Research In Motion announced today the immediate availability of BlackBerry Professional Software - a new wireless communications and collaboration solution that tightly integrates with the industry leading email servers and is specifically designed and priced to meet the needs of small and medium-sized businesses. BlackBerry Professional Software is based on the core functionality of the best-in-class BlackBerry Enterprise Server software used by governments and large organizations worldwide, but it is streamlined and tailored to meet the needs of smaller organizations with up to 30 wireless users. BlackBerry Professional Software is priced at $499 for 5 users.

BlackBerry Professional Software enables small and medium-sized businesses to enhance communications and collaboration with an enterprise-grade mobility solution - allowing user-friendly wireless access to email, organizer, Internet and intranet applications with advanced security - while addressing the desire for an in-house solution that is affordable, simple to install and easy to manage.

Key features and benefits of BlackBerry Professional Software include: 

• Small IT Footprint - Installs on the same server as the email system, saving customers the cost of additional hardware and operating system licenses.
• Support for the Leading Email Systems - Provides tight integration with Microsoft® Exchange or IBM® Lotus® Domino®, allowing a full complement of synchronized wireless services including access to email, calendar, contacts, notes and tasks.
• Simple Installation - A Pre-install Assistant utility performs a technical assessment of the environment and provides a recommended configuration making installation fast and easy with little or no requirement to determine configuration settings.
• Easy Management - Simplified BlackBerry Manager Interface is a one-stop location for most management tasks, and wizards and quick-links enable customers to easily change common functions such as adding or deleting a user. IT policies are also easy to set up with pre-defined IT policy templates.
• Advanced Security - Utilizes the same certified security architecture and encryption system of the BlackBerry® Enterprise Server, which is trusted and accredited by more organizations around the world than any other wireless solution.
• BlackBerry® MDS (Mobile Data System) Support - Provides customers with the ability to extend internal applications to mobile employees and use any of the thousands of third party applications developed for the BlackBerry platform.

BlackBerry Professional Software is priced at $499 USD (MSRP) for 5 users and $849 USD (MSRP) for 10 users. Either package can be expanded to support up to 30 wireless users with the purchase of additional standard Client Access Licenses (CALs). BlackBerry Professional Software can also be easily upgraded to BlackBerry Enterprise Server. BlackBerry Professional Software is available in multiple languages (English, French, Italian, German and Spanish) and can be purchased via electronic software download from www.blackberry.com/professional.

With the launch of BlackBerry Professional Software, RIM is also announcing a special introductory offer. Beginning today and running until November 30, 2007, customers who purchase any 5 new BlackBerry smartphones will be eligible to receive a 5-user BlackBerry Professional Software package ($499