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: