New Version of BlackBerry Enterprise Server - 5.0

BlackBerryEnterpriseServerboxes.jpgRIM today announced the availability of
BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0. that
supports advanced IT administration features and smartphone controls
that help improve the productivity of mobile workers and more
effectively meet the demands of large-scale, mission critical
enterprise deployments.
 
BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 enables a secure, centrally managed
link between BlackBerry smartphones and enterprise systems,
applications, corporate phone environments (with BlackBerry Mobile
Voice System) and wireless networks. It tightly integrates with IBM
Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise, and is
designed to provide highly secure access to email, organizer data,
instant messaging, voice (via BlackBerry MVS), browser and other
enterprise applications. It also provides advanced security features
and administrative tools that simplify the management and use of the
BlackBerry solution within the enterprise.

"We are proud to unveil the next generation of BlackBerry Enterprise
Server software," said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at RIM.
"BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 significantly raises the bar for
advanced IT manageability, high availability, system monitoring and
reporting. It has undergone testing in real world environments for over
a year and is available now for customers.

BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 Enhancements and Key Features

BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 provides enhanced IT management and administration features, including:

  • BlackBerry Administration Service, a new administration
    component with a web-based user interface that provides centralized
    management, monitoring and control of smartphone deployments and the
    complete BlackBerry system environment. IT staff can easily access the
    BlackBerry Administration Service from an Internet Explorer web browser.
  • Role-based
    access controls allow IT administrators to delegate tasks to IT staff,
    either individuals or groups, and control access to IT functionality.
    Screen consoles display only the functions that are available to the
    individual IT administrator.
  • Over-The-Air application
    deployment and device software updates can be better managed and
    controlled with job scheduling and throttling.
  • IT
    administrative task scheduling supports the deployment of device,
    application and server updates at times that can help minimize impact
    on smartphone users and business operations.
  • Mobile
    application management and deployment enhancements support the
    efficient management and control of applications across smartphone
    deployments, allowing IT administrators to:

o Publish updates and optional applications that are available for download by smartphone users.

o Push mandatory applications or updates to individuals or groups of users.

o Identify "disallowed" applications to prevent smartphone users from downloading prohibited applications.

  • Simplified IT policy management allows IT administrators
    to create groups of smartphone users  and nested groups, then apply IT
    policies or perform IT tasks for one or more groups, in addition to
    applying policies to individuals.
  • Approximately 450 IT
    policies that can be applied to individuals or groups of smartphone
    users, ranging from enforcing smartphone password protection and
    controlling access to third party smartphone applications, to
    controlling the use of specific smartphone features, such as using a
    camera or video recording.
  • System health monitoring
    provides a unified, color-coded view of the BlackBerry environment,
    both server and user related, for the easy identification of potential
    issues.
  • Advanced reporting features, including trending,
    chart analysis and server statistics, provide a comprehensive view into
    the overall health of the BlackBerry system environment. BlackBerry
    Enterprise Server also stores up to 56 weeks of health scores for
    historical trending analysis.
  • Built-in high availability
    and automated failover allows IT administrators to set BlackBerry
    Enterprise Server to automatically issue alerts and then failover to a
    standby server when certain thresholds are met. Load balancing between
    the primary and standby server is an option for some shared service
    components like the Attachment Service. Manual failover from the
    primary server to the standby server is an option for IT administrators
    to perform planned maintenance tasks without affecting smartphone
    service.
  • BlackBerry Enterprise Transporter Tool makes
    upgrading to BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 easy and seamless. It
    streamlines the transfer of multiple user accounts from one BlackBerry
    Enterprise Server domain to another without impact to or action
    required by end users.

"The smartphone is essential for enterprises looking to improve
employee productivity, accessibility, and responsiveness in today's
economic environment," said Chris Hazelton, Research Director, Mobile
and Wireless at The 451 Group. "As smartphones take on greater
relevance in the enterprise and deployments grow, the demands on IT
departments grow exponentially, making manageability, control and high
availability must-haves in the supporting mobile infrastructure."

Support for New Smartphone Features

BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 supports all current BlackBerry
smartphones and supports the following smartphone features with
BlackBerry Device Software 5.0*:

  • Remote access to Windows network file shares to allow
    smartphone users to securely retrieve, view, edit and email documents
    from behind the firewall.
  • Flag emails for follow-up in the same way that flags are used in Microsoft Outlook®.
  • Create,
    move, browse, rename and delete email folders directly from the
    smartphone, and view and attach files from those folders to emails sent
    from the smartphone.
  • View attachments in a meeting request or calendar entry, and forward calendar appointments with attachments.
  • Easily manage personal and public distribution lists.
  • Use
    of Calendar Meeting Delegation for IBM® Lotus® Domino®, which allows
    attendees to delegate invitations to others from their BlackBerry
    smartphones.

In Use Today
 
BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 has undergone testing in real world
environments for over a year, and is in use today at a number of
organizations in North America and Europe, including IBM (www.ibm.com), Linklaters (www.linklaters.com), Metro Group (www.metro-ag.com), Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP (www.osler.com), Reed Smith LLP (www.reedsmith.com), and Tayside Fire and Rescue (www.taysidefire.gov.uk).

RIM itself has also been running BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0
and has more than 10,000 employees connected on the new version. The
majority of RIM employees were migrated to version 5.0 using the new
BlackBerry Enterprise Transporter tool.

"The new capabilities for handling applications in BlackBerry
Enterprise Server 5.0 are exciting," said Todd Belt, CTO of IBM Mobile
Enterprise Services. "These capabilities are of tremendous significance
to our enterprise customers as they continue to adopt mobile
applications to meet their business needs."

"BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 is ready for a production
environment," said Paul Williamson, Systems Management Engineer at
Linklaters. "Having piloted the new solution for over a year, the
benefits are obvious. Access to the new console from a web browser
makes remote administration very easy and the high availability options
have worked extremely well since day one. Our overall experience with
it has been excellent."

"Metro Group has been successfully trialing BlackBerry Enterprise
Server 5.0 for 18 months and we are currently using it to run and
manage over 1,500 employees' BlackBerry smartphones," said Ernst
Lueckerath, Head of Global Communication and Security at MGI METRO
Group Information Technology. "One of the key benefits of BlackBerry
Enterprise Server 5.0 is high availability, meaning that we can
reliably and instantly switch servers to manage issues, or for
regulated maintenance and upgrades, without impacting our employees'
BlackBerry service."

"The upgrade to BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 was one of the
easiest we have ever performed.  Totally flawless!" said Roosevelt J.
Russell Jr., Remote Computing Analyst at Reed Smith LLP.

"BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 has been successfully tested and
deployed within Tayside Fire and Rescue and we are impressed with the
new administrative features," said Gary Bellfield, ICT Manager at
Tayside Fire and Rescue. "Having true high availability built into the
platform has given us further peace of mind as we rely on our
BlackBerry smartphones to help support the life-critical emergency
services we provide."

New Support Programs and Services

RIM is also announcing today new technical support, professional
services, and training and certification programs to help BlackBerry
Enterprise Server 5.0 customers achieve the best possible performance
and return on investment from their BlackBerry smartphone deployments:

  • BlackBerry Technical Support Services - www.blackberry.com/btss
    - offers a new tiered program with varying degrees of support to meet
    the range of customer needs. New services include Change Management
    Planning, Health Check Services and Direct to Level Two Support
    Resources.
  • BlackBerry Migration Planning Services
    -www.blackberry.com/professional_services - are designed to help
    organizations plan their upgrade to BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0.
  • BlackBerry
    Training and Certification Programs for BlackBerry Enterprise Server
    5.0 are planned for availability in the third quarter of this year. For
    more information about training for new administrators, visit www.blackberry.com/training. For more information about certification for administrators of BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0, visit www.blackberry.com/certification.

"RIM's new professional services, support and training programs have
helped us prepare for our transition to BlackBerry Enterprise Server
5.0," said Peter Bier, CIO, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. "The RIM
team analyzed our mobility needs and our IT staff's preparedness to
determine the right system setup, training requirements, level of
support and migration plan that would ensure a smooth transition to
version 5.0."

Certified Secure

Also announced today, BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 has obtained
Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level 4 (EAL 4+) certification
(see separate release).  The Common Criteria is an international
standard for validating that IT products meet specific security
requirements. Certifications are recognized by 26 countries, including
Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United
States.

Available Today

BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 is available today for IBM Lotus
Domino and Microsoft Exchange. For more information, visit http://na.blackberry.com/eng/services/server.