Contemplating BES. Server issue.

[trd2turbo]

Our company is about to implement mobile data and have asked me to pick a platform. (BB or Windows Mobile).

I had a storm for about 1 year so BB isn't "entirely" new to me. However I have never attempted to or even messed around with anything on the BES side. We have 2 guys running berries now and I just hooked them up through BIS on OWA. Works easy enough but now with about 25 guys about to get a unit, I would want something better if I went with BB.

WinMo would be easy enough for me because we are running SBS2003 with exchange. Mobile access is already enabled. All it would take would be some tinkering with settings and I can just hand these guys WinMo handsets.

How hard is the learning curve for BES. We would get the BES Professional Software to install on a server as opposed to the larger enterprise physical server. This is where another issue lies for me. I have to fight tooth and nail to keep a decent amount of space on our production server. My budget is low and cant do an entire overhaul right now. So I wouldnt want to install BES on the production.

I have a spare server running 2000 but don't know if that would work. I could buy a cheap new box to through it on but don't know what BES needs. Would I have to have to pay for server 2k7 just to run BES on it? How would I configure it to hook up with our Exchange 2k3 box?

Basically Im not sure what I would need besides the BES software (and CAL's) of course. How hard was it for you guys that just needed to get it done?

[CanuckBB]

Anything that can run WIndows 2003 32-bit. My first BES ran on a workstation with 40GB HDD and 1GB RAM.

[Tiassa]

My BPS runs on w W2K3 box with 768MB a 3Ghz processor and 2 hard drives (40 and 160 GB). Admittedly it only serves one user (me), but it also runs a Domino 8 server. I doubt I paid more than $500 for for it all told (although I used a few components that were recycled from other machines).

[GlenB]

As long as you follow the pre-install instructions it isnt difficult to install or maintain. Personally, I think you would be better off sitting down and working out your requirements....the things you absolutely must have, the things you would like to have, etc, before making a decision on whether to deploy BES or WinMo.