IBM has just released software which allow BlackBerry users to be able to access more of its apps such as Louts Connections and Cognos business intelligence software. This is apparently an ongoing trend to provide mobile phone access to enterprise applications, and follows on after a similar announcement from SAP that said it is building a version of its Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software for the BlackBerry.

Vice president of Lotus software for IBM, Kevin Cavanaugh says: “We think this is a trend that is happening in the industry where you’re taking enterprise applications and wanting to carry them around on a handheld as well as get them on laptops.”

These developments are also quite good for BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion, who happens to have a new challenger budding in the workplace in the guise of the Apple iPhone. So far the Apple iPhone has shown to be most popular with consumers thus far, but Apple has stated they plan to add native support for Microsoft Exchange as they begin to assemble an enterprise push.

IBM completed its acquisition of Cognos sometime earlier this year, and now BlackBerry users will have access to IBM’s Cognos 8 Go software, which is a version of the business intelligence software designed for the BlackBerry.

The other IBM software which runs on BlackBerry includes the latest version of Sametime, the instant messaging client, Lotus Notes 8.01, and the WebSphere portal and dashboard software. Lotus Connections allows BlackBerry users to view blogs and wikis created by co-workers.

Those users that wish to acquire the IBM software will of course need to visit a web page via their BlackBerry mobile phone and download the small app which will allow them to access the IBM software.

Source — infoworld