Dumping BES entirely? Pros-Cons?

[tony01880]

I have done some Google searching as well as searches here on the forums and can't seem to find what I am looking for.

My company has run a BES for quite some time now and we have only ever been in the 20-35 user range. As more and more people want to have iPhones or Android products we now have many people that don't even bother carrying their company issued BB anymore as they just have everything going to their non BB phone. Active-Synch seems to work very well and people get their email in near real time, calendering works well etc.

What I am looking for is any research, white papers, or just the experience of any other BES admin out there that has either scrapped the BES or has been asked by management to provide the pros and cons of doing so.

Right off the top my head I can come up with a few issues. Such as device management. If end users can pick their own devices I can't be expected to know the ins and outs of 25 different ones. Who will be responsible for troubleshooting them? Right now I have several different BB's but in effect they are all the same from an admin point of view. Another issue is the security/control of the devices. I can wipe that BB left in a taxi cab. We don't plan on letting people pick their own provider. They will only be allowed to pick phones from our current provider so that is not much of an issue.

So if anyone is going through this or thinking about it and has any other suggestions for me I would appreciate it.

Thanks.

[dutchtender]

check out the site of "good technology".

[Jagga]

Another issue is the security/control of the devices. I can wipe that BB left in a taxi cab. We don't plan on letting people pick their own provider. They will only be allowed to pick phones from our current provider so that is not much of an issue.

That my friend IS part of your device management - to think otherwise is awaiting for issues.

First off is who is thinking about internal security at your business - no matter how small users should NOT have random choice of access to email outside if the IT cannot manage ... think of contractual deals or siphoning of employees and key/critical company information that could cripple on-going concern to a HALT.

That said ... Exchange with ActiveSync will work well with Android/Google Exchange services. You'll get Folder Redirection and sub-folder access on Windows Mobile [previous editions as well]. If Apple iPhone users then you NEED to consider Active Directory add-ins for management of those or choose Microsoft Mobile System Management Console 2007 or higher; haven't followed what recent version is 2010 is in early beta.

Good Technology was a great competitor but I think after Motorola purchased it, it may no longer be offered to new clients ... it may be recently sold off by Motorola considering their recent lean and mean target to a split keeping mobile separate.

Your going to be researching like crazy ... but it seems the end users don't care about the company assets as they feel security restrictions limit their ability to work [ that is the fad lately and its pure hog-wash]. Users just want whats cool and flashy lately. As other platforms mature we'll see how the daily productivity use over time actually adds up.

[saukrateaz]

You can always use third party software for locating and wiping/managing other devices (iPhone and Android). We almost dumped our BES last year but decided to keep it another year for testing of Active Sync on Android devices. Non-BB devices can perform as securly as BB devices no-a-days.

[eBoyDog]

Originally Posted by saukrateaz

Non-BB devices can perform as securly as BB devices no-a-days.

That's not true. Blackberry BES encryption is secure enough that foreign countrys have tried to ban Blackberry service due to the fact that they can not "spy" on the Blackberry's communication.

Microsoft Activesync doesn't hold a light to security, management and the assured delievery of PIM data.

Now with that said, does the average Joe and his employer need such? That for them to decide, most likely not

If I had it my way at work we would have nothing but BES and Blackberrys due to the level of management and control I can have by simply seeing if a device is keeping in contact with the server, to pushing out applications including having secured interanet access to the devices without using a crackable VPN or putting parts of my internal network out on the internet.

Very few small BES sites really utilize BES in the manner that it can be, in fact very few large companies do either but there's a reason RIM charges a premuim for BES and the wireless carriers charge an addtional fee for the the "enhanced" monthly BES data, it works, it works and it work VERY well.

For me as a administrator, I spend 10 times as much time supporting the iPhone and Android users syncing by ActivSync which right now I'm about 50/50 AS/BES. I have spent more time lately with my BES users since I just finished a 4.1 to 5.0 upgrade but I had users on BES that I forget they had a Blackberry since I never heard from them after 2 years when I activated their device.

Bottome line, between BES or ActivSync, someone's going to pay. With AS it's the admin who must dedicate the majority of their time to it or pay RIM for BES were the admin has time to do other things.

[saukrateaz]

Wheter its BES, active-sync or another method of communication, what matters is how it's routed. A firewall, iSA box, or proxy between the outside and the inside will make it as secure as you want it to be. Encryption is not only the responsibility of the device, its the responsibility of the Admin and the hardware in place.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[titanjhb]

Couple of advantages that I think BES still has.

1. Management of web traffic. You can create a policy to direct all the websites a user browsers through your filters and effectively also logs. So you know what websites they are visiting, and what you technically are paying for. (your CFO is signing the payment for a user that browsers facebook on his iphone).

2. Access to Intranet sites without need to publish sites on the internet or enabling the "other devices" to VPN into your organization. This makes the blackberry more convenient, safer to deploy, and actually cheaper if you use a expensive VPN solution than the competitors.

3. Data efficiency through compression. Not only is email compressed, but websites, attachments, almost everything is compressed. So your Intranet sites are not only is easier to deploy to the blackberry, but also cheaper than on a Android for example.

4. Built in tracking of phone calls made and text messages sent (BES only). Just enable the policy and your finance department can track who is being called, who is being texted, long before they receive a bill or claim from the user. To do this on the other phones a 3rd party solution is required as far as I know.

So ye, comes down to cost, just list the costs to the decision makers. Its not only the BES license/BES plan vs admin overhead, there are a few other technology costs that Apple wont tell you about, and for some reason RIM doesn't actively advertise .

[swathe]

My last place phased out Blackberrys in favour of the iPhone 4. I wasn't amused, for it was only done for the sake of trendiness, and iphone mania. Now I am at a new place and once again in a BES environment, now as a sysadmin. The current BES set up is horrible, so with the infrastructure refresh, I will be doing it from scratch.

I love BES for the security it provides, and as mentioned the compression.