BlackBerry AtHoc Signs New Customers and Partners in Australia and New Zealand as Demand for Crisis Communications Software Grows

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA--(Marketwired - June 5, 2017) - BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ:BBRY)(TSX:BB) today announced Bank of New Zealand (BNZ), one of the country's largest banks, is one of the latest customers in the region to deploy BlackBerry AtHoc, the company's industry-leading, secure crisis communications software. Following earthquake activity that disrupted their business in 2013 and 2016, BNZ has taken proactive measures to ensure business continuity and the safety of its customers and staff in case of future incidents.

The news comes as BlackBerry expands its enterprise software footprint with three new partners that support BlackBerry AtHoc, and announces innovative new technology features which automate personnel accountability and crisis communication processes. Leading Australian carrier, Optus Business, and Solutions Providers, Briggs Communications in Australia and Mobile Mentor in New Zealand, will deliver, deploy and support BlackBerry AtHoc in the region. This signals further growth in BlackBerry's partner network and ongoing momentum in the company's transformation to a leader in software security.

BlackBerry AtHoc helps by providing a secure communication platform that can deliver accurate, targeted or en-masse information in real-time through an encrypted network, if necessary, inside and outside an organization. In the case of an incident, it helps to ensure business continuity, interoperability and account for the safety of people and stakeholders organizations are responsible for.

Katrina Maxwell, Executive Manager for Bank of New Zealand Markets says, "As a leading financial institution, BNZ puts its employees and customers first. After the earthquakes took place, we wanted to make sure that if it happened again, we would be ready to alert our people around the country, account for where they are and have a system in place to help us maintain continuity of business. We are responsible for millions of dollars in customer transactions daily, and we do not take that responsibility lightly. We are deploying BlackBerry AtHoc within our Markets business as it met our guidelines for real-time incident management and is an encrypted, secured and impenetrable platform that ensures the confidentiality of our data. This is important to us."

BlackBerry AtHoc is used around the world by thousands of organizations with a duty of care for people like universities, hospitals, banks, large corporations and government entities, including the US Department of Defense and US Department of Treasury. In Australia, it is used in financial, security, government and education sectors, including Macquarie University in Sydney where security staff use BlackBerry AtHoc to ensure the campus is 'crisis-ready' and maintain student and staff safety.

Paul Crighton, Vice President APAC, BlackBerry, commented: "From natural disasters and cloud outages, to terrorist and cyber-attacks, there have been numerous incidents in Australia and New Zealand that continue to challenge the way organizations and departments maintain operations and keep people safe. We hear from our customers that being able to account for personnel and maintain business continuity is a priority, and this is where BlackBerry's encrypted, multi-platform solution is helping. We are pleased to see companies like Bank of New Zealand lead by example and the huge demand for BlackBerry enterprise software in the channel, which all helps us to make companies in Australia and New Zealand 'BlackBerry Secure'."

With an integrated approach to personnel accountability, BlackBerry AtHoc has just announced it is expanding the capability of its platform with AtHoc Account to enable government agencies and large organisations to account for their people in real-time. The new AtHoc Account feature brings an additional intelligence and information layer to the platform by combining inputs from managers about their team, call centre operators, data streams from HR and travel systems, as well as self-reporting by individuals. It provides safety and availability status updates of people before, during and after an event - ultimately providing information leaders need to make operational decisions.

The three new partners commented:

Stuart Mort, Director of Cyber Security for Optus Business:

"In today's business environment, our customers are dealing with a new world of threats. Whether it's a cyber-attack, natural disaster or other threat that impacts public safety, governments and businesses want to better protect their people, data and maintain business continuity when something goes wrong. This offering expands upon Optus' range of enterprise grade security solutions."

Allan Briggs, Managing Director at Briggs Communications:

"Whether it is an airport, stadium, corporation or casino, any place or business where people gather needs to have an impenetrable incident management strategy in place in case of emergencies, but often this is overlooked. As a crisis management specialist, our ambition is to help clients be prepared for such incidents. Our approach is to combine our expertise with BlackBerry's crisis communications software, offering a turnkey solution. This complementary partnership is enabling us to help those in the private and public sector to be crisis-ready, for example, together we just launched 'The Melbourne Shield', a shared platform to help security managers and facilities staff connect with each other in real-time in case of an incident, using BlackBerry AtHoc technology."

Daniel McCarthy, CEO at Mobile Mentor:

"You never know when a natural disaster will hit, especially in New Zealand where we have seen devastating earthquakes and floods in the past year. These incidents, as well as cyber-attacks and terror threats, impact the operations of many businesses and put citizens and employees at risk. With that in mind, it made complete sense to add BlackBerry AtHoc to our mobility solutions portfolio to help our customers leverage their mobile platforms and deliver comprehensive incident response strategies, ensure the continuity of business and account for staff in case of an incident."

As well as BlackBerry AtHoc, partners in the region support the full BlackBerry® Enterprise Mobility Suite to help businesses be 'BlackBerry Secure' every day. This includes BlackBerry® UEM for securing and managing all end-points in the enterprise and BlackBerry® Workspaces, which embeds digital rights management (DRM) in files, offering the highest level of security for sharing, editing and controlling data, inside and outside an organization.

For information about:

• BlackBerry AtHoc: https://us.blackberry.com/enterprise/secure-communication/athoc.
• BlackBerry Secure solutions: https://us.blackberry.com/enterprise.
• BlackBerry Enterprise Partner Program: http://us.blackberry.com/partners.html.

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry is a mobile-native security software and services company dedicated to securing people, devices, processes and systems for today's enterprise. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company was founded in 1984 and operates in North America, Europe, Asia, Middle East, Latin America and Africa. The Company trades under the ticker symbols "BB" on the Toronto Stock Exchange and "BBRY" on the NASDAQ. For more information, visit www.BlackBerry.com.