Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry Enterprise Server is now available for no additional charge for IT admins offering Google Apps Premier and Education Editions to traveling business workers. Many experts said it was imperative for Google to integrate with the BlackBerry server if the company wanted the millions of RIM smartphone users to be able to have up-to-date access to Google's Gmail, Calendar and contacts.
Google said it has
finished integrating Google Apps with BlackBerry Enterprise
Server so that IT admins for Google Apps Premier and Education editions can
synchronize business users' Google Apps e-mail, calendar and contacts with
applications on BlackBerry devices.
Research In Motion's BlackBerry handheld devices are the de facto standard
among corporate road warriors, thanks in great part to the BlackBerry
Enterprise Server, which is lauded by IT administrators for its security and
manageability features.
Accordingly, many experts said it was imperative for Google to integrate
with the server if the company wanted the millions of RIM smartphone users to
be able to have up-to-date access to Google's Gmail, Calendar and contacts.
Google needs its collaboration applications to find purchase in the mobile
enterprise if it has any designs on competing with collaboration giants
Microsoft, IBM and Cisco Systems; all of
these firms are plotting similar mobile computing courses in the business
world.
As of Aug. 21, Google said
Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry Enterprise Server is now
available for no additional charge.
The connector will push, or route, messages sent to Gmail in-boxes to
BlackBerry devices within 1 minute. E-mails read and deleted on BlackBerry devices
are marked as read and deleted in Gmail, and vice versa. E-mails archived
and starred on BlackBerry devices are archived and starred in Gmail, and vice versa.
BlackBerry folders are synchronized with labels in Gmail.
Users can also search for coworkers' contact information from the global
address list on their BlackBerry devices, and Gmail contacts are automatically
synchronized with the BlackBerry address book. Users can also view their Google
Calendar schedule with the native BlackBerry application, with one-way
synchronization from Google Calendar to their BlackBerry devices.
However, two-way calendar synchronization, with the ability to accept,
decline and schedule meetings from a BlackBerry device, is not available with
this release. This is something many enterprise users require to keep in the
loop.
"We are working on it," Google Apps Engineer Anthony Lee said in a
blog post. Lee also said the Google Apps team has tested the connector, first
announced in May, extensively with select companies and universities, including
Sanmina-SCI.
Users can download the connector application
here. To learn how the connector works, read this
eWEEK review.
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