Blackberry has been an early leader in the enterprise connectivity space. Many companies have lost time and money pursuing unsuccessful product strategies in this segment, where Blackberry once ruled flying high on simplicity and security. The platform is still meaningful today and can add value as a forward or backward integration play, and that is why companies such as SAP, Cisco and Google have shown interest in Blackberry.

Frost & Sullivan believes the potential interest by suitors ranging from Google and SAP to Cisco, LG and Samsung, is but a vindication of the enterprise capabilities that Blackberry forged and developed overtime. For most suitors the backend platform and messaging solutions, not devices, could be the primary consideration. At the heart of the value that Blackberry holds is its patent portfolio, many of which have been pioneers in the enterprise connectivity world. As companies look to build towards the next level of convergence and ubiquitous computing in the enterprise space, Blackberry becomes instantly relevant and could drive differentiation. Consumer driven companies like Google could develop strategies that move Android and its derivatives deep into the enterprise space, possibly opening up new avenues in areas like control systems and embedded software, empowering power users.

Having said that, most of these companies developed in-house capabilities to successfully compete with Blackberry, even during its heyday. Against this background, the long-term relevance of the acquisition might be called into question as things move ahead and strategies might come to the fore after due diligence.