Research In Motion (RIM) has rolled out an open beta trial of its new BlackBerry Business Cloud Service that works alongside Microsoft’s Office 365. This new service is intended to allow access to email, contacts, and calendar apps utilizing Microsoft’s cloud.
“As part of our vision to deliver the best productivity experience across the PC, browser and phone with Office 365, we’ve been working in partnership with Research in Motion (RIM) to deliver support for BlackBerry smartphones through a new RIM-hosted cloud service for our customers,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post.
This new service will allow IT pros to access a console that enables remote control of BlackBerry devices. Admins can allow tasks such as provisioning, managing, and securing devices. BlackBerry users can also reset their device’s password, lock the device, or completely wipe it using a self-service online control.
RIM’s BlackBerry Business Cloud Services will be a free service for organizations subscribing to certain Microsoft Online Services as well.
RIM expects this new service to be generally available beginning January of next year with beta testing launching in 30 countries. Users looking to beta test the new service can enroll at RIM’s beta page.
In order to participate in the beta program, you will need either a trial or subscription account of Microsoft Exchange Online.