Management Slideshow: Should IT Jettison the BlackBerry?

When Canadian firm Research In Motion (RIM) unleashed the first Blackberry devices on the world in 1999, it marked the first time corporate IT departments had a viable option for delivering Email to employees' mobile phones. No wonder the devices spread like a wildfire throughout corporate America, spawning a generation of professional "CrackBerry" addicts. But, as the mobile phone market shifted its emphasis to smart phones in the ensuing years, Apple -- and later Google -- put into the hands of consumers a computing device that was far more diverse than BlackBerry's. As business users have steadily acquired iPhones and Android-powered devices for personal use, they've increasingly sought to use them at work in place of their BlackBerrys. This goes a long way toward explaining recent survey findings from Enterprise Management Associates indicating that only 16% of respondents who are BlackBerry users in large enterprises are satisfied with their devices, and that more than 30% of respondents plan to switch platforms in the coming year. With that in mind, we offer you eight reasons why IT organizations should consider jettisoning the BlackBerry from their mobile strategies: