Policy change ‘not the end’ for BlackBerry and government

Shared Services continues ties with firm as it expands staff’s smartphone options

BlackBerry Ltd. went on the offensive to defend its relationship with the Government of Canada after Ottawa’s IT department said it will let employees dump their BlackBerry handsets for more modern mobile devices.

Shared Services Canada will gradually provide 43 federal departments with new smartphone options, including Samsung Android and iOS devices. The federal government is opening up its formerly exclusive relationship with BlackBerry since the Waterloo, Ont., company no longer makes the handsets long favoured by governments and security-conscious organizations around the world.

BlackBerry stopped designing and manufacturing its own handsets last year after its global market share fell to almost zero per cent. As it shifted to selling software, it has leaned heavily on its high-security reputation and frequently touts its relationships with governments as evidence of its leadership in the field.

BlackBerry insists that any implications that Ottawa’s move marks the end of an era “couldn’t be further from the truth,” spokeswoman Sarah McKinney said in an email late Monday after The Globe and Mail first reported the change.

“We have a long-standing relationship with Shared Services Canada and our work together continues to grow,” McKinney said.

The government will still use BlackBerry’s enterprise mobility management platform to manage all of its devices and BBM messaging to share and discuss Protection B classified information, McKinney said.

“Ultimately, this policy change is not the ‘end’ of anything for BlackBerry … we look forward to providing the Government of Canada and its people with the highest level of security well into the future.”

Shared Service Canada agreed it isn’t abandoning BlackBerry, but said it needed to expand its devices to include more modern models, considering the BlackBerrys it currently offers have been discontinued.

“Customer departments will be able to choose the mobile device that best fits the needs of each employee, based on device functionality and cost, and will be responsible for purchasing these devices via SSC,” spokeswoman Frederica Dupuis said in a statement Tuesday.

Shared Services is working with lead security agencies to roll out the new devices, Dupuis said. Government employees will now get to choose from a small number of Samsung Android and iOS devices that meet strict security standards. BlackBerry devices will still be supported.