Port3101.org : Your BES Connection - Blogs - Otto http://blog.port3101.org/otto/ Port 3101 is the foundation of the BlackBerry Enterprise Server solution and this forum is the definitive source for all things BES and beyond. en Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:43:01 GMT vBulletin 60 http://blog.port3101.org/images/totallypro/misc/rss.jpg Port3101.org : Your BES Connection - Blogs - Otto http://blog.port3101.org/otto/ Apple iOS4 Crashing Exchange Servers http://blog.port3101.org/otto/178-apple-ios4-crashing-exchange-servers.html Thu, 01 Jul 2010 04:29:12 GMT

Okay, admittedly, this is not a BlackBerry-related post, but it is useful for Exchange engineers all the same.

iOS 4: Exchange Mail, Contacts, or Calendars may not sync after update

It seems that Apple's recent release of iOS4 and the "revolutionary" iPhone 4 has caused a "small" problem for enterprises running Exchange. In essence, the iOS4-based device becomes a drone in a DDoS attack against the Exchange mail servers. This has caused the Exchange servers to exhaust resources and ultimately crash, in some (most?) cases.

There is a client-based fix. Of course, this is only as good as your ability to enforce the installation. For all of you administrators and IT shops that allow iPhone and iPod Touch mobile devices on your Exchange server via ActiveSync, be sure to distribute this update to your users. Also, if you have a means (creative or not) of validating the patch was actually installed on the devices and possibly a means to enforce it, feel free to respond to this blog post. :)
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]]> Otto http://blog.port3101.org/otto/178-apple-ios4-crashing-exchange-servers.html BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0.1 MR1 now available - Exchange 2010 support http://blog.port3101.org/otto/138-blackberry-enterprise-server-5-0-1-mr1-now-available-exchange-2010-support.html Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:58:43 GMT

Today's release of BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 SP1 MR1 officially adds the long-awaited support for Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 in record-breaking (for RIM) time! (y)

From the Release Notes:

• To support Microsoft® Exchange 2010, verify that your organization's environment includes Microsoft Exchange 2010 Update Rollup 1.

• To support Microsoft Exchange 2010, on the computer that hosts the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, install MAPI client and CDO 1.2.1 version 6.5.8146.0 or later.

View the Release Notes here.

Download the Maintenance Release here.

For more information, please visit RIM's server downloads landing site at www.blackberry.com/go/serverdownloads.
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]]> Otto http://blog.port3101.org/otto/138-blackberry-enterprise-server-5-0-1-mr1-now-available-exchange-2010-support.html BlackBerry Expert Support Center Express - Free Registration! http://blog.port3101.org/otto/137-blackberry-expert-support-center-express-free-registration.html Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:18:14 GMT

Thanks to our good buddy knottyrope, we have now received word that the BlackBerry Expert Support Center (BESC) is now open to anyone with a valid SRP Identifier and SRP Authentication Key.

This means that if you previously had received a free copy of BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express Edition or Small Business Edition or BlackBerry Professional Server or any other free flavor of BES, you can now register for an account and take part in a service that had, until now, been only available to companies/individuals with Technical Support Services (TSupport/Tx) contracts... and only to those named callers on these accounts.

This services comes with the following:
  • Enterprise Activation Readiness Tool
  • SRP Lookup & Enable Tool
  • Complimentary Training Resources
  • One Complimentary BlackBerry Certification Voucher
  • One Complimentary Support Incident
I'm not sure if the certification voucher is there by mistake, but that is certainly the value-add to a free service, if you ask me!



As mentioned before, the only caveat for this service is that you must have a valid SRP Identifier and SRP Authentication Key that is currently not associated to a support contract in order to register. For most of you, this likely will not present a problem, especially for those of you that took advantage of the free software offerings over the years and never asked for or needed support outside of the various BES-related forums on the internet.

Nevertheless, many, many thanks to RIM for opening this up to a broader audience. This is perhaps the best news I've heard about the Technical Support Services offerings in quite a while!

For those of you who haven't taken the plunge yet, head on over to the BlackBerry Expert Support Center and sign up today!

