BlackBerry Ltd. is looking to expand its reach in the tech world and reduce product-to-market time with the announcement of a new specialized Value-Added Integrator (VAI) program for embedded software delivery.
Unveiled on Mar. 16, the program will allow partners to “deliver integration services and build upon BlackBerry’s embedded technologies to design and develop secure, mission-critical solutions – ultimately accelerating product time to market,” the company says.
John Wall, senior vice president and head of BlackBerry QNX, explains that with the explosion of unsecured Internet of Things devices, there is a “tremendous opportunity” for security and software solutions.
“We are experiencing strong demand for BlackBerry QNX embedded software and Certicom Elliptical Curve Cryptography -based security solutions,” Wall says in the company press release. “Our new VAI program will enable us to reach broader markets and expand our channels of distribution for a wider range of embedded applications that demand highly reliable and secure software solutions.”
Partners will gain access to BlackBerry’s software portfolio, including its Neutrino Realtime OS, QNX Momentics Tool Suite, QNX Hypervisor, QNX SDK for Apps & Media, QNX Wireless Framework, QNX OS for Safety, QNX OS for Medical, Certicom Toolkits, Certicom Managed Public Key Infrastructure and Certicom Asset Management System.
With applications in the automotive systems, medical surgical robots, smart grids, train control systems and industrial automation industries, the door is open for a wide range of partners, including Archermind Technology, Mcloudware, Micon Global, Mission Embedded, and ThunderSoft.
Jackey Yang, executive vice president and co-founder of ArcherMind Technology, a global software development and services company, says that since he works closely with chipset vendors, OEMs and ODMs to build turnkey embedded solutions, this program is an exciting way to deepen their expertise “in BlackBerry QNX’s safety- and security –certified embedded software, which will enable us to accelerate and reduce the cost to build and secure such products as white goods, automated fare collection systems, and commercial buses.”
Rock Yang, vice president of ThunderSoft, a China-based software company, echoes these thoughts.
“BlackBerry’s VAI program will enable us to provide our customers with a strong software platform to leverage BlackBerry QNX’s embedded safety and security software across the industrial, IoT, medical and virtual reality markets in China and throughout the world,” Yang says in a Mar. 16 press release. “Working with BlackBerry QNX, our expert team of engineers will help customers accelerate the design, development, integration and testing of mission-critical, next-generation systems.”
