Every time Blackberry seems to be on the verge of gaining momentum in India, it loses its head. It happened in 2013 when the then Managing Director, Sunil Dutt, exited the company unceremoniously; it has happened again with its current India head Sunil Lalvani deciding to leave the Canadian phone maker.

Lalvani’s exit comes at a time when Blackberry is in the middle of a transformation from a devices company to a services company. This transformation started by the company’s global CEO John Chen a few years ago is almost complete. But just when the company was poised for a take-off, especially in the enterprise space, it lost its India leader. Lalvani was instrumental in bringing the enterprise services to the fore as he was earlier heading BlackBerry’s enterprise business before taking over as the India head.

When contacted, BlackBerry India spokesperson Varghese M Thomas said, “I can confirm Sunil Lalvani has left his position as Managing Director ofBlackBerry India, to explore opportunities outside. In the interim, Matthew Tonkin, VP (Carrier Sales and Distribution), APAC, will lead operations in India. We will announce a permanent replacement soon.”

Strategy under Lalvani Under Lalvani, BlackBerry had embarked on a three-pronged strategy in the Indian market. This includes moving beyond devices into services, re-modelling its retail structure and re-positioning products for specific market segments. While the company has lost momentum in the retail space, it has gained traction in the enterprise service space with a suit of new products.

For example, Lalvani brought BlackBerry’s enterprise services on a carrier billing model, allowing corporate users to subscribe to them for a fixed monthly fee. Prior to this BlackBerry was offering BES, its enterprise solution to manage mobile phone devices, under an annual licensing model. BlackBerry had recently launched the BES-12 version, which enables IT managers in corporates to manage employees’ mobile phones irrespective of the brand. Technically called Bring-Your-Own-Device, corporates are now increasingly allowing employees to bring their own phones instead of the earlier practice of giving devices for official use.

The move was part of the Canadian firm’s focus on the Enterprise Mobility Management segment in India, banking on its recently launched solutions and value-added services. This move helped it consolidate its leadership position in the Indian Enterprise Mobility Management market, which has an addressable market size of $1.8 billion.

Virtual SIM cards Lalvani was also in talks with telecom operators to launch virtual-SIM cards that would do away with the need for multiple-SIM phones. This feature will enable corporates to separate personal and official calls and mails, and bill them separately.

When Sunil Dutt quit BlackBerry at the top of its roll out of BB10 devices in 2013, Lalvani had moved in to help the company ride out one of the toughest periods. A similar challenge now waits for the new BlackBerry India lead.

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