Home Depot to Drop BlackBerry for iPhone

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Posted February 9, 2013 at 4:25pm by iClarified

Home Depot will drop BlackBerry and switch about 10,000 store managers and corporate employees to the iPhone, reports AppleInsider.

"We are replacing our current base of BlackBerry technology with iPhones," the representative said, clarifying that the move applies only to store managers, district managers, other corporate-level staffers, and field ops.

At this point the initiative will not affect the approximately 60,000 rugged Motorola smartphones used by in-store employees.

AllThingsD reached BlackBerry who declined to comment on the matter but said there has been significant enterprise interest in BB10.

“We are in the process of launching BlackBerry 10 globally in key markets, and we are seeing positive demand for the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone in countries where it is already available,” spokeswoman Amy McDowell told AllThingsD. “And, for enterprises, we have over 2,700 unique businesses in North America already registered for our BlackBerry 10 Ready Program. We are confident that BlackBerry is, and will continue to be, the best solution for corporations managing large smartphone deployments. In fact, a recent study by Strategy Analytics shows that BlackBerry is more cost-effective and more secure than our competitors.”

Read More [via AllThingsD]

Home Depot to Drop BlackBerry for iPhone

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Annoyed - February 10, 2013 at 12:39pm

iOS7 will consist of a louder speaker. A little bit faster than what it is now. A new feature in settings that will allow you to turn off speaker functions while using phone option. The iPhone crowd will go insane. EPIC!!

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D - February 10, 2013 at 5:21am

I'm an IT guy, and am responsible for administrating our mobile device management. We dropped Blackberry a year ago, because it didn't make sense to keep because the majority of the employees were willing to buy there own phones. We dropped Black Berry, switched to a real MDM solution. I can tell you from experience that the iPhone is secure, and I know when a iPhone is modified. We can wipe the data over the air, or lock the phone. In fact I am spending less time solving blackberry server issues, company is saving money. Win win situation for everyone.

angexpress - February 10, 2013 at 5:03pm

Hi, Which MDM solution did you switch over to and what kind of control does it give you? I'm interested in how it differentiates from erasing business information and not personal information. Thanks Angelo

D - February 10, 2013 at 11:01pm

We went with Zenprise, we can delete all corporate data and leave personal data intacte, or wipe back to factory if lost or stolen.

Angelo - February 10, 2013 at 2:08am

You guys make comments as if you know what you're talking about. Last article I read from a credited security firm said that Apple's security has caught up to Blackberry's security. Apple doesn't need to change their OS, I don't know why people are posting these comments, they just need to tweak their OS and give us some more swiping functionality. Quick swipe to change settings is long overdue, and I'm not sure why they didn't do that when they came out with the notification center.

Richard Alima - February 9, 2013 at 5:56pm

Home Depot won't allow his employee to JailBreak their Iphone... Most company does not like that....

9thCloud - February 9, 2013 at 5:40pm

All it'll take is one security breach and the decision taken will be shown the wisdom they've put into the choice made. Any buisness that holds security to be paramount in their communicative device will not choose an IPhone. Apple's UI has grown long in the tooth as demonstrated by Blackberrys new OS...there has been many iterations of the IPhone but each much the same as its predecessor - many of the coolest things that make the IPhone truly stand out are only available after a jailbreak. I love Apple for their improvements / advancements to our everday lives but I am saddened at their current lack of vision...there shouldn't have been a IPhone 4S given that the difference between it and the 5 are so minuscule. Anxiously waiting to see what IOS V7 will look like now that Blackberry has planted a beautiful seed.

wiseman - February 9, 2013 at 8:35pm

Well written post its been awhile you are the man

9thCloud - February 9, 2013 at 9:07pm

Thank you "wiseman"

NativeCanadian - February 9, 2013 at 4:47pm

I love how easily we regular everyday users can jailbreak and tweak our phones... It is probably that ease of jail-breaking - and the iPhones interconnectivity with the cloud sync and airplay - is probably the reason I didn't try a BlackBerry on launch day (still might try it out though) ... but what I can never figure out is why a business would use iPhones where security is needed. You know that there will jail-broken iPhones out there in the business environment with default passwords, etc... I love our iPhones, and they are more fun and certainly carry a cool factor, but from a business perspective, security seems more important.. Hey, Maybe Home Depot is going for a "Cool" image.. we can expect to see commercials with HD employees with iPhones Soon!?

Bjarni F. - February 9, 2013 at 5:21pm

Why should the employes of this company jailbreak their phone? It is a really safe phone while it is not jailbroken.

NativCanadian - February 9, 2013 at 6:29pm

LOL. Did you seriously just say that?