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“Compared to the enterprise over the last year and a half or so, the federal business on whole is up,” said Totzke, who also runs RIM’s U.S. government sales business. “The employee base is shrinking, so if we’re looking at a market with fewer employees and our install base is stable to slightly up, that would seem to indicate that we have an increasing market share.”

Obama insisted on keeping his BlackBerry when he became president, and Totzke was in the U.S. capital touting the smartphone’s encryption and other security features to persuade more federal workers to adopt or stick with the device. To save money and administrative hassle, some agencies have started allowing employees to use their own iPhones and Android phones for work.

RIM Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins on March 29 acknowledged the BlackBerry maker was late to embrace the bring- your-own-device trend and vowed to “reclaim” market share lost to rivals.

RIM will make a “significant investment” in promotions in the Washington area in coming weeks to drum up awareness of what new BlackBerry 7 phones offer, including better Web browsing and touch-screen navigation, Totzke said.

“We need to help customers understand what is possible” with the devices, said Totzke, who joined Waterloo, Ontario- based RIM in 2001 and previously worked at Electronic Data Systems Corp., the company founded by billionaire Ross Perot.

RIM fell 0.7 percent to $12.67 in New York trading on April 5. The stock has lost 77 percent in the past year.