In yet another blow to
BlackBerry, the Australian
Treasury Department has opted
to switch away from the
platform in favor of Apple's
iPhone and iOS, with the
transition expected to be
completed within the next
month and a half.
The Treasury will replace 250 BlackBerry
devices with new iPhone 5s, reports
ZDNet Australia, and is also planning to
roll out an as-yet-undisclosed number of
iPads to staff, ministers' offices and other
agencies run by the department.
According to chief information officer
Peter Alexander, the decision to switch
came after the Defence Signals
Directorate, Australia's signals intelligence
agency, certified Apple's iOS for
government applications. Alexander said
the new devices would be controlled by
device management platform AirWatch.
When asked about BlackBerry's
announcement of BB10 and two new
handsets, the Z10 and Q10, Alexander
was unsure if the company would be able
to make a comeback.
"BlackBerry has pretty limited capability,"
he said. "With the new one being
launched, it's almost too late. Maybe it'll
catch up, maybe it won't."
As for Android, the DSD has yet to certify
a single device running Google's mobile
operating system.
"In the coldest and cruelest way to look
at it, there was no decision for us, really,"
Alexander said. "We looked at it in terms
of usability and functionality, Android
phones are perfectly adequate […] but it
was really a decision we didn't have much
option in."
The Australian Treasury Department is
the latest government body to make the
leap to iOS. In Apple's quarterly
conference call for the first quarter of
2013, Chief Financial Officer Peter
Oppenheimer said a number of U.S.
agencies are issuing iPhones "by the
thousands, " including NASA, NOAA,
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement,
and the Transportation and Security
Administration.
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