URL: www.blackberry.com/besc
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]]> Otto http://blog.port3101.org/otto/137-blackberry-expert-support-center-express-free-registration.html <![CDATA[Rove's Mobile Admin Celebrates 5.0!]]> http://blog.port3101.org/otto/133-roves-mobile-admin-celebrates-5-0.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:32:49 GMT

Rove's Mobile Admin Professional has graduated to version 5.0, and along with the milestone comes additional support for Microsoft Hyper-V, Remedy Service Desk, and BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0.

With the continual improvement to the Rove flagship product, one would have to wonder "What will they add next?" In using the product for some time now, I am personally in heaven with what they've offered already, but it simply keeps getting better.

Also with the new platform comes a new slimmer version of the software, Mobile Admin Basics, aimed at providing support for core Windows services, directory services, and remote access services at a more entry-level target. Rove Mobile Admin Professional is now priced at $595 per CAL and Rove Mobile Admin Basics is priced at $295 per CAL.

Jump on over to RoveIT.com to read more about their new product lineup and compare the two levels to decide which is best for you and your organization!
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]]> Otto http://blog.port3101.org/otto/133-roves-mobile-admin-celebrates-5-0.html <![CDATA[Rove's Mobile Admin Now Supports Remedy!]]> http://blog.port3101.org/otto/91-roves-mobile-admin-now-supports-remedy.html Thu, 13 Aug 2009 03:40:12 GMT Image: http://blog.port3101.org/otto/attachments/19d1250134808-roves-mobile-admin-now-supports-remedy-rove.png With the widespread use of Remedy,...

With the widespread use of Remedy, the most popular incident management system for enterprises, and the widespread use of BlackBerry, the most popular mobile platform for enterprises, it makes sense that our favorite mobile enterprise management platform would extend to bringing the two together, right?

Rove has continued to make enormous improvements in the evolution of the Mobile Admin product, extending the management platform to integrations that far exceed almost any and every other enterprise software solution for mobile devices on the market. This 'swiss army' management solution has long since been the must-have item in most administrator's and IT department's utility belt, but the extension of Remedy into the product suite almost certainly places Rove a giant leap closer to the Every Laptop Left Behind dream for the future of computing and IT.

More information can be found on Rove's website - www.roveit.com/bmc.
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]]> Otto http://blog.port3101.org/otto/91-roves-mobile-admin-now-supports-remedy.html <![CDATA[BoxTone and CrackBerry to Giveaway a Free 'BoxTone Essentials' License!]]> http://blog.port3101.org/otto/90-boxtone-crackberry-giveaway-free-boxtone-essentials-license.html Thu, 13 Aug 2009 03:12:17 GMT Image: http://www.port3101.org/attachments/showroom-application-reviews-discussion/224d1237331410-q-session-boxtones-mitch-berk-boxtone.jpg Image:...


This is quite a generous offering from BoxTone on their new 'Lite' core product suite, which is aimed at smaller businesses and deployments with restrictive budgets (I believe we're all going to fit into this category at some point :lol:).

Click on to BoxTone for more information on BoxTone Essentials and to CrackBerry to enter the contest for the free license, which is valued at more than $10,000!
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]]> Otto http://blog.port3101.org/otto/90-boxtone-crackberry-giveaway-free-boxtone-essentials-license.html Port3101.org Blogs - Now Mobile! http://blog.port3101.org/otto/78-port3101-org-blogs-now-mobile.html Sat, 01 Aug 2009 21:50:36 GMT Image: http://www.port3101.org/misc/port3101_blogs.png Just visit blog.port3101.org (http://blog.port3101.org/) from your mobile device and enjoy...

Just visit blog.port3101.org from your mobile device and enjoy the musings of one of the best minds in the industry (hdawg), as well as the occasional post by the other staff members.

Please let us know if you run into any problems or issues with the mobile version of the blog. This is my own homemade modification to adapt the vBulletin Blog software to our mobile forum theme (I've been slaving on this all morning and afternoon), so I won't be able to say that all of the bugs are worked out entirely.

(y) ]]> Otto http://blog.port3101.org/otto/78-port3101-org-blogs-now-mobile.html WES 2009 Highlights with BoxTone, Port3101 and CrackBerry http://blog.port3101.org/otto/9-wes-2009-highlights-boxtone-port3101-crackberry.html Wed, 13 May 2009 01:52:35 GMT

I believe BoxTone's announcement below pretty much summarizes this live webinar session, featuring our very own monkey man (hdawg). Be sure to join the webcast tomorrow as the cast of Those Dorks We Love spend time capturing the important topics and trends of this year's Wireless Enterprise Symposium.

Quote:
Originally Posted by BoxTone
WES2009 Enterprise IT Highlight Reel – with BoxTone, Port3101.org and Crackberry.com

Couldn’t make it to this year’s WES? Or did you make it but miss some key sessions? Then sign up for this 90 minute Webinar recap of everything at WES that matters to Enterprise mobility IT. Join Port3101.org, CrackBerry.com and BoxTone and for a recap of the top 10 "seen and heard" at WES2009, including hot technology, best practices and key lessons learned from the many great sessions and the show floor at WES. From BES 5.0 with BAS, HA, BAA, MVS, and ET to cool announcements from HP, CISCO, Google and Security vendors. Plus highlights and prize winners from the Mobile User Management Lounge sponsored by BoxTone. Should be a lot of fun and a great way to get the best of WES from an Enterprise point of view. Hope to see you there.
Click Here to sign up! ]]> Otto http://blog.port3101.org/otto/9-wes-2009-highlights-boxtone-port3101-crackberry.html WES 2009: Meet the Port 3101 Staff @ WES 2009 http://blog.port3101.org/otto/7-wes-2009-meet-port-3101-staff-wes-2009.html Fri, 01 May 2009 01:12:40 GMT When not on the Solutions Showcase floor or in the various information sessions at WES, our staff members will most likely be found hanging out with... When not on the Solutions Showcase floor or in the various information sessions at WES, our staff members will most likely be found hanging out with our vendors that will be on-site in Orlando - BoxTone and Vox Mobile. See the flyer below for more information!





]]> Otto http://blog.port3101.org/otto/7-wes-2009-meet-port-3101-staff-wes-2009.html WES 2009: Refer a Friend, Receive a $25 Gift Certificate http://blog.port3101.org/otto/6-wes-2009-refer-friend-receive-25-gift-certificate.html Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:43:17 GMT Image: http://www.port3101.org/misc/referafriend.png I found myself trolling the WES 2009 website looking for a logo for some blog posts and I...

I found myself trolling the WES 2009 website looking for a logo for some blog posts and I came across an interesting offering from RIM. They are giving YOU a $25 gift certificate to ShopBlackBerry.com ...simply for providing a friend or colleague's name and email address! They don't have to be registered for WES and they don't even have to attend WES... heck, I'd venture to say that your friend doesn't even have to exist and you'll receive a $25 gift certificate from RIM!

Of course, this doesn't mean that RIM's prices (after rebate) will even come close to competing with other official resellers of the same products *HINT* HORIZON WIRELESS *HINT* but it certainly is a good way to get a free item or two from the BlackBerry Accessories Store.

Hurry fast, as this deal ends on May 1st! Limit one gift certificate per person.

Link: WES 2009: Referral Program ]]> Otto http://blog.port3101.org/otto/6-wes-2009-refer-friend-receive-25-gift-certificate.html <![CDATA[WES 2009: Twitter Contest to Prep for BoxTone's Lounge!]]> http://blog.port3101.org/otto/5-wes-2009-twitter-contest-prep-boxtones-lounge.html Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:43:26 GMT Image: http://www.port3101.org/misc/wes2009.png Image: http://www.port3101.org/misc/the-lounge.png As reported by my good friend Kevin @...


As reported by my good friend Kevin @ CrackBerry, BoxTone is holding a Twitter contest that will reward a daily winner with a new Coveroo case for your BlackBerry. Once the Twitter following hits 1,000 little tweeties (yes, that's you), a random person will be selected for a BIG top secret prize!

Check out CrackBerry, the official media partner for BoxTone at WES 2009, for more information.

Remember to sign up on Twitter for your chance to win and keep up with what's hot at WES - @BoxTone_Lounge. ]]> Otto http://blog.port3101.org/otto/5-wes-2009-twitter-contest-prep-boxtones-lounge.html WES 2009: The Lounge sponsored by BoxTone http://blog.port3101.org/otto/3-wes-2009-lounge-sponsored-boxtone.html Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:29:08 GMT Image: http://www.port3101.org/misc/the-lounge.png Last year, one of the most talked about area at WES was not the breakout sessions or even the...

