BlackBerry Goes After Twilio With Messaging App Developer Kit

BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY) is opening up some of its secure messaging and file sharing technology for developers to use in building apps, creating a new revenue stream as it works to boost sales, joining a crew of companies already offering similar services including Twilio and Bandwidth.com, Nexmo and Plivo. The Waterloo, Ontario-based company said the software development kit it’s releasing this month will include tools for building chat apps, video and voice calling, file sharing and sending out push notifications to mobile phones.
As quoted in the press release:

The key differentiator for BlackBerry though, will be its reputation for security, Chief Operating Officer Marty Beard said on a call. “We don’t think current providers are meeting the needs of the enterprise,” he said. “The market needs this.”
The move is a textbook example of Chief Executive Officer John Chen’s strategy of taking the company’s existing technology and finding new ways to monetize it. Instead of the closed, device-focused BlackBerry that Chen inherited three years ago, the company now licenses its software and gives permission to other companies to make phones with the BlackBerry brand.

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