Is BES dead?

[Thunderbuck]

With the availability of ActiveSync for Exchange e-mail, and presumably the prospect that such accounts will be supported in BB10, it's left me with the question of whether BES is a viable option going forward?

Will the whole device regulation thing be done through Fusion/Balance now?

And what of other mail servers? Is RIM looking at some way to continue to support stuff like GroupWise?

[recompile]

BES isn't dead. It does so much more than ActiveSync that it's doesn't make much sense to even compare the two.

[Thunderbuck]

Originally Posted by recompile

BES isn't dead. It does so much more than ActiveSync that it's doesn't make much sense to even compare the two.

In the sense of fine-grained control with device policies, I hear you. I have had BESx on my home server and am now a BES admin in my current job, so, yes, I get what you mean on that "so much more".

Where I'm dubious is, just how much of a market is there for that "so much more" now? I can imagine a great many small enterprises who would very seriously look at moving their infrastructure to, say, Office 365 with hosted Exchange and either allow BYOD or equip users with ActiveSync-enabled devices.

I understand that for VERY large organizations that wouldn't work, and for those with some very specific policy/security requirements, but will that be enough to sustain BES as a business?

[Lindstrom]

Originally Posted by Thunderbuck

With the availability of ActiveSync for Exchange e-mail, and presumably the prospect that such accounts will be supported in BB10, it's left me with the question of whether BES is a viable option going forward?

Will the whole device regulation thing be done through Fusion/Balance now?

Fusion require BES ....

[Xopher]

Plus there is MDS for remote data access, and MVS for voice services (including porting office extensions directly onto BB). There is a lot more to BES than just email access. Since Fusion also requires BES, it is far from dead.