Research In Motion has introduced a service called BlackBerry Mobile Fusion. It marks RIM’s entry into the multi-platform Mobile Device Management (MDM) marketplace and will help organisations simplify the management of smartphones and tablets running BlackBerry, Android and Apple iOS operating systems.

BlackBerry Mobile Fusion combines the existing BlackBerry Enterprise Server for BlackBerry smartphones with new management capabilities for BlackBerry PlayBook tablets and mobile device management for devices running the Android and iOS operating systems.

It’s currently being beta tested with a number of enterprise customers. An expanded beta program is expected to start in January, followed by general availability in late March.

Alan Panezic, Vice President for Enterprise Product Management and Marketing at Research In Motion, said “We are pleased to introduce BlackBerry Mobile Fusion – RIM’s next generation enterprise mobility solution – to make it easier for our business and government customers to manage the diversity of devices in their operations today. BlackBerry Mobile Fusion brings together our industry-leading BlackBerry Enterprise Server technology for BlackBerry devices with mobile device management capabilities for iOS and Android devices, all managed from one web-based console. It provides the necessary management capabilities to allow IT departments to confidently oversee the use of both company-owned and employee-owned mobile devices within their organizations.”

Features offered by BlackBerry Mobile Fusion will include asset management, configuration management and security management, with lost devices able to be remotely locked and erased (depending on the OS)