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Solutions
The Research In Motion solution requires a separate server, Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES). This connects to the Exchange on the internal network and to the Blackberry devices on the other side via a Blackberry Network Operations Centre (NOC). The Blackberry suite of software contains a manager to administer user accounts and other applications to remotely deploy and support user devices. All management tasks for Blackberry are independent of the corporate Exchange and Active Directory environments.
The Microsoft mobile solution integrates with the corporate Exchange and Active Directory environment and does not require additional hardware or software. No separate server is required. The Microsoft solution can use existing Windows Mobile 2002, 2003 and 5.0 devices but in order to achieve the same functionality as Blackberry a Windows Mobile 5.0 device with the Messaging and Security Feature Pack installed is required. This addition should be available from your Telecoms Provider as a ROM flash upgrade.
Each solution has its own strengths. The Research In Motion Blackberry Manager provides granular control when it comes to administering users and devices. It is however a straightforward interface and requires minimal training.
Microsoft takes a slightly different approach to user management. There isn't the same granular user control as the Blackberry offering. For example the Blackberry Server allows you to manage redirection, filtering and policies on a per user basis. The Microsoft solution does not. The Microsoft offering appears more suited to a larger deployment scenario and because of the fewer changes that are possible would therefore require less administrative overhead to manage.
In a real world deployment scenario this isn't the case. Both solutions can be effective from 5 users upwards. Costs for the Microsoft offering are lower if you already have Windows Sever 2003 and Exchange Server 2003 running in your domain. If not then there would be upgrade license costs to consider. The Blackberry offering will work with Exchange Server 5.5 and upwards but does require a separate server and additional Blackberry CAL 's for each user that you wish to deploy it to. The argument over which is ‘better' will continue. The only question that has to be answered is which is best for you and your business.
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