What does Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) have to do to restore your faith in the BlackBerry? The company apologized for the outage that left millions of users around the world without services for a couple days, but to reestablish its credibility and regain customer loyalty, it should take four steps, suggests Tony Bradley at PCWorld.

First, since the cause of the outage was faulty equipment in its own network, RIM should compensate users, Bradley recommends.  If the company really values its customers, it should offer something along the lines of a free month of service.

Next, RIM needs to rethink its co-CEO leadership strategy. Although it seems intuitive that two heads are better than one, "there's a reason virtually every other company in existence has just one CEO," Bradley writes. "Too many chefs spoil the soup. RIM needs to choose a leader and either sink or swim based on the vision and leadership of a single CEO."

After that, the company should come up with a more innovative device--but not "iPhone-ize" the BlackBerry, Bradley cautions. If Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) could come up with Windows Phone 7, then RIM can come up with a distinctive and compelling user experience as well.

Finally RIM shouldn't sink any more resources into the PlayBook. "[C]reating a tablet is just another me-too, too-little-too-late-for-too-much-money reaction to the competition out-innovating it," Bradley writes. Instead, RIM should refocus on its core offerings and re-establish its credibility. 

For more:
- see Tony Bradley's post at PCWorld

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