Last year, one of the most talked about area at WES was not the breakout sessions or even the free-flowing bars and live music showcases. THE place to be was The Mobile User Management Lounge hosted by my good friends at BoxTone. Well, the company that "all our BES are belong to" are bringing us The Lounge once again.

This year's incarnation of The Lounge will be the HQ for the official Birds of a Feather sessions. There are currently five scheduled BoF sessions that will cover subjects such as BES performance tweaking and managing large BlackBerry deployments. These BoF sessions will feature panelists from the Port 3101 staff, BoxTone, and some of the world's largest BlackBerry deployments. These are one of those extra hot ticket items that you should not miss!

Be sure to join BoxTone, CrackBerry, Wallace Wireless, and Port 3101 in The Lounge at WES, where we can sit back, relax, and talk shop with our global colleagues. The Lounge will be located outside of the Cypress 1 ballroom near the meals and General Sessions area.

The Lounge:
www.boxtone.com/thelounge

Birds of a Feather HQ:
www.boxtone.com/Home/BirdsofaFeather.aspx

Birds of a Feather (Mobile):
www.boxtone.com/BoF

Be sure to follow the latest for the Mobile User Management Lounge sponsored by BoxTone on Twitter (@BoxTone_Lounge) and FaceBook (Group: BoxTone_Lounge). ]]> Otto http://blog.port3101.org/otto/3-wes-2009-lounge-sponsored-boxtone.html <![CDATA[REVIEW: Rove IT's Mobile Admin 4.2]]> http://blog.port3101.org/otto/2-review-rove-its-mobile-admin-4-2.html Sun, 19 Apr 2009 19:41:37 GMT *Vendor:* Rove IT *Software:* Mobile Admin *Version:* 4.2 Image:... Vendor: Rove IT
Software: Mobile Admin
Version: 4.2



Assuming you haven't found yourself living under a rock for the last few years, Rove IT has often found a place on our devices and in our hearts - not to mention atop practically every industry "Best Of..." list for BlackBerry software.

With each release of Mobile Admin, Rove has been dedicated to the addition of more services, more supported platforms, and more functionality. Mobile Admin 4.2 does not fail to deliver with this proven path for success. The additional support for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) 2007 and full support for VMware Virtual Infrastructure were already enough to make me a very happy administrator. Now throw in the certification of support for BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 a few months before the launch of that product and I must say that I'm quite impressed. Rove also added support Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager (SCMDM) for the administrators who have ventured into the Windows Mobile platform.

Like many of you, the documentation that accompanies software is rarely something I read before installing the product (although Rove IT obviously put in a LOT of time and effort on the impressive 270-page Client Guide), so it's the installation that I first measure my initial impressions of the product. I believe this is one area that Rove IT should take a lot of pride, as I would say that it was perhaps the quickest and most complete installation I've ever had the pleasure of running through. Less than a minute after double-clicking on the installer, I was able to install the client on my BlackBerry and found myself able to manage users in Active Directory and able to restart a server.

NOTE: Most of the supported systems require additional client connectivity to be installed and configured, so I would HIGHLY recommend reading the documentation on what needs to be installed. For example, if you want to manage users on a BlackBerry Enterprise Server, you will need to install the User Administration Service (BUA) on the Mobile Admin server (for BES 5.0 support, the BlackBerry Administration API (BAA) and BlackBerry Administration Service (BAS) would need to be installed). There is an included Deployment Guide that details all of these additional requirements.



Connecting to managed servers from the device client, the most interesting point to be made is that only the managed services found on that server are displayed to you. For example, if Internet Information Services (IIS) is found on that server, I get an icon to manage IIS. Connecting to my Small Business Server, I found Active Directory Users and Computers, DNS administration, Exchange System Manager, etc. Connecting to my BlackBerry Enterprise Server, I found BlackBerry Manager and all of the standard Windows services (Services, Event Log, and much more). I believe this auto-sensing of services is something that really makes Mobile Admin stand out, as there really are no additional configurations of services required (this is not to say that you can't make changes to what is displayed, of course).





The administration of Mobile Admin is implemented in a self-service model. Each user can login and add only the servers they want displayed to their own console, which can improve the efficiency of that specific individual. A user with administrator privileges in Mobile Admin can also administer the displays of other users, just in case a uniform approach to the displays is preferred within your deployment.

While the focus of Mobile Admin is extending IT reach to a mobile device, one must not overlook the ability to perform these same administration and management tasks from any desktop web browser. This feature alone makes this product worth its weight in gold, in my opinion.



Nearly one year ago, Rove IT made a radical change in their licensing model that certainly registered a few marks on the Richter scale. Moving against the industry grain, the change actually lowered the price of Mobile Admin for the majority of would-be customers. With Mobile Admin 4.2, the pricing structure actually starts reducing the cost for deployments of three or more users.

Mobile Admin Server: $1,595 per management server
Mobile Admin Users: $200 per user
Mobile Admin Roaming Users: $300 per user

In the previous licensing model found with Mobile Admin 4.1, the cost for two users would have been roughly $500 less than Mobile Admin 4.2. However, increase that number to 10 users and you will suddenly notice the value included in the new pricing model - $7,500 versus $3,600 (maintenance fees excluded). Now that's what I call a company that understands our current global economic crisis and delivers a solution that allows us to still have the perks of a great product that improves our work-life balance.

One month ago, I found myself in that situation that no person in a relationship wants to be in – I was scheduled to be on-call on Valentine’s Day. Luckily for me, I had a girlfriend who was very understanding of the situation and suggested we postpone our Valentine’s Day plans to the next weekend. Imagine the look on her face when I would tell her that we could have kept our dinner reservations and plans to go see a movie and spend the night together with no stress, as I would have had a means of responding to any alerts or pages from the convenience of my BlackBerry. Imagine if I would have had a tool to accomplish every remote administration task I would need to perform from my laptop without having to be concerned with finding a Wi-Fi hotspot or rushing back home to connect to the internet from there. The underground marketing slogan for Rove may as well be "Rove Mobile: Saving Relationships Since 2001". Next Valentine’s Day, I don’t believe I will make the same mistake.

For more information on Rove IT and Mobile Admin 4.2, please visit www.roveit.com. ]]> Otto http://blog.port3101.org/otto/2-review-rove-its-mobile-admin-4-2.html <![CDATA[Q&A Session with BoxTone's Mitch Berk]]> http://blog.port3101.org/otto/1-q-session-boxtones-mitch-berk.html Sun, 19 Apr 2009 19:40:07 GMT Image: http://www.port3101.org/attachments/showroom-application-reviews-discussion/224d1237331410-q-session-boxtones-mitch-berk-boxtone.jpg ...

Vendor: BoxTone
Software: BoxTone
Version: 4.0

A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Mitch Berk, Director of Product Management at BoxTone, about some recent news coming from the BoxTone HQ in Columbia, MD.

Otto/Port 3101: I hear BoxTone has had some exciting news in recent weeks?
Mitch Berk/BoxTone: Yes, we recently announced the release of the new version of BoxTone, BoxTone 4.0

JO: What does this new version have to offer?
MB: With the new version, we really tried to take the best practices we learned from our 190 customers and embed those into the product. It provides those best practices to newer teams and automates the work for even the most experienced teams - for both the BES Admin/Messaging team and the Help Desk.

JO: I've been using this new version of BoxTone for the last couple months and I must say that it definitely shows the dedication BoxTone has to your customer requests (and demands, err suggestions). Highlight some of these new features that were added to the product.
MB: Well, many of our BES Admin friends really want to get out of the business of dealing with every user call that comes in. They want the Help Desk to be able to handle more of the calls, but not everyone is comfortable giving the Help Desk access to the BlackBerry Manager console.
JO: Right, to expose the limited number of functions that the Help Desk needs to be efficient in taking over the basic user administrative duties, it usually involves a TON of other abilities they don't need.
MB: Yeah, it can be a little dangerous to let the Help Desk run wild. Plus the BlackBerry Manager console doesn't tell them what to do, so you would still have to write all of the policies and procedures for them and then hope they don’t click the wrong button.
JO: That 'Oh Sh*t!' feeling is something we all learn NOT to enjoy early on.
MB: So, we built in the ability to resolve the most common user issues right into our Help Desk console... and coupled it with our diagnostics to tell the Help Desk what is wrong, give them a button to fix it, and then look for positive confirmation that the user is up and running again.
JO: So, in summary, you've added on to your proven Help Desk interface and everything it’s already given our support staffs with the ability to resolve even more issues with the simple click of a button? Brilliant!
MB: That sums it up (in an even more marketing way than I did, LOL!)

JO: So what about this directory services integration? I know I never requested that feature... *wink*
MB: Administering users within BoxTone wasn't necessarily high on anyone’s 'Fun things I get to do today' list, so we took the work out and now allow you to administer your users in Active Directory or Windows.
JO: ...where we normally administer them, eh? That was so nice of you guys to take a little extra work load off our backs... but I suppose that's what you guys are in the business of doing, right?
MB: Yep, simply map a BoxTone role to a group in AD or Windows and any users in that group are automatically granted that role in BoxTone. As the users change in the groups you already manage, BoxTone keeps right up to date. Afterall, we know you would much rather be skimming the forums than administering users.
JO: LOL!

MB: In the same vein of freeing up time, we also put a lot of work into refining our notifications as well.
JO: So exactly how many man hours went into this revamping of the notification system? I'm sure our viewers want to know just how much you love us, of course...
MB: well I wasn’t checking the time cards, but we had two of our senior engineers working on the notifications and the revamping of our Analysis Console since around WES last year.
JO: After installing BoxTone for the first time a couple years ago, I remember turning on notifications and almost immediately asking support, “Is there a way we could set up maintenance windows times to avoid known periods where alerting would be expected?” So did that feature (Numero Uno on my list) make it into the new release?
MB: Yes, we were shocked to find out that people occasionally do work on their BES and Mail Servers and might not want alerts during those times, so with version 4.0, we added in two new features - Maintenance Windows and Holidays. Maintenance Windows is when we will suspend monitoring and baselining for a BES, Mail Server, or Carrier when work is being done on those services. Holidays is where we will suspend our flow and baselines alerts on days when you think people might be doing things other than sending BlackBerry messages, like kicking back on the fourth of July or scarfing down turkey.

JO: One thing we constantly work on as BES administrators is the reduction of connections between our BES mailbox agents and the Exchange servers that house those mailboxes. How does BoxTone 4.0 help with these sorts of ongoing projects?
MB: That seems to be a project a lot of our customers are going through; trying to clean-up and optimize their deployments to either to stabilize from rapid growth or to prep for another round of growth. We added in a set of new reports that will do the crunching for you and advise you on which users to move and to which BES to move them in order to minimize your BES-to-Mail Server connections. This can result in HUGE improvements to the performance and stability of your BES. We also added in a report that advises which users are essentially orphaned on your BES, costing you BES cycles and user CALs.

JO: This new release of BoxTone seems to be happening right around the time when we're getting ready for the new BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 (or Argon as we have come to love and hate over the last 2 years). Where does BoxTone 4.0 line up with support for the next flagship release of BES?
MB: well as you know, we have been doing our testing of BoxTone 4.0 for quite some time now, so it will initially release with support for BES 4.x. However, we are working on our BES 5.0 certification now and plan to release a service pack around the same time as BES 5.0 hits the market.
JO: Very nice. So BoxTone has a close relationship with Research In Motion, I take it?
MB: Yes, we work very closely with our friends up North.

JO: In a recent discussion with someone in the industry close to monitoring and mobility, a unique take on monitoring was brought up. He mentioned that companies that focus on the health of a BlackBerry environment would ultimately accomplish that goal for the customer, but it's what their product can do for the customer after that point of stability and health shows the real value of the product. This was in reference to a collective agreement (with another industry colleague, a BoxTone customer) that the Help Desk console was an invaluable tool within the BoxTone arsenal. So that leads in to my next question. We've seen what BoxTone has added with regards to the additional console views and reporting, but what else do we have to look forward to and what do you currently offer outside of the core monitoring solution?
MB: We certainly try to take a broader look at mobility and address the needs of all of the roles that are involved. You mentioned the Help Desk console, which is a fundamental focus for us. We can offer the BES Admin the best recommendations in the world on how to improve their BlackBerry deployment, but you'll never get to do anything with those recommendations if you spend your entire day answering the phone or responding to trouble tickets. So we really try to build in the diagnostics and tools to let a Help Desk, even with very little mobility knowledge and experience, quickly diagnose and resolve the majority of user calls coming in. This frees the Admins and Messaging team to focus on the infrastructure and improving the environment so that there are fewer problems in the first place.
MB: But there is really more to mobility than just keeping the environment up and running. Someone has to pay for it and find money to give people like you the big dollars to keep it running.
JO: Yeah, my recent bonus REALLY reflected that notion. LOL!
MB: HAH! We also have put a lot of work into our Asset, Expense, and Compliance Management module, which looks at where you are spending your money on BlackBerry and where you might be able to trim some costs, such as reclaiming BlackBerrys that aren't being used to realize all of those productivity gains or identify people who are spending an inordinate amount of time roaming and might need their service plans adjusted.
JO: Like someone who takes a permanent trip to another continent but refuses to give up their current carrier, BlackBerry, and number?
MB: Yes, exactly. In BoxTone 4.0, we added this tracking of roaming in our new BlackBerry Usage Report - we like to call it the Chargeback Report, because you can run it for any business unit and have the report emailed right to the manager as an invoice of their BlackBerry users every month!
JO: VERY nice!
MB: This answers the needs of the business manager and finance department, and lets the BES Admins spend their time doing something more productive than running reports and queries.
JO: I think I need to look at reporting a bit more often, eh?
MB: I seem to recall you neglecting our SLA report last time we were in person...
JO: Hey now, I found a good use for that report in my annual performance review. It certainly adds a nice visual to the good job you're doing as an engineer.

MB: We also hear that the Compliance/Audit department has been coming to a lot of our customers looking for proof of the security of the company's information. With that knowledge, our Asset Management module also includes reports that show all of the IT Policies you have deployed and proof of confirmation from the device that the policy has been applied, reports that show all of the security wipes you have sent and confirmation of whether the wipe has been successfully applied by each device, all of the applications people have installed on their device, etc. Again, trying to give everybody the information they need and free you up to do something a bit more productive (or at least more interesting).
JO: Not to mention that the tools available to do this sort of work otherwise is complicated, time consuming, and quite frankly, a dreadful way to spend a few hours... that is assuming there are tools or scripts already out there and you don't have to spend time developing something to suffice your needs. So you mean to tell me that I can now pull this sort of information in a VERY small fraction of the time?!
MB: You can schedule it to show up in your compliance departments inbox or on a shared drive every month and not have to waste any of your time on it...
JO: I must have had too much Guinness here lately, because I want to keep saying BRILLIANT! over and over...
MB: ...and getting the confirmations on these sorts of actions would be a real pain manually, as they aren't exactly located in a convenient location in the BlackBerry configuration database.
JO: Exactly!
MB: The last role that is probably worth mentioning would be management. We have added a set of reports that make it easy for you to show them how great of a job you are doing, whether it be tracking the growth of your environment over the last year and the delivery times you have maintained or even the specific service levels that you have provided to a specific set of users (VIPs, perhaps). We have reports that give you an easy way to show off your accomplishments. We also enhanced our dashboard to give you the ability to put your BlackBerry servers across all of your BlackBerry domains into convenient groups. This allows you the flexibility to provide a quick view of the health of your environment grouped by whatever suits your organization, such as Domain, Country/Region, Data Center, or really whatever works for your needs.

JO: So before we conclude this Q&A session (err, casual discussion of technology), anything left to add ...or shall I say, anything special planned for this year's WES? I believe everyone (and their mom, in one case) said the lounge was last year's coolest vendor booth. Anything like that in the works for this year?
MB: We are certainly working on some big things for WES this year, but I don't think we are ready to let that cat out of the bag just yet. But you'll definitely be the first to know. Maybe we should tie in your Guinness theme this year?
JO: LOL! BRILLIANT!

JO: Port3101.org wanted to thank BoxTone for becoming our first sponsor. We feel that we have something unique to offer the online BlackBerry community. What do you guys think of the website and community?
MB: I think you guys certainly have a great deal to offer the online community. There are a lot of sites out there to follow the latest news and rumors (and I am sure we all do), but there wasn't a dedicated place to get the real info for the people that really keep the whole thing up and running. The info available at Port 3101 is great for Admins looking for tips, tricks, advice, best practices and the answers they need to keep their environment running smooth. And earlier I mentioned how BoxTone looks to automate the best practices, so we're out there skimming and looking for what is working, what people are doing, and what you experts need.

JO: Well, my good friend, Mitch... Thanks for taking time out of your Sunday schedule to chat with me.
MB: It has been my pleasure, Mr. Otto.

For more information about BoxTone and their award-winning Monitoring and Management platform for BlackBerry, please visit www.boxtone.com.





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