RIM, SAP Team For Mobile CRMRIM, SAP Team For Mobile CRM

Research In Motion announced Wednesday it would be bringing SAP's CRM software to its BlackBerry handsets.

The BlackBerry Sales Client for SAP CRM gives employees real-time access to customer information on their handsets. This information can include contacts, sales leads, logged activity, and other features of SAP's enterprise CRM software.

Because it's integrated with the BlackBerry ecosystem, CRM information can be pushed to the end user when any changes are made. Users will also have the security and management capabilities of the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES), and there's no third-party middleware to deal with.

"This innovative new solution elegantly extends valuable customers information in SAP CRM to BlackBerry smartphones by leveraging the BlackBerry platform's core strengths, including reliability, real-time push technology, deep application integration, and market-leading security," Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of RIM, said in a statement.

The SAP integration is available now for companies with a BES and SAP's CRM software, and it will work on popular handsets like the BlackBerry Bold and Curve.

RIM is seeing increased interest in enterprise-grade mobile applications, and this was the primary reason it spent about $20 million to acquire Chalk Media. The company specialized in secure, rich media content that can be pushed in a way similar to how BlackBerrys receive e-mail. Once the technology is properly integrated, companies with a BES could securely push videos, podcasts, surveys, and click-to-call requests to its mobile workers.

RIM also wants third-party companies to create enterprise-grade apps for its mobile platform, and it has steadily rolled out new tools for developers. Earlier this month, the smartphone maker offered an application programming interface for its much-vaunted push technology, which lets developers create apps that deliver real-time content.

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