[kpoland]

I found a spreadsheet somewhere that said it's $60,000 but I wanted to check with the real Admins...

[dcpuser]

I have never seen a fulltime BES admin position. Generally its given to one of the network or system administrators as part of his or her duties since the BES does not require 24/7 maintenance.

[d_fisher]

It all depends on where you live. 60K would be a decent salary where I am at, but in Silicon Valley is sucks.

[kpoland]

I can tell you at my job, in between Handheld distribution and troubleshooting, and BES responsibilities (upgrading, user maintenance), it's definately a full time position...

[marco616]

If you're a seasoned professional with certifications and are really administering the BES and being proactive with MDS you'll demand a lot more if you're a desktop support person with 2-3 years exp. converted to a bes Admin just adding users and activating devices

[kpoland]

Pardon my ignorance, but I had no idea there were certifications offered for BES Administration. Where can I find more information on that?

[jibi]

Below would be my ideal way of splitting apart the responsibilities of the BlackBerry environment. At a base, the BlackBerry Administrator would likely be someone who shares responsibilities to the enterprise messaging/mail environment. This person should not necessarily be directly responsible for the handhelds, aside from being an escalation point for troubleshooting purposes.

If you do more than one of these jobs, then the job could very well be a full-time position. However, I think it'd be hard to argue that a basic BES Administrator would warrant 'full-time' responsibilities and salary.

BlackBerry Systems Administrator:
A person who installs, configures, and maintains the BlackBerry Enterprise Server environment and software. This should only include the BES, any remote components to the BES, and its connection to the SQL server. This person will likely server as an upper-tier support escalation for lower-tier handheld support personnel.

BlackBerry Database Administrator:
Typically speaking, this should be a MSSQL (or DB2) DBA. In some smaller environments, this person is also a systems administrator and very well could be the same person as the BES Administrator.

BlackBerry Handheld Support:
Typically this would be help desk/deskside personnel, although in smaller environments, this could be placed on the plate of the resident BlackBerry 'expert' (the Administrator).

BlackBerry Developer:
A person who develops and maintains internal applications for the MDS Studio component and/or someone who develops J2ME-based applications to work with the BlackBerry.

BlackBerry Handheld Management:
I would say that this would fall into the hands of Telecom or Purchasing personnel.

In addition, you'd also have to interface with the messaging/mail administrators (Exchange, Domino, Groupwise), information security personnel (firewall, security policies), network administrators, etc.

[jibi]

Originally Posted by kpoland

Pardon my ignorance, but I had no idea there were certifications offered for BES Administration. Where can I find more information on that?

I think he was likely talking about an MCSE, MCDBA, etc. The only BlackBerry certifications available are offered to partners (carriers, resellers, etc) and RIM employees (obvious reasons).

[kpoland]

By those job descriptions, I am the BlackBerry Systems Administrator and BlackBerry Handheld Support. It's definately a full time position. I'm also supposed to do PC tech \ desksite support, but I very rarely have time for that. We don't have a Database Admin or a Developer of any type.

Aaah... I thought they were offering certs... Never heard of them...

[jibi]

I am the BES administrator for a 200+ person environment across two enterprises and three BES servers. I also do some handheld management (for my department and some executives). I'm a third-tier support escalation for all BlackBerry support personnel in the enterprise. And lastly, for what its worth, I am also the administrator of the SQL databases for the BES environment for my local company's BES servers (our enterprise BES has its own DBA group), although there's little to no administration aside from maintenance plans and verifying backups. I'm also about to likely take control of administration over our global BES servers and heading up the migration of three acquired companies' BES environments...

In addition to that, I also am a full-time Microsoft Technologies Systems Administrator, dealing with a 500 server environment, including Exchange, SharePoint, Live Communications Server, in-house applications, etc.

I make nowhere near the $80,000+ that some people are saying they make, albeit cost-of-living here is extremely low (I pay $450/mo rent on a 2BR/2B house). I also wouldn't consider my duties much of a full-time job, although it does take up a good bit of time sometimes, especially with the initial load of the migrations, or the implementation of a new environment/server.

[rliebsch]

$450/mo rent on a 2BR/2B house?!? I am Jack's overwhelming sense of envy. I am in SF. 2Br/1Ba I have a deal at 1795.

Anyway, back on topic. I have a very small BB userbase. Only 50 workaholics. Aside from initial deployments there is really very little to do, updates aside. I'd say averaging maybe an hour a week in deploys and log monitoring. I do spend a lot of time reading here though...

We don't have any neat apps (yet), just loads of mail and calendaring. No fancy IT Policy for the handheld.

[jibi]

Originally Posted by rliebsch

I do spend a lot of time reading here though...

...if i could only justify that as work-related time spent...

