BlackBerry loses out to GoodLink again

SearchMobileComputing writes about some of the customer traction Good Technology's GoodLink has made against Research in Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry recently.

According to Good, "a law firm, a media and entertainment industry technology and services provider, and a healthcare procurement services company have all announced making the leap, stomping on their BlackBerrys and using GoodLink on either Palm Treo smartphones or Pocket PCs."

Avi Greengart at Current Analysis has noticed some "evidence of the switch from BlackBerry to Good, but at this point it does not appear to be a clear-cut trend." He said, "There are three main reasons to consider Good over RIM -- strategic, technical and device-driven. [But] it's important to note up front that I have not been seeing a big movement away from RIM to its competitors."

Greengart pointed out that "companies started showing increased interest in BlackBerry competitors during RIM's ongoing patent litigation issues." He said, "IT managers suddenly realized that they were entirely dependent on a single vendor for critical mobility needs."

Greengart added, "Many Good installations go hand in hand with Palm Treos on the device side. While Palm and RIM announced BlackBerry Connect for the Treo, carriers have not enabled it out of the box. Despite heavy competition from RIM, HTC, Nokia (NOK) and now Motorola's (MOT) Q, many consumers prefer the rich PIM functionality, extensive library of third-party applications, and balanced voice, email, [and] media capabilities of the Treo. Most smartphones are still considered consumer-purchased devices, so in many organizations, installing Good is a good way to support an already existing community of Treo users."

Kathryn Weldon at Current Analysis commented, "I am not convinced people are going to Good and away from RIM in droves, but Good is considered the only enterprise-level alternative -- Seven and Visto are generally viewed as not sufficiently scalable. As Good isn't really any less expensive than RIM's BES [BlackBerry Enterprise Server], it seems likely that companies who want more device support, especially for the Treo, and who were indeed worried about the lawsuit issues, would see Good as the only place to go."