WSJ - New RIM Software Blocks Personal Content from Blackberry 10 Phones

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• May 14, 2013, 5:56 PM ET

New RIM Software Blocks Personal Content from BlackBerry 10 Phones

Research in Motion Ltd. Tuesday introduced new server software that blocks personal content from corporate BlackBerry 10 smartphones. The software, BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 version 10.1, is designed to help CIOs satisfy the stringent security rules required by government offices and regulated industries.

RIM CEO Thorsten Heins revealed the software at the BlackBerry Live developer event in Orlando, Fla. The Canadian company is trying to reverse four years of smartphone market share losses, spurred by the heavy adoption of the iPhone and Android smartphones in the workplace, a domain RIM once dominated. Gartner Inc. Tuesday said Android and iOS accounted for nearly 93% of smartphones sold worldwide in the first quarter, compared to 3% for BlackBerry.

Reasserting its dominance in the corporate arena is a key strategy for RIM. Version 10.1 of BES 10 allows corporations to secure data on BlackBerry smartphones through encryption, in which data is encoded so that it can only be read by authorized parties. Some financial services firms and government agencies, bound by law to control information their employees share, prevent employees from accessing their personal content from corporate devices. BES 10 now allows IT administrators to prevent users from downloading or accessing personal applications on their BlackBerry10 smartphones, said Jeff Holleran, senior director of enterprise product management, at RIM. CIOs can elect to block employees from accessing personal email, instant messaging, Twitter Inc. or Facebook Inc. applications – even the phone’s camera. If CIOs deem any of those apps useful for employees, they may also permit access to those applications. “The enterprise has complete and total control as to which services it allows on the device,” Mr. Holleran said.

Darren Dworkin, CIO of Cedar-Sinai Medical Center, said blocking personal content can make sense. “Given the niche that they have in governments that require high security, that’s probably useful,” said Mr. Dworkin. But Mr. Dworkin, who allows employees to use their own smartphones for work, said he implemented IT and employee processes for protecting data, rather than focusing on locking down devices. He said he would support BlackBerry 10 smartphones if employees chose to use them at work.

RIM is also looking to regain relevance by supporting the platforms that usurped its corporate market share. The company this summer will update BES 10 to separate work and personal applications on iOS and Android devices. It will also make its popular BlackBerry Messenger instant messaging app available on iOS and Android.

BES 10 version 10.1 is available as a free download, though it will cost businesses $59 per year for each device they wish to connect to the server software. BES 5 customers may trade their current licenses for BES 10 at no additional charge.

RIM currently has two phones – the all-touch BlackBerry Z10 and the keyboard-equipped Q10 — running its BlackBerry 10 software. RIM will release a third phone, the BlackBerry Q5, this summer. Although BlackBerry 10 phones have been slow to catch on, the Department of Defense earlier this month approved the use of BlackBerry 10 smartphones on its networks. The DOD’s approval is a critical blessing for RIM, especially with the Air Force and other military branches now supporting iOS and Android devices.

RIM’s software plans are resonating with some analysts. Peter Misek, a financial analyst with Jefferies LLC, said Tuesday that he expects the DOD will use BES 10 to manage its employees’ BlackBerry 10,  iOS and Android devices. “We think BlackBerry’s software will gain traction throughout this year and see a significant ramp in revenues next year,” Mr. Misek said in a research note.

WSJ - Hospitals Waste $8.3B on Inefficient Communications

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• May 7, 2013, 6:28 PM ET

Hospitals Waste $8.3B on Inefficient Communications

Inefficient communications tools are costing hospitals billions of dollars nationwide in lost productivity and delayed patient discharge times, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Ponemon Institute. Hospital CIOs looking to modernize their communication technologies face stringent federal security and compliance rules. But some CIOs are managing to find ways to meet the act’s obligations in their pursuit to cut waste.

About $8.3 billion is wasted annually by hospitals because of a dependence on pagers, inadequate email processes, and older software that decrease clinician productivity and increases patient discharge times, according to the survey. More than half of the 577 healthcare professionals polled, including physicians, CIOs and compliance officers, blamed pagers as the leading cause of wasted dollars.

The Health Care Information Portability and Accountability Act is not helping hospitals wean themselves off of pagers, said Ponemon Institute Founder Larry Ponemon. The act, which was revised this year to give patients more control over their healthcare records, places stringent requirements on electronic hospital communications, including information transmitted via smartphones and tablets. This is a big reason why pagers, which only enable one-way communications, are still heavily used in hospitals.

Darren Dworkin, CIO of Cedar-Sinai Medical Center, said “hospitals are still huge users of pagers.” But Mr. Dworkin is trying to move away from that practice. Though clinicians still use pagers at Cedar-Sinai, 1,000 nurses now use iPhones for voice and text communications. To comply with HIPAA, the hospital purchased secure communications software that encrypts the phones. “We have not gotten rid of every pager, but this is a start in that direction,” Mr. Dworkin said.

Ed Ricks, CIO of Beaufort Memorial Hospital, said the number of pagers used at his hospital is dwindling because he allows clinicians to use their personal iPhone or Android smartphones at work. He protects those devices with an encrypted texting application that is HIPAA compliant. “We want to supply an avenue for clinicians to text, but do it in a secure fashion so that we are covered from a HIPAA perspective,” Mr. Ricks said.

Though Mr. Dworkin and Mr. Hicks have found ways to allow compliant smartphone use, Mr. Ponemon painted a bleak picture of the healthcare sector. Caregivers estimated they waste more than 45 minutes per day due to inefficient communications, which in addition to pagers includes email and outdated applications. This costs the average U.S. hospital about $1 million annually, both in decreased productivity and decreased time doctors have available to spend with patients. This translates to a loss of more than $5.1 billion a year, based on 5,000 registered hospitals in the U.S. Poor communications tools also increase patient discharge times, costing the average hospital more than $550,000 per year in lost revenue, and $3.1 billion annually. All told, hospitals are wasting $8.3 billion each year, Mr. Ponemon said.

Though email can be effective in corporations, Mr. Ponemon said email is inadequate because clinicians who frequently make rounds must return to their desktops to send email messages. Also, he said, older patient portal software can be slow and interoperable with newer software for managing healthcare records. And clinicians may access as many as 10 different healthcare applications, each with their own log-in credential requirements.