(but on the bright side, i think all of my leadership knows what an asset i am to have within this area (as well as the crowd BlackBerry caters to), so i don't think they mind my time spent on the forums - hope they aren't reading ... hehe)

[kpoland]

Well, I'm glad at least 1 person is making less than me. My question is, how many users and servers are they supporting? I'm making 30-40k and I have 3 servers and 500+ users. East coast Cost of Living is hitting me for 1k month rent (2br, 1ba) no utilities included. It's been real hard to make ends meet here.

I started this job doing desktop support / desksite tech / etc. Hardware / Software Specialist I think the title was. A year or two ago, the network admin asked me to take over BES and handheld duties, as it was taking up too much of his time. I never saw a raise with those responsibilities. Now I'm scrambling to do both jobs, and I was wondering if I should start looking for another job, or if I should be happy with my pay and just try to make it day by day.

It seems from the poll that I definately should start hunting around.

[d_fisher]

Originally Posted by kpoland

I started this job doing desktop support / desksite tech / etc. Hardware / Software Specialist I think the title was. A year or two ago, the network admin asked me to take over BES and handheld duties, as it was taking up too much of his time. I never saw a raise with those responsibilities. Now I'm scrambling to do both jobs, and I was wondering if I should start looking for another job, or if I should be happy with my pay and just try to make it day by day.

Sounds like your getting screwed to me just because you worked your way up in a company. That happened to me at my last job. Worked there for 5 years and liked my job, but I was underpaid and knew it. I got a promotion in title and pay grade. The catch was, my pay was below the minimum of the pay grade AFTER the crappy raise they gave me. I talked to HR about it and they said that the pay grades are simply "guidelines". They are not required to pay within the specified pay grades. Cheap bastards!

[jibi]

In your region (I'm assuming northern east coast), then I'd say you are underpaid quite a bit, especially if you're doing server administration.

But then again, one could argue the point about not complaining about your salary, as well. In all honesty, if you're only being paid that much, in order to get you up to what you *should* be paid, it would probably be cheaper for them to just get someone else who would take that pay and be happy. In that kind of situation (not sure what the IT/IS budget or management chain is there), I would suggest keeping your options open to other companies hiring (and possibly expanding your horizons beyond BES/BlackBerry and desktop support).

[a_kayaker]

Originally Posted by jibi

In your region (I'm assuming northern east coast), then I'd say you are underpaid quite a bit, especially if you're doing server administration.

But then again, one could argue the point about not complaining about your salary, as well. In all honesty, if you're only being paid that much, in order to get you up to what you *should* be paid, it would probably be cheaper for them to just get someone else who would take that pay and be happy. In that kind of situation (not sure what the IT/IS budget or management chain is there), I would suggest keeping your options open to other companies hiring (and possibly expanding your horizons beyond BES/BlackBerry and desktop support).

I learned a long time ago...

Don't ask to be paid what you are worth... you may just get it!

[a_kayaker]

I am a BES admin with 2 servers and 200 or so users. We currently have 7280's 90's 7100's and the new 8700c's. I also handle the handheld ordering/activation/setup and configuration. Don't forget the personal training that I have to give to each new Blackberry user (at least an hour). And certainly don't forget the coddling that I have to provide for our executives.

No to mention that I also handle desktop and network support for 600 offsite employees in 2 power plants and 6 office locations with an hour of travel between any of them.

Current salary.. 57.5... kids... 3... house payment 1000.00 and 600.00 a month to the ex... priceless.


Sure the work could be less and the pay could be more, but the IT field is a funny one now. I trade a stable position for higher pay any day of the week.

If you are currently employeed in the IT field... consider your self lucky. I have been in IT for 12 years and know a lot of really talented techs and admins that are selling cars or suits.


Hell, the kids are fed, the house is paid for and as long as momma keeps giving me some tail a couple three times a week... I will be a happy man.

[jibi]

Originally Posted by a_kayaker

If you are currently employeed in the IT field... consider your self lucky. I have been in IT for 12 years and know a lot of really talented techs and admins that are selling cars or suits.


Hell, the kids are fed, the house is paid for and as long as momma keeps giving me some tail a couple three times a week... I will be a happy man.

well put...

[gcrarey]

Hi All,

I am a new Black Berry Administrator at Fort Belvoir in Alexandria, VA. I have it easy compared to some ( or so you would think ) I only have seven VIP users right now ( will be growing in the future ) but they are very particular about thier handhelds. and being military they don't generally like to wait without a very good reason. This was given to me as a side bar duty but has taken up much of my daily routine. Did everyone build their BES systems?

G.

[kpoland]

Originally Posted by gcrarey

Hi All,

I am a new Black Berry Administrator at Fort Belvoir in Alexandria, VA. I have it easy compared to some ( or so you would think ) I only have seven VIP users right now ( will be growing in the future ) but they are very particular about thier handhelds. and being military they don't generally like to wait without a very good reason. This was given to me as a side bar duty but has taken up much of my daily routine. Did everyone build their BES systems?

G.

I was responsible for building 2 servers from scratch and upgrading 1 2.2 to 4.0.

I would LOVE to get paid mid 50's. That would be huge! Who would turn down a 35% pay raise??