IBM and Research In Motion to Collaborate on Mobilizing Enterprise Applications to BlackBerry

May 17, 2006

Extension of SOA components to BlackBerry and customer promotions highlight new initiatives

ARMONK, N.Y. and WATERLOO, ON - IBM and Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced their intent to undertake new initiatives designed to drive growth in the mobile industry by providing customers with the benefits of tighter integration between IBM® Lotus® Domino® and the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution™.

Initial areas of focus include helping “workers on the go” by extending the millions of Lotus Domino applications through Web services directly to BlackBerry® and enhancing performance of the BlackBerry solution for Lotus Domino. As part of market awareness initiatives, RIM will offer a BlackBerry Enterprise Server promotion to Lotus Domino or IBM Lotus Sametime® customers.

Extending SOA components to BlackBerry: The integration of Web services support in Lotus Domino 7 with BlackBerry development tools makes it easier for customers to access, view and manipulate data remotely from their BlackBerry devices. The availability of business critical data helps customers save time and money by making it easier for their employees to be more productive regardless of location.

As the building blocks to a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Web services treat data and applications as reusable services enabling formerly disparate applications to easily work together. With today’s announcement, IBM and RIM are exploring opportunities for customers to more easily extend these Web services directly to BlackBerry, redefining the boundaries of their SOA to include mobile access. Extending Web services to the mobile arena creates an array of new opportunities for the over 125 million IBM Lotus Notes® and Domino users to collaborate with colleagues, clients and partners -- regardless of location.

In support of this work, IBM recently previewed the ability to integrate SAP application business processes and information with Lotus Domino data on BlackBerry devices. This integration will allow customers to view their SAP solution content in their familiar Lotus Notes environment without being tied to their desk.

Enhancing Performance: IBM and RIM each intend to continue their efforts to optimize the performance of BlackBerry Enterprise Server for IBM Lotus Domino, further improving efficiency and manageability. These enhancements build on the companies’ shared goal to bring value to customers through features such as the ability to read Lotus Notes encrypted email and support for IBM DB2® software that were incorporated in BlackBerry Enterprise Server v4.1 for IBM Lotus Domino.

Special Promotional Offer: RIM is offering IBM Lotus Domino and Sametime customers a no-charge, downloadable, ten-user version of BlackBerry Enterprise Server v4.1 . The software can support up to 15 users with the purchase of additional client access licenses. It can also be upgraded beyond 15 users with the purchase of an electronic unlock key. Beginning May 17, customers will be able to access this promotion at:www.blackberry.com/go/mobilizedomino

“Making people more effective and productive in the work they do everyday is critical in the pursuit of profitable business growth”, said Mike Rhodin, general manager, Workplace, Portal and Collaboration Products, IBM. “IBM and RIM offer a powerful combination that can help the over 125 million Lotus Notes and Domino users extend their applications to the edge of the network.”

“Mobilizing applications for users is the most significant IT catalyst for boosting productivity in the enterprise today,” said Jim Balsillie, Chairman and Co-CEO at RIM. “Working with IBM to provide tighter integration between BlackBerry and Lotus Domino will benefit customers by enabling broader access to business applications.”

About IBM

IBM is the world’s largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM Software offers a wide range of middleware and operating systems for all types of computing platforms, allowing customers to take full advantage of the on demand era. The fastest way to get more information about IBM software is through the IBM Software home page at http://www.software.ibm.com.

About Research In Motion (RIM)

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications. RIM technology also enables a broad array of third party developers and manufacturers to enhance their products and services with wireless connectivity to data. RIM’s portfolio of award-winning products, services and embedded technologies are used by thousands of organizations around the world and include the BlackBerry® wireless platform, the RIM Wireless Handheld™ product line, software development tools, radio-modems and software/hardware licensing agreements. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. RIM is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq: RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RIM). For more information, visit www.rim.com or www.blackberry.com.

IBM, the IBM logo, Lotus, Domino, Lotus Notes, Sametime and DB2 are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited. RIM, Research In Motion and BlackBerry are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be pending or registered in other countries.

All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners. Neither RIM nor IBM assumes any liability nor makes any representation, warranty or guarantee in relation to the products or services of any other entity.

Forward-looking statements in this news release are made pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used herein, words such as “intend” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions made by and information available to Research In Motion Limited. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, possible product defects and product liability, risks related to international sales and potential foreign currency exchange fluctuations, the initiation or outcome of litigation, acts or potential acts of terrorism, international conflicts, significant fluctuations of quarterly operating results, changes in Canadian and foreign laws and regulations, continued acceptance of RIM’s products, increased levels of competition, technological changes and the successful development of new products, dependence on third-party networks to provide services, dependence on intellectual property rights, and other risks and factors detailed from time to time in RIM’s periodic reports filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and other regulatory authorities. The Company has no intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact Information

Marisa Conway

Brodeur Worldwide (for RIM)

Contact via E-mail