Exchange & iPhone/Android vs. BES(X) & Blackberry

[m4cc45]

Do you manage a platform with over 4k blackberry handhelds though?

To be fair it's been a bit better since we upgraded to BES 5.0.3 MR2 but still not as reliable as the ActiveSync devices.

No - the most I've managed is around 1k. The main reason why I think ours is okay is because we installed the latest version and then deployed (i.e. there's been no upgrades) on the old sites there weren't as many users and the upgrades went fine.

I still think the web interface could do with a little work but, touch wood, we leave it alone apart from provisioning new users and all is well.



M.

 

[BoomAM]

Summed up, he's talking rubbish.

 

[m4cc45]

BES Express is free for Exchange/Domino servers.

If roaming (data), you can obtain a special (considerably cheaper for unlimited email abroad) blackberry roaming package (atleast from vodafone) which is different than a typical "smart phone" package.

Using an iPhone abroad = data = expensive.

I have iPhone users who have issues with accepting calendar requests etc too, although it could be our version of Exchange..

Only problem with express is the user limitation - doesn't it only access SBS now?

Summed up, he's talking rubbish.

Not sure who it's aimed at - perhaps care to ellaborate?



M.

 

[droyden]

Only problem with express is the user limitation - doesn't it only access SBS now?

M.

I use it on Exchange 2003 Enterprise atm, but dont have more than 30 BB users - I think the limit is 75? Moving to 2010 within the next 6weeks or so

 

[Esoterick]

Depends on the environment really.

In smaller office environments Blackberrys can definitely cause more trouble than they are worth. A colleague worked for RIM for 6 months, writing quite a few KB articles whilst there and despite understanding how they work he really dislikes them.

Blackberrys are easier to manage in enterprise environments but have so many problems activating and maintaining their sync to the exchange in comparison to other smarthphones it just really doesn't seem worth it unless you have 100s or 1000s of users to administrate.

I could quite easily list a number of issues with Blackberrys whereas the only issue I can think of coming from all other smarthphones combined is iPhones locking out AD accounts when the users password expires.

 

[Nikumba]

We use both, but depending on the situation, if security is of utmost importance to you then get Blackberry/BES it is the only system with a fully encrypted from device to server, plus you can encryt blackberries.

I am not saying you can not do this with iphones/droids but the BES system is a nice way to manange. It was rumoured than in an upgrade BES would let you managed ios/droid devices, if it did that would be very good.

Kimbie