BES vs BIS for Balance... Question: Do I need BES for Balance?

I have a Z10 that has the Balance feature set up. The IT department at my work set it up.

My corporate plan through Rogers offers me 2 data pack options. They are;
1GB of BES or
3GB of BIS.

My IT department said I required the BES package to set up the Balance so I signed up for the 1GB BES.

Another employee told me they were still on the BIS plan and they were able to have Balance on their phone. So I went to the Rogers store and switched to the 3GB of BIS without saying anything to my IT department. Lo and behold the phone works fine.

Is this a glitch? Do you need a BES plan to have Balance? Is my IT department wrong?

Any ideas? Thanks.

BIS plans don't work on the Z10 but yes you can have a basic plan and still use balance provided your IT sets it up correctly this is part of the BYOD era

Posted via CB10

Yes you need bes10 server

Posted via CB10

Thanks for the reply. So my IT department is wrong in saying that I require a BES data plan for OS 10. I guess that's still the case for OS 7 and below.

Originally Posted by samstr

Thanks for the reply. So my IT department is wrong in saying that I require a BES data plan for OS 10. I guess that's still the case for OS 7 and below.

if your company supplied the phone they need a BES plan for all devices regardless their OS, however when they set up a BES10 server, it allows normal everyday devices to be securely loaded with balance for access to work.

For example, my Z10 currently is a personal device, if the military ever upgraded to BB10 and BES10, I could technically get them to install a work side on my personal device without the need of a BES plan myself (however being that it's military that'll never happen lol)

Originally Posted by samstr

Thanks for the reply. So my IT department is wrong in saying that I require a BES data plan for OS 10. I guess that's still the case for OS 7 and below.

Correct the Z10 does not need BES to work and will not work with BIS. But if your company want your device to connect securely and you want to use BlackBerry Balance, then you will need to connect to their BES server that has been upgraded to BES10.