivered a touch screen device that's spot on. The two biggest drawbacks are the lack of Wi-Fi support and its merely adequate browser. The omission of Wi-Fi might be a concession to Verizon, whose commitment to openness is yet to advance beyond press releases. For a first attempt, however, it's pretty darn good, and it tows the line with BlackBerry's leading edge security and management capabilities. For customers who have become accustomed to the BlackBerry environment, this will go a long way towards countering the iPhone zealots.The Blackberry Storm's preliminary reviews have been inconclusive. However, let me be definitive: for the enterprise user, the Storm will be a major winner and should have enough pizzazz to take much of the iPhone pressure off IT departments.