BlackBerry and Samsung announced a working agreement yesterday that would see the upcoming BlackBerry Enterprise Services 12 (BES 12) platform be integrated into Samsung’s Knox business platform.

The fact the two would partner on anything seems surprising, but the fit here appears to be mutually beneficial. With BlackBerry slowly transitioning into a software and services company focusing on corporate clients, and Samsung struggling to make serious enterprise inroads with its Knox platform, the deal offers something substantial for each.

The rollout will start early next year, and allow Galaxy smartphone and tablet users to access apps that will have BlackBerry’s mobile security baked into Knox, and more securely separate personal and work profiles. BES12 is being designed to allow larger companies to manage older and newer devices together more seamlessly, regardless of whether they’re BlackBerrys or not.

According to the press release, these are the features users would be able to take advantage of:

• An integrated solution that brings together the secure connectivity and class-leading device, applications and data management capabilities BlackBerry is known for together with the security features embedded in Samsung Galaxy devices.
• Android security enhancements that reduce threats that bypass application security mechanisms while minimizing damage from flawed applications.
• Complete separation of business and personal data for uncompromised corporate security and employee privacy.
• A series of core security enhancements to better protect device integrity from kernel to apps.
• Enhanced user experience Workspace for a more flexible approach for enterprise deployment.

Under the agreement, Samsung would resell BES12 to joint customers and BlackBerry would offer KNOX support as part of the Gold family of BES12 subscriptions. No pricing has been confirmed, nor which carriers or businesses might have signed on to help roll it out.