Mobile Enterprise Weblog: RIM: The Pro Forma Mistake

Didn't know Dan Taylor was a former Aberdeen analyst, but it helps explain his excellent analyses of the NTP/RIM situation. In his latest post at the Mobile Enterprise Weblog, Taylor writes another very thorough commentary on how many things in the IT industry has become pro forma. Given the current situation, he believes:

RIM is making a huge mistake with customers and partners alike. When leading analysts like Gene Signorini (Yankee) and Ken Dulaney (Gartner) are recommending against RIM, enterprise IT is bound to take them seriously. Those recommendations, coupled with a sufficient line of B.S. from RIM is enough to create the doubt that will undermine BlackBerry's market leadership. It's a classic Pro Forma Mistake.

Taylor provides his thoughts on these recommendations, and pointedly questions RIM's arrogant approach to being so secretive about it's supposed "work-around" if the Blackberry service is turned off. Taylor then goes on to disagree with a statement by RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie in his Wall Street Journal op-ed that said:

We have always fought this situation in the best interests of our customers and industry and we don't like spending money on bogus patents, but we recognize the practicality of a settlement here. It just has to be practical.

I'm with Taylor on this one. It's hard to believe they are looking out for their customers' best interests, when they are making them jump through hoops just to find out if a work-around exists. Doesn't sound like the customer comes first at RIM.

As a mobile enterprise evangelist, Taylor finds this whole episode embarrassing, saying "We don't need the mobility industry to fall apart because of RIM. We don't need for companies to think twice about mobile e-mail because RIM doesn't own their own intellectual property." He concludes with the following:

Enterprise mobility is a story that the industry has been training for years to tell, and it's high time we stopped talking about lawsuits and started talking about the future.

Hopefully, RIM's actions won't be a major stumbling block...