It’s 2008. You’re the CEO of BlackBerry, dominant and still growing. The iPhone just launched. What’s your move?

You’re the CEO of BlackBerry in 2008, dominant and still growing. The iPhone just launched. What’s your call? (No hindsight.)

Quick honesty up front: I’m building a tool that tries to read a business situation and anticipate where it’s heading. It’s still rough, and the thing I most want to understand is how people actually make these calls in the moment. So I want to put a real one to you.

We all know the historical situation:

You own enterprise email. Governments, banks, every CEO carries a BlackBerry. Your security is bulletproof and IT departments trust nothing else. People are addicted to your keyboard. BBM is the messaging app everyone wants. Your subscriber numbers are climbing fast and will keep climbing for a few more years. By most numbers, you’re winning.

iPhone shows up! Gorgeous, consumers love it. But the battery dies in a day, typing on glass is miserable, it eats data, and no serious IT department would let it near their network. Your own customers say the same. It looks like a consumer toy, not a business tool.

So you are the CEO, no clue about the future, what do you do?

Defend and push more keyboards ? Build a sexy touchscreen alternative to iPhone? Partner with someone ?

Be honest! You don’t know 2009 and beyond.

What information would have helped you in this situation ? Which data do you need for taking a decision? Which signals would tell you to defend or compete?