use an exchange hosting service instead of plunking down the $$$ for BES software and an exchange server?
My company just switched from Nextel to AT&T with their Push To Talk (PTT) feature.... we have 30 BB 8310s but it seems that to go the BES route, it would cost about $7K in the BES software and about $30K for a stand alone BES exchange server.
So.. I've been looking around and there seems to be a number of exchange hosting service providers out there: AppRiver, AppTix, Intermedia, MailStreet...
aside from the activation fee for each phone, which many of these companies are discounting at the moment, and the monthly fee per phone, which ranges between $9.99 and $16.95 per month, are there any other "hidden" costs associated with using a hosting service?
If anyone has any real-life experience using a hosting service, I'd love to hear from you.
$30k for a BES server for only 30 users seems insane to me. I wouldn't think you'd need to spend much more than $2k for a good solid server to support that small of a group.
You'd have to extrapolate your cost per user, per month by the number of years you expect to use Blackberrys to see if it would make sense to bring it in house or not.
I think I'd get a second opinion on your price quotes.
Yeah, tell me about it... but that's what our IT guy says... who really knows though, but it does seem Really high... the cost of the BES software for $7k seems reasonable, but I dont know if that is a onetime buy the software fee or not...
Yeah, tell me about it... but that's what our IT guy says... who really knows though, but it does seem Really high... the cost of the BES software for $7k seems reasonable, but I dont know if that is a onetime buy the software fee or not...
I'm a BES admin, I aint gunna lie.. he's trying to pocket some of your companies money.
The prices I've listed above are current and correct.
BES with 500 user license on AT&T Premier is $49,999
Yes, but aren't those just the costs for the BES software liscenes? like buying MS Office or MS Word? you'd still have to have an exchange server to run the software on though???? I think that's where my IT guy is saying it's $30K.. ?
Yes, but aren't those just the costs for the BES software liscenes? like buying MS Office or MS Word? you'd still have to have an exchange server to run the software on though???? I think that's where my IT guy is saying it's $30K.. ?
Yes, you need some sort of email solution either Exchange, Domino, etc..
What I've listed is JUST for BES software and licenses for the handhelds to connect in.
Server hardware = $2000-$3000
Exchange = $3200-$6000+ depending on how many mailboxes you need, place you get it from, etc.
BES = what I listed above.
I would also like to use a hosted exchange/BES solution. Surely someone on here is doing this? I found some negative posts regarding godaddy, but no happy users are chiming in.
Exchange and BlackBerry hosting services have been available for years and work very well. With Exchange hosting companies do not need to buy hardware, licenses or expertise - and mailboxes are on a per- employee - per- month basis.
In 2009 - email is like electricity and telephone service - it's a utility that simply needs to work. Companies with fewer than 500 employees should consider hosted exchange and get access to:
Clustered Servers
Licenses paid by host - not by the business
Flexible wireless options - let employees pick their devices - no worries about software, hardware and expertise to support them.
wheeline: Why can't we get someone to tell us how great their provider is??
Seriously. I think I'm gonna take the plunge and see if I can get it to work. I'm going to try an 8350i through Boost with a BES plan from MailStreet. I'll post somewhere on CB with my results.
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