RIM Explains the Business PlayBook: IT Policies, BES, VPN, Intranet and More

One of the things that RIM has been really coy about is how the PlayBook will actually be able to be used in the corporate environment. For example, will it have IT Policies? Will it be managed by a BES? How will it connect to the corporate intranet? Luckily we got a step closer to learning exactly how thanks to an interview CIO Zone did with David Heit, RIM’s VP of Strategy. Heit also confirmed that the PlayBook is still planned on shipping within the next 60 days so it looks like we might see it before the end of March.

So back to the different modes of operation. It turns out that the BlackBerry PlayBook will sport 2 modes of operation at launch with at least another 2 coming. Here are how they will work:

• VPN mode: According to Heit this will simply open up a VPN connection to your corporate network when you are using Wi-Fi
• Bridge mode: This is the Bluetooth bridge that can be made between the PlayBook and a BlackBerry phone that will allow you access to email, calendars, BBM, and more. No confirmation in this video on if that will allow intranet access through BES/MDS but hopefully.
• BlackBerry Balance Mode: This mode will only be coming after the PlayBook hits the market. Just like what RIM is doing on BlackBerrys this will allow companies to deploy IT Policies to restrict the interaction between work and personal information and access on a PlayBook. In other words IT Policies are coming to the PlayBook. Heit also clearly states that BES is the obvious choice to manage such a device.
• Corporate Only Mode – This mode is how many work issued BlackBerrys work today. A company would be able to issue a PlayBook to an employee and totally lock it down to corporate use only. This is must for highly sensitive fields along with governments and other use cases. Still this mode is also coming after launch.

All in all it is nice to learn a little more about how the PlayBook will interact with the business. You should check out the full interview below spotted by N4BB:

Let us know if you spot anything else!