IT Specialists in UK Replacing BlackBerry Devices with Windows Phone Ones
IT Specialists in the UK in Business and Government Areas Increasingly Using Windows Phone Rather than BlackBerrys
IT specialists in the UK in the business and government fields are planning to abandon their BlackBerry devices and to use Windows Phone ones. That became clear as the UK Computerweekly interviewed IT specialists who shared their plans and explained the reasons.
Andrew McManus, an IT director of the NEC Group, is planning to replace about 250 BlackBerry devices with Nokia Lumia 625 or 925. He is planning the change for the spring. As he explains, Windows Phone devices provide IT specialists with smooth connection with their back end Microsoft systems. Thus they get access to all their systems, and to enterprise resource planning. They also get all the common tablet functions everyone needs. As for the price, McManus thinks it is the same. So he thinks equipping his IT specialists with Lumia devices is worth the efforts. Another change McManus is planning is the introduction of tablets based on Windows 8. The advantage of the Windows Phone system is that people can get data in real time. That is important for event managers. They can track everything that is happening in their events. Compared to using iOS devices, the use of Windows Phone devices has an advantage. It is less complicated to get something from the SQL server. McManus is planning to get Windows for all their tablet uses.
Another representative of IT specialists, Rob Bamforth, compared BlackBerrys to Windows Phone devices and noted the latter are more productive. They are also often cheaper. As Boris Hurinek, Eurobase software services group CTO, points out, he could buy eight Lumia 520 devices for the price of a 4th generation iPhone. He also agrees that the Windows Phone platform is more reliable and productive. It is also user friendly and can be integrated within existing infrastructures. The Lumia devices can be used with business email, with SkyDrive, and with Office 365, which saves time for IT specialists using them.
In the government sector, IT specialists are also looking at Windows Phone devices. In the Government Digital Service IT specialists plan to replace BlackBerrys with smartphones that run Windows 8. The plans are for a staff of 1,800 at the IT Department for Energy and Climate Change. They use the same security model in their laptops. Windows 8 is cheaper. It is also better aligned to users needs. Integrating Windows 8 smartphones is easier.
The UK market used to be a strong one for BlackBerrys. Now its market share is decreasing. The Windows Phone share is growing and has reached over 10 percent. But its success may depend on the extent to which the BYOD will spread, and on how tablet based devices impact IT specialists in corporate use.
Source: Computerweekly
