Platinum Partner Appurity Has Been at BlackBerry’s Side for Nearly a Decade – Here’s Why

Appurity’s focus is simple: to help businesses fulfil their mobile initiatives in the most efficient, effective, and secure manner possible. With a wide range of different services and clients spanning multiple industries and verticals, the company works with organizations both large and small. Its specialties include managed mobility, application development and delivery, and mobile integration.

“We look at what our clients are trying to do with mobile, and what policies and regulations they must comply with while doing so,” explains Steve Whiter, Director at Appurity. “We work with them to determine the best way to meet those goals.”

This process can take many forms. One client, for instance, might request support with network security. Another might want a tool to manage sensitive data on mobile devices, while yet another might request Appurity’s help with deploying and managing a fleet of smartphones.

“We assist our clients in a variety of ways,” explains Whiter. “We have developed both B2B and consumer apps, we provide managed mobility – the build, design, and deployment of devices for both large enterprises and smaller organisations. We create new and optimise existing infrastructures, reviewing policies, profiles and security posture for each build type.”

“Our services act as an extension to the customers IT and security teams,” he continues, “providing solutions that enhance the end user experience and increase productivity.”

Appurity are part of the Apple Consultants Network, specialized in managing and deploying iOS® devices. It works extensively with Android™ Enterprise and was among the first Samsung KNOX™ accredited organizations. And finally, it maintains partnerships with a range of industry leaders.

Of these, BlackBerry is one of its longest-standing – and currently Appurity’s only cybersecurity partner.

Appurity has worked closely with BlackBerry for seven years. Originally a BlackBerry Managed Mobility Partner, the company recently earned Platinum Authorization. Awarded to only the most highly-skilled and committed partners, the Platinum tier includes a range of support services, application consultancy and integration, advanced system integration, and advanced sales, training, and accreditation opportunities.

“We’ve always been close to BlackBerry regarding accreditations and keeping accreditations up,” says Whiter. “We know their products in-depth, and the ability to offer full support services endorsed by BlackBerry is incredibly valuable to us.”

Appurity’s portfolio currently includes several core BlackBerry products and services. For clients that require a unified endpoint management and policy control platform, it offers BlackBerry® UEM. Through UEM, devices, apps, and policies can be managed from a single, integrated view and can be managed by expert consultants with support offering or a complete managed contract.

Appurity was also the first BlackBerry® Workspaces partner in the United Kingdom. A secure content collaboration platform, Workspaces allows enterprises to manage, monitor, and control sensitive data, even if that data is on a mobile device outside the network perimeter, without impeding the end user. By becoming a Workspaces partner, Appurity both extended its core competencies and developed in-depth skills for the fast-growing content collaboration space.

More recently, Appurity has added two new BlackBerry offerings to its portfolio. The first, BlackBerry® AtHoc®, is a crisis communication and accountability tool. The second, BlackBerry® Cybersecurity Consulting, is a set of services that include security assessments, threat intelligence, and training/certification.

Appurity is more than just a BlackBerry partner; it also uses BlackBerry’s solutions within its own walls. Many of the applications it develops are secured through BlackBerry® Dynamics™, an advanced container for mobile apps. BlackBerry Workspaces, meanwhile, is used for internal documentation and some particularly sensitive files the company must share externally. “The company,” notes Whiter, “was actually working with Workspaces even before it was acquired by BlackBerry.”

Finally, it manages its own mobile infrastructure through BlackBerry UEM. It also plans to start using BBM® Enterprise to enhance the BlackBerry AtHoc crisis communications solution, which it uses internally.

“We’ve been using BlackBerry within our own organization for a while,” says Whiter. “Generally, the feedback from our users has been good. We have a lab environment, a live environment, and several different versions of BlackBerry’s infrastructure to help us test different builds and answer support queries for clients.”

A Unified Portfolio: BlackBerry is a very different company from what it was seven years ago. The changes it has made in that time have been extremely positive from Appurity’s perspective. The partner has, over the course of its relationship with BlackBerry, been able to further streamline its own offerings.

“The acquisitions BlackBerry has made have helped us unify a lot of our customers,” explains Whiter. “We’re also able to have advanced technical support and consultancy services thanks to BlackBerry’s updated portfolio.”

New Business Opportunities: Working with BlackBerry, Appurity has been able to attract more clients – and larger clients – than might have otherwise been possible. The addition of BlackBerry AtHoc and BlackBerry Cybersecurity Services to Appurity’s portfolio has also opened up new conversations – and new opportunities – with existing customers. Along with BlackBerry’s updated portfolio, this has allowed the company to grow considerably.

“Thanks to our partnership with BlackBerry, we’re able to work with much larger organizations – clients that are typically difficult to get involved with,” says Whiter. “We’re able to work together to determine the right solution for a client, providing licenses, support, builds, and so on. Our two organizations have formed quite a tight bond, and the unique manner in which BlackBerry goes to market has helped both parties.”

“Business-wise, we’ve expanded quite substantially,” Whiter continues. “Our strategic partnership has seen a growth exceeding 30% over the last year and-a-half, and deal registration value has grown by multiple thousands of pounds.”

A Strong Reputation: Appurity’s customer base is a diverse one, with client organizations ranging in size from fifty users to numerous thousands across many regions. Of these clients, a large segment of them work in regulated industries where even a minor security flaw could have far-reaching consequences. Yet these security demands do not change the fact that such clients often have the same mobility requirements as those working outside a regulated space.

Appurity has made a name for itself in meeting these demands – especially in law and financial services. One of the company’s more popular applications is known as Rubus, an application for Android Enterprise that allows devices to be integrated with iManage®, a document management application. Through Rubus, mobile users can access all the functionality a desktop user might enjoy.

“iManage is widely-used in the legal sector.” explains Whiter. “It’s a key tool for many law firms. As an iManage Technology Partner and mobile specialist, we are able to provide law firms with iManage on their smartphone that delivers tight integration to the mail platform. This unique offering has made us quite well-known as a result.”

To help ensure Rubus was secure, Appurity turned to BlackBerry UEM, BlackBerry’s unified endpoint management platform. UEM’s powerful device controls enabled the security posture of devices connected to iManage to remain strong. UEM’s VPN-less connectivity, meanwhile, allows Rubus to seamlessly connect without requiring multiple ports or VPN tunnels.

“Rubus and BlackBerry UEM are highly complementary,” says Whiter. “With Rubus, law firms can use iManage on mobile devices and enjoy better billing, improved productivity, better contract management, and greater proftability. BlackBerry UEM allows all that to be done pretty much out of the box.”

Future Plans: Appurity will shortly release Rubus for BlackBerry®Dynamics™ and add integration with BlackBerry® Work, a solution that combines enterprise email, calendar, contacts, presence, document editing, and more. Appurity will also be releasing Oriel, a BlackBerry Workspaces Connector for iManage.