BES and Blackberry Professional Edition

[salu]

Hi Guys,

What's the difference between "Blackberry Enterprise Server" and "Blackberry Professiona Edition" if we want Blackberry devices to sync to Zimbra server?

Thanks in advance for information.

Richard

[Protack]

The Blackberry Enterprise Server is RIMS flagship server and can handle a high number of phones where as the Professional version can only handle up to 15 phones I do believe.

If you want to sync your Blackberry we use the following software:

NotifySync Mobility Solution for the BlackBerry

It work s great, doesn't require a server either.

take a look.

[salu]

Originally Posted by Protack

The Blackberry Enterprise Server is RIMS flagship server and can handle a high number of phones where as the Professional version can only handle up to 15 phones I do believe.

If you want to sync your Blackberry we use the following software:

NotifySync Mobility Solution for the BlackBerry

It work s great, doesn't require a server either.

take a look.

Appreciate your comment, Protack!

[BBsanjose]

Yeah I have to agree with Protack. NotifySync is amazing and is basically ActiveSync for the BlackBerry. I was also able to go on the $30 BIS data plan from the $45 BES plan saving a couple hundred $ a year per user.

[wagazarm]

Blackberry Professional handles up to 30 phones. Once you go pass that, you can get a license from RIM to upgrade to a full BES.

Has anyone had any problems with NotifySync? You have me curious now.

[buttadee]

So, I just want to get this clear: you're saying that I could purchase, set up and administer Blackberry Professional Software the exact same way as Blackberry Enterprise Server, with the ZCB, and it just costs a lot less? I looked at the RIM comparison page, and even though we might be able to get some sort of educational discount, the savings still look to be vast:
BlackBerry - BlackBerry Professional Software

I've been using the trial version of BES w/ ZCB beta 3 and it seems to be working well enough for the last 17 days, but I guess the time is coming where we commit to buying BES and going into production.

[wagazarm]

Blackberry Professional is 'BES Lite' basically. It's small to medium business version of the BES.

I have it deployed here with 20 users connected to Zimbra and it works great. Just make sure you follow the zimbra connector instructions word for word. It is highly recommended that you use a fresh server for this and make sure the only thing you have running on it is the BES - there will be the occasional time you will need to reboot it (Even RIM says so...)

Oh, and if you DO go the route of doing the Blackberry inhouse with the BES (or Blackberry Professional), make sure you keep that installation file you download from them. It has a unique SRP number and will make your life a lot more simpler should you decide you need to move servers at a later date.

How many users are you going to support this with?

[buttadee]

Thanks for the reply, wagazarm.

I definitely have experienced the setup of BES + ZCB (+ Outlook 2007) a couple of times so far in development. (first was bad for an unknown reason, the current one's good.) Following the instructions exactly indeed seems important here and I agree, a fresh install would be good because the virtual server BES & ZCB are running on (Blackberry Router runs on a physical box in the DMZ) is too small for production anyway.

As for the number of users, we are an institute affiliated with a university so we're not huge--I project we'd have 10-15 inititally, but may slowly get more if demand increases. Professional seems like the way to go if we can indeed upgrade the license later to Enterprise. The later adopters of the service would not likely be the VIPs (they're the initial adopters), so I think we'd have a reasonable heads-up on demand for budget planning.

Just curious, do you have the Blackberry Database Consistency service running on your deployment? That's about the only thing I have different between my "bad" setup and my "good" one now.

[salu]

Hi guys,thank your very much to put the details cotents. Where can I download the Zimbra Blackberry connector?

[Protack]

NotifySync works great. I have it running on a Blackberry Storm and a Blackberry Bold with no issues. The best part of Notifysync is since it uses the standard TCP network of the wireless carrier, there is no reason to have to purchase the BES plan from your wireless carrier. Saving you $15 a month per phone. I would really recommend it to anyone that uses a Blackberry and Zimbra. Another final note, its endorsed by RIM, so you will get support when you call if you have a phone issue. Here is the link. Research In Motion