Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm that works with the U.S. government, has eliminated support for BlackBerry. It will no longer purchase BlackBerry devices for its employees and is removing its BlackBerry server, effectively cutting off email to existing BlackBerry devices.
Booz Allen Hamilton is a McLean, Virigina based company that provides consulting services the to U.S. military and security agencies such as the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Department of Homeland Security. The company had sales of $5.86 billion and employs 25,000 staff members.
According to Bloomberg, the company has already been issuing Android and iOS devices and will be moving the remaining BlackBerry users to these devices in the coming months. A Booz Allen Hamilton spokesperson declined to say just how many people this would involve.
Government had been one of the few remaining strongholds of BlackBerry users, but it looks like that support is fading fast. The General Services Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms have also begun replacing BlackBerry devices with Android and iOS ones, a move involving tens of thousands of devices.
However, last April, Research in Motion, the maker of BlackBerrys, claimed that U.S. government sales were rising and were still used in places such as the White House. Today, RIM spokesperson Crystal Roberts said there were still more than 1 million government customers in North America.