[nawaz76]

Hello All,

I am very new to this whole blackberry world (with my little knowledge, its very interesting !!!)

Our compnay was more of windows mobile shop but now we need to develop a proof of concept (POC) apps on blackberry . we dont even have a actual deveice, got to try all this on emulator then move on eventually (hopefully)

We need to create an apps on the BB devices which access data from the corporate homw grown CRM apps (using web services). i have been reading about and i understand below are my options

1.BES with MDS
using MDS studio and deploying MDS runtime on the device and BES with MDS on the server , it should be a done deal. My question here is
a.Can we get away with BES at least for the POC.
b.Can we just download the MDS for free or nomial fee ?

2.J2ME
Hard code J2ME apps which use HTTP to access the web service.
My question here is
a. is this a feasible solution ?

am i thinking in the right direction ? Pls advice

TIA

[jhoetzl]

Originally Posted by nawaz76

Hello All,
Our compnay was more of windows mobile shop but now we need to develop a proof of concept (POC) apps on blackberry . we dont even have a actual deveice, got to try all this on emulator then move on eventually (hopefully)

You can get a BES "Express" server with MDS services for free, up to 10 or 15 users depending on how you get it, so no cost there.

Then, pick a device you like, pick a carrier with coverage where you need to be, and get one with a full data plan. No other options will work. You NEED the full unlimited data plan.

Originally Posted by nawaz76

We need to create an apps on the BB devices which access data from the corporate homw grown CRM apps (using web services). i have been reading about and i understand below are my options

That really depends on what level of user experience you want to present.

Originally Posted by nawaz76

1.BES with MDS
using MDS studio and deploying MDS runtime on the device and BES with MDS on the server , it should be a done deal. My question here is
a.Can we get away with BES at least for the POC.

If you are talking about simple lookups to customer lists/contact lists, pulling up pricing info, that sort of stuff, MDS is your friend, especially if the web services are there already, and if you have Notes based CRM, it is really easy to pull this off.

The simulator will only get you so far...the user experience is all about the device and how quickly data really moves back and forth.

Originally Posted by nawaz76

b.Can we just download the MDS for free or nomial fee ?

See above re: BES express

I'd say if you need to work with more complexity, full on java stuff is going to quickly become a requirement.

Originally Posted by nawaz76

2.J2ME
Hard code J2ME apps which use HTTP to access the web service.
My question here is
a. is this a feasible solution ?

On the blackberry developer site, there are a few webcasts - watch them and come back with questions.

[nawaz76]

Thanks much. will try and come back...