Research In Motion (the BlackBerry people) have become a major force in mobile UC. Their product line-up is due to get a big boost tomorrow with the introduction of the touch screen Storm device by Verizon. While users immediately associate RIM with push email, they do support a range of clients that allow users to access UC applications. Some of those clients are provided by the IP PBX manufacturers like Cisco’s Mobile Unified Communicator or Avaya’s one-X Mobile UC, but RIM also offers their own BlackBerry clients for Microsoft OCS and IBM Sametime.

The Storm wasn’t on display in RIM’s booth at the fall VoiceCon conference in San Francisco last week, but a number of their executives were showing off their own Storms and a number of us got our first hands-on experience with it. The preliminary reviews I have read on the Storm have been inconclusive, however, after my first five seconds with it I was convinced it’s a major winner. That’s also good news for IT departments whose users have been pressuring them to support the not-enterprise-ready iPhone.

Ever since Apple rocked the handset market with the iPhone, RIM has felt the need for a touch screen device. The iPhone clearly catered to consumer rather than enterprise requirements, but RIM is threading a fine line in trying to appeal to their tradition business customer as well as the consumer side of the market. In the most recent analyst’s call, RIM noted that 60% of sales in the most recent quarter were to consumers rather than business users, so they are becoming more of a factor in RIM’s market than most people realize.

The iPhone’s appeal is based on a sharp look, a superb user interface, great entertainment features, and the best mobile Web browser bar none. However, enterprise mobility is driven by text and email, and in those areas the iPhone is less than ideal. Even with the help of Apple’s adaptive correction technology the iPhone’s imprecise soft QWERTY keyboard is an impediment to rapid, accurate text input.

The superiority of the Storm’s text entry functions are clear from the first moment you pick it up. Held vertically, the Storm’s touch screen displays the two-letters per key Sure-Type keyboard format used on their Pearl devices. Turned horizontally, the display shifts to the full QWERTY format. The idea is that when you’re dragging a wheelie bag through the airport you can use the one-handed Sure-Type format, and switch to the faster full-QWERTY format when you’re your hands are free.

The big difference between the Storm and the iPhone is tactile feedback. When you enter text on the Storm, the screen gives slightly and returns a notable “click”, which is accompanied by an “explosion” effect around the letter. The combination of those two delivers out-of-the-box text accuracy that is simply way better than the iPhone. When you add that together with better battery life, business application support, and all of those management and security features that are important to enterprise IT departments, the Storm is clearly the device for enterprise users.

The Storm also retains all of the other convenience features that BlackBerry users have come to prize including “smart-first-click” and dial from text. It also features a nifty select-copy-paste function that simulates rolling a mouse over a selection.

For IT departments however, the biggest feature is support for the overall BlackBerry security environment. The iPhone depends on consumer-oriented solutions like using the iTune store for software distribution, but users still have to accept applications that are downloaded to the device. BlackBerry network managers can invoke over 400 different user policies and an overall bulletproof approach to security- though apparently not good enough for our new president.

That’s not to say that the Storm is perfect. One big factor that is missing is Wi-Fi capability. RIM does have a number of Wi-Fi devices (the ones with model numbers that end “--20”), though the voice over Wi-Fi is geared for UMA services like T-Mobile’s HotSpot@Home. In the US, the Storm is being sold by Verizon initially, so it is a CDMA network device. However, it can shift to GSM for international use, which is a good thing. Also, RIM’s Web browser is not on the same level as Apples Safari for the iPhone, but then again, no one else’s Web browser is either.

If you look at the accompanying chart, you will see that the iPhone still has a lot of pluses, but most are in areas that are important for consumer frills not enterprise applications. An apparent recognition to the fact that business devices are also used for recreational purposes, the Storm supports a better camera than  the iPhone and Bluetooth wireless headphones. However, the iTunes-based media player on the iPhone wins in that category.

Conclusion

Most of the coverage you’ll see about the Storm will be targeted at consumers, so do not lose heart when they conclude that the iPhone still rules the roost in touch screens. My focus is enterprise, and when you add it all up, the Storm comes out on top. In short, the look and functionality of the Storm will put it in the same ballpark with the iPhone, and the security and support features will appease the network security folks and seal the deal. Now all we need now is an open market for cell phone handsets so we can all get one and not just the Verizon customers.