BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express Boosts Device Management at a Bargain
by Andrew Garcia
Blackberry Domains
BESX and BES cannot both be present in the same BlackBery domain. Companies wanting to leverage both for the device fleet must ensure the two platforms use separate databases.
Installation and Integration
BESX can only be used with Exchange (no Lotus). It works with Exchange 2003, 2007 and 2010—including those iterations that come with Small Business Server 2003 and 2007.
Active Directory Integration
BESX pulls users from Windows Active Directory daily, allowing BlackBerry administrators to easily find users to add to BESX.
Device Stats
Once a device activates to the BESX environment, administrators can view relevant device configurations—like installed OS, PIN, carrier and phone number.
Device Activation
To attach a device to a user, administrators can either have BESX automatically generate the activation password and e-mail, or they can do it manually.
Activation Status
Administrators can monitor the status of an in-progress activation.
IT Policies
BESX only has a small subset of the IT policies available in BES 5.0, but administrators can control device characteristics such as Bluetooth, MMS and camera availability.
Password Policy
Administrators can also control password length, complexity and maximum try settings for devices in the field.
New Password
From the BlackBerry Administration Service Web page, administrators can remotely change a device password and lock the device.
Device Wipe
Administrators can also trigger a device wipe for an associated BlackBerry reported lost or stolen.
