RIM is betting the farm on the release of its BlackBerry 10 operating system. Having not released a new phone in roughly 18 months, the Canadian smartphone company has a lot of work to do to make BB10 succeed.
To help its new operating system, RIM has just launched an incentive program for its business customers to upgrade to BB10.
Called the BlackBerry 10 Ready Program, it will offer RIM's larger customers online training and webcasts, as well as free trade ups of licenses and services to the new BB10 platform.
Trading up
Companies already using BlackBerry Enterprise Server will benefit the most, with RIM offering free upgrades to the BB10 server on a one to one basis, between January and December 2013.
"Starting in January 2013 through to December 31, 2013, Research In Motion (RIM) will be offering customers who purchase new BlackBerry 10 smartphones, the ability to trade up their existing BlackBerry Enterprise Server licenses on a one for one basis for free.
"The new license trade up will allow customers to secure and manage their BlackBerry 10 smartphones.
The BlackBerry Enterprise Server License Trade Up online tool will be available in January 2013, and will be subject to customers accepting the terms of the Trade Up," RIM explains on its website.
Getting the business market on board with BB10 is one half of RIM's battle with its new BB10 platform. The other half is getting consumers to buy the new range of handsets.
While nothing has been announced yet, it's safe to say we can expect a massive marketing campaign around the globe following the official product launch on January 30, 2013.
