Posted on November 30, 2009, at 2:43 PM .
RIM have released Service Pack 1 for BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 for Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus Domino. While BES 5.0 was an exciting launch back at WES 2009, many of the enterprise users we spoke to said they would wait for SP1 before buying, because they wanted to make sure RIM had gone through the first wave of feedback and bugs.
New to BES 5.0 with Service Pack 1 includes:
- BlackBerry device dashboard – Use the device dashboard to access the BlackBerry Monitoring Service which is now mobile friendly.
- Enhancements to the BlackBerry Administration Service – You can better manage user accounts, navigate search results and you can view user account info when add and manage apps.
- Enhancements to the BlackBerry Monitoring Service homepage – The homepage has been enhanced so you can view performance data and user statistics, graphs, messaging server mappings and overview info for BES components that are associated with all BES instances that the BMS monitors.
- Enhancements to the calendar sync process – You can now run a calendar sync process on a BES instance to find and correct differences between the calendar entries on the device and the desktop.
- More language support – BES is now available in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese.
- Support for importing WiFi profiles and VPN profiles from a .CSV file – You can add, delete, or update the WiFi profiles and VPN prfiles that you assign to user accounts by importing a .csv file.
- Support for Microsoft SQL Server 2008.
Click here to download the full release notes for BES for Microsoft Exchange.
Click here to download the full release notes for BES for IBM Lotus Domino.
Posted on November 24, 2009, at 5:22 PM .
Google Apps Connector gives those on a BES, the full Google Apps experience but imbued with power of the BES and RIM’s Push technology. The service has today been updated to version 1.5, and they have included:
- Support for more devices. Large businesses can support 500 BlackBerry devices per server, double the previous number.
- The Apps Connector now supports BlackBerry Professional Software.
- A single BlackBerry Enterprise Server to serve users in multiple Google Apps domains.
Stay tuned because Google will have more updates to come.
Posted on September 28, 2009, at 9:13 AM .
IBM has been offering BES solutions for businesses, including management and support, but until now it has had no standard pricing, according to Dan Papes, vice president of IBM Mobile Enterprise Services. That’s changed however and businesses now know up front just how much they’re going to pay per user.
The services offered by IBM include system management, secondary end-user support, integration with corporate back-end systems, and monitoring services. Depending of course on the type of support needed, businesses should expect to pay between $15-18 a month, per user. Papes says he believes this will reduce the overall cost of ownership of the service from 15-30% for most businesses. “They look at deploying another 5,000 BlackBerrys to their field force and they’re not sure what it costs them. We can tell them what it will cost,” Papes said.
Check out the full article at InfoWorld.com.
Via MStrawder from PinStack.com
Posted on September 15, 2009, at 10:28 AM .
RIM, in partnership with Zain Saudi Arabia and Alcatel-Lucent, have launched the BlackBerry solution in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Alcatel-Lucent is leveraging its strong local presence in the region to provide Zain Saudi Arabia with the project management, end-to-end implementation, installation, commissioning and on-going support for delivering the BlackBerry solution to the Saudi market. With Alcatel-Lucent managing integration and deployment, Zain Saudi Arabia can focus on managing subscribers and providing adequate customer care.
When the program launches, Zain will be offering its customers the BlackBerry Curve 8900, BlackBerry Bold 9000, BlackBerry Pearl 8120 and BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220. Customers will also have access to BES and BIS.
Hopefully Saudi Arabia will also be able to get their hands on some of the latest devices that will be launching this fall in North America.
Posted on June 22, 2009, at 10:31 AM .
You’ve spent time building up your Autotext entries to make it really easy to fire off a “thank you” or “you’re welcome.” You’ve invested time in building up your Password Keeper with entries for the Jonas Brothers Fan Club and you’ve got 50+ friends on your BlackBerry Messenger. Life is good, especially because you’re on a BES and your contacts, calendars, tasks and notes are being synced back to the server. Now, a new OS pops up and you want to update. You get IT’s blessing to do this, but then you remember those parts of your BlackBerry that are going to be wiped out. When you plug your phone into your computer, fire up Desktop Manager and try to back up certain parts of your device, you get this:
Nan’s Backup and Restore on BES
Posted on June 19, 2009, at 2:13 PM .
Kuwait now has access to the full range of BlackBerry services. VIVA, Alcatel-Lucent and RIM have announced the launch of devices such as the BlackBerry Curve 8900 and BlackBerry Bold as well as service with BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry Internet Service.
Based on its distribution agreement with RIM, Alcatel-Lucent is leveraging its strong local presence in the region to provide VIVA with end-to-end support services for the BlackBerry solution. With Alcatel-Lucent managing integration and deployment, VIVA can focus on delivering customer facing services, enabling the operator to quickly meet market demand.
This trend is indicative of the Middle Eastern strategy with carriers and RIM. While the Middle East provides ample opportunity for low end devices and prepaid solutions, the majority of Middle Eastern countries are getting the “luxury line” of BlackBerry devices such as the 8900 and Bold. I’m curious to see if carriers begin selling Pearl devices in these regions.
