Endpoint Security Manager Palo Alto

You know enterprise mobility has gone mainstream when BYOD gets an entry in . Or has it? magazine, only 56% of organizations globally have made any investments in mobile. A lack of IT resources is to blame – 52% cited budget constraints as their greatest roadblock, while 38% pointed to a lack of qualified staff.

Similarly, a Ponemon Institute survey released in March revealed that This is a problem: the majority of mobile breaches – – are the result of mobile apps that have been misconfigured by users and/or mismanaged by IT managers. Such errors can cause just as much damage to a business as a complex, targeted attack.

Recent news around Greece’s budget crisis and China’s falling stock market might have your CFO already thinking about ways to slash budgets in anticipation of falling sales. And if you have any experience with BYOD, you know that the total cost of supporting a widely-diverse fleet of smartphones can easily from foregoing buying employee phones.

Resource-strapped organizations can protect themselves while tapping into mobile for the first time, or renewing their fleet of  or -deployed phones. If you seek an affordable phone to give your business a competitive edge without sacrificing security, consider the . Designed with professionals in mind, the Leap offers the following six benefits for businesses:

(Also read these profiles of power professionals that have chosen BlackBerry Leap, including this , , and . And check out positive media reviews of the Leap , , and .)

• Cost-effectiveness: With a list price in the U.S. of $275 (prices may vary by market), the Leap is one of most-affordable unlocked smartphones on the market. Unlocked phones can be especially valuable for individuals and smaller firms that have the freedom to choose among carriers. You can per year on carrier fees by shopping around. That can quickly add up. Finally, deploying the BlackBerry Leap alongside can help businesses save significantly on IT spending. With security locked down and mobile employees working more productively, decision makers can focus their budget on innovation across the organization.
• Superior hardware: belie its price: 5-inch HD display, 25-hour battery life due to its 2800 mAH battery, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of storage with up to an additional 128 GB of storage via microSD, 8-megapixel camera, and more, all in a slim package with durability befitting a BlackBerry.
• Best-in-class security: Like all BlackBerry 10 devices, the BlackBerry Leap is equipped with full encryption support and built-in malware protection, and , making it a perfect choice for regulated organizations in particular. It allows employees to back up, wipe, and restore their data on an as-needed basis – and if an employee is for some reason unable to, IT can step in and do the job. Remember, BlackBerry devices  such as Barack Obama, David Cameron, Angela Merkel, and others, because of their security.

• Incredible productivity: The adapts to each user’s individual writing style. This allows users to type quickly and accurately, whether sending an email or communicating with a colleague on BBM. Additionally, its error correction tools and multi-language support ensure you’ll never be misunderstood, no matter who you’re communicating with.
• A powerful suite of applications: BlackBerry Leap comes pre-loaded with BlackBerry Hub, BlackBerry Assistant, and BlackBerry Blend. Blend allows users to access available on their Leap (work e-mail, BBM and text messages, secure access to your work files and even corporate network, and more), while Hub aggregates every message and notification into one easy-to-navigate interface, accessible at any time through a simple gesture. brings everything together, using voice and text input commands to help employees manage their workflow like never before. More applications – including some of the most popular consumer apps – are available through BlackBerry World and the .

• Intuitive privacy and control: gives IT staff access to a powerful command center that allows fine-tuned, platform-neutral control over every aspect of a business’s mobile infrastructure, including BlackBerry Leap phones. Through an attribute-driven, endpoint-centered permissions model, IT can manage every device in a business’s fleet, as well as their applications – and all without sacrificing ease of use or productivity for the end user.

As Computerworld recently reported, the More companies are turning towards COPE and COBO strategies to deploy and manage employee devices. As they do, they should avoid treating usability and security as inevitable trade-offs. With the BlackBerry Leap, such constraints become a nonissue – it offers an affordable, secure, and intuitive option for businesses and business professionals alike, whether they’re deploying a few devices or upgrading an entire fleet.