Hey guys...
the network admin in our company has just switched 99% of the smartphone/cellphone users to windows mobile devices. I of course, kept my Blackberry. He claims that it would be too expensive to set up a BES Server vs having MS exchange having it all built in. He had told the CEO that it would cost about $100,000.00 to incorporate a BES server. That seems ridiculously high to me. What would the approx cost of setting up a BES server with approx 50-60 users.
TIA

I host my Blackberry through The Message Center, and it only costs me $8.95 per month. Plus, there was no activation fee, which was a pleasant surprise! You can find the info at The Message Center Exchange Hosting

Hopefully that helps!

If you are going to present this information to your CEO then don't rely on what people tell you here on the internets.

I would call RIM and talk to one of their sales folks, who can probably provide you the information you need.

rich

I would have to ask the purchasing folks to verify as most all my BES related stuff has come from M&As for so, so long now... but I know we could spin up a virtual box for 70 users for around 6.5k. Assuming no T-support and you have the VM and OS licenses covered.

I figured he was just looking for a rough idea before doing his own actual costing... but yeah it goes without saying to do your own homework in the end.

Just rough numbers for the licenses (that AT&T beats if I recall) can be had at places like these:

BlackBerry Enterprise 4.1 Server Software

It really depends on many factors:

Is your company using VM or physical servers?
Is business continuity planning included?
Is T-Support needed for servers and devices?

All that being said, Exchange with ActiveSync is not a whole lot cheaper. MS CAL's are more then BES CAL. Device and data plan's will be a wash cost wise, though you might get some device savings buying in bulk.

The bigger question is what does your company want to do with wireless? Will internal applications be developed or extended? hard to beat what Blackberry provides in that realm along with all the added security and device management BES provides.

I support both Windows Mobile and Blackberry (3,500 users total) and a large portion moved back to a blackberry after getting over the "gadget" phase. Windows Mobile tends to be more flacky, has lousy battery life etc.

If you had blackberry how do they connect to corporate email? BIS?

Rack server with OS 2000.00 USD (was 1800 from Dell)

BlackBerry Enterprise Server Software v4.1, Service Pack 5 for Microsoft® Exchange
Includes 20 user licenses $3,999/server

Additional BlackBerry Enterprise Server Client Access Licenses
50 users $3,299/pack



9300.00 initail cost for HW/SW.