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Continuing the post-BBDC trend of providing great support and tools for the BlackBerry ecosystem, RIM has published BES compatibility matrices for IT Admins. Matrices for Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Domino, and Novell GroupWise are provided, detailing operating systems, versions of IM infrastructures and database servers, and so on. You can find these valuable resources in .PDF format at the link below.
BES Compatibility Matrix Download
Our good friend Ronen over at BerryReview has noticed that whispers of Maintenance Release 2 for BES 4.1 Service Pack 6 have been circling around the RIM partner website, which means it should be available for release fairly soon. We’ll let you know when it’s live, but the meantime, you can read documentation of the changes at the link below.
BES 4.1.6 Maintenance Release 2 Documentation
A BlackBerry Cool reader just passed me along an interesting article from IT Career Planet on BlackBerry certification. If you remember, waaaay back in May RIM launched the BlackBerry Certification program as a means of empirically validating the skills of a company’s IT department in supporting BlackBerry. According to IT Career Planet, RIM’s certification program is now longer a novelty or a good angle for getting a raise, but a must for any IT professional.
An early adopter of Research In Motion’s BlackBerry Smartphone, Salt River Project, one of Arizona’s largest utility companies, today supports 1,600 devices and adds 30 new accounts monthly. The company has about 5,000 employees. It’s no surprise to learn that Salt River Project is rallying around RIM’s recently introduced BlackBerry certification programs.
“When we hire, we’ll definitely require that the job candidate is BlackBerry certified,” says Alex Logvin, enterprise messaging analyst at Salt River Project, Phoenix, Ariz.
I know a lot of IT and BES admins read BlackBerry Cool, so please weigh in. Is the BlackBerry Certification a novelty or a necessity for any enterprise serious about mobile IT? You can see a list of RIM’s current and upcoming certification programs after the jump.
(via IT Career Planet)
BlackBerry Certification Programs
RIM today announced support for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, which advances the functionality offered through the Microsoft Live Communications Server 2005. So what’s all the fuss about? Corporate customers running Microsoft OCS 2007 and a BES now have access to the BlackBerry Messenger. If you think that isn’t a big deal, well think again:
“Instant messaging and presence on the BlackBerry platform is improving our ability to find members of our mission critical teams that are often mobile, and bring them together quickly into live and interactive meetings, regardless of their locations,” said Gary Bellfield, Information and Communications Technology Manager at Tayside Fire and Rescue. “Mobile access is an essential component of our complete unified communications initiative, and we trust the BlackBerry solution to support our mobile instant messaging capabilities in a highly reliable, secure and intuitive way.”
Who knew that IM could help save lives? Support for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 requires BlackBerry Enterprise Server 4.1.6 or higher, and handsets running BlackBerry OS 4.1 or higher. More information can be found at:
http://www.blackberry.com/go/ocsdownload
(via RIM)
RIM sent out emails last night informing IT Admins that BlackBerry Enterprise Server v4.1 Service Pack 6 Maintenance Release 1 for Microsoft Exchange is now available for download. Admins can head to http://www.blackberry.com/go/serverdownloads to access the software update, documentation, and any additional information.
Unfortunately, at this moment, the SP6 maintenance release doesn’t actually appear on the server downloads page, but expect it to be up by the end of the day.
Looks like RIM made a boo boo and the SP6 maintenance release is actually for Lotus Domino, not Microsoft Exchange! Oops! Oh well, there is a live link for downloads, however. Go nuts, Admins!
Download BES 4.1 SP6 Maintenance Release 1 (Lotus Domino)
Thanks for the heads up, Alex! And the correction, Andy!
This one goes out to the IT Admins: earlier in September we told you Rove Mobile was planning to update their award-winning Mobile Admin software to version 4.1 on September 16th. Guess what day it is?
SSH and Telnet Integration:
Create secure SSH and Telnet connections to manage a wide range of network systems and devices, including UNIX, Linux and AS/400 servers.
RDP and VNC Integration:
Create secure remote connections to Windows servers and graphically administrate your server and desktop applications.
Shortcuts to Common Tasks:
Catalog and access frequently used network administration tasks.
Existing Mobile Admin customers can upgrade at no additional cost, while Mobile SSH and Mobile Desktop customers can upgrade at the discounted price of $295. In addition, anyone can download a full-featured 14 day trial of Mobile Admin 4.1 for free. Go to Rove’s Mobile Admin page for more information.
If your company is serious about utilizing mobility to enhance productivity, you’re already familiar with Rove Mobile, whose products have garnered significant acclaim in the BlackBerry space (most notably ours). Today Rove announced an update to their flagship product, Mobile Admin 4.0, which allows IT Administrator the ability to manage their systems remotely.
SSH and Telnet Integration:
Create secure SSH and Telnet connections to manage a wide range of network systems and devices, including UNIX, Linux and AS/400 servers.
RDP and VNC Integration:
Create secure remote connections to Windows servers and graphically administrate your server and desktop applications.
Shortcuts to Common Tasks:
Catalog and access frequently used network administration tasks.
Mobile Admin 4.1 launches on September 16th. Existing Mobile Admin customers will be able to download the update from Rove’s website free of charge with a valid maintenance contract.
Click here for a full Mobile Admin 4.1 FAQ
Three new tools, the BlackBerry Synchronization Request Tool, the BlackBerry Time Zone Synchronization Tool, and the BlackBerry System Requirements Tool have been included in the latest BES Resource Kit. The BlackBerry User Administration Tool has only had its maximum number of moveable users cut down to 1,000, so no new features there. This release marks “the quickest turnaround for a BRK release following the BES release”, possibly showing that RIM is stepping up their software production. The last month or so has been pretty busy, what with CDKs, DMs, and OSes coming out at pretty regular intervals. One can only hope that it keeps up, eh?
Download the BlackBerry Enterprise Server Resource Kit 4.1 Service Pack 6
(via BlackBerry News)
BlackBerry User Administration Tool changelog behind the jump…
Admins rejoice! The latest patch for the BlackBerry Enterprise Server is available for download. The device-side software made it out yesterday, and BIS was upgraded a couple of weeks ago, so the circle of upgrading is all completed. Big changes in this service pack include rich content e-mail, support for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Lotus Sametime 8.0, and control RIM value-added applications. On top of that, reconciling permanent message deletion has been improved, and there are also some changes to the BlackBerry Configuration Database schema, the naming of collaboration clients, Mobile Data System conventions and related software. As for that PDF vulnerability, this patch should take care of everything A-O-K. Go ahead and download BES 4.1.6 here, or scope out the update notes here.
(via BerryReview)
A security warning has been placed for BES 4.1 Service Pack 3 (4.1.3) through 4.1 Service Pack 5 (4.1.5) and BlackBerry Unite! earlier than 1.0 Service Pack 1 (1.0.1) bundle 36. The problem involves distilling PDF files in e-mail attachments on the server. Should a crafty hacker cook something up, the file could activate some code on the server once it was sent through the pipes tubes. Admins should make sure their software is as current as possible and disable PDF attachments until the issue is resolved. You can find out more about the BlackBerry Unite! vulnerability here and the BES vulnerability here.
(via Heise)
The voice of the BlackBerry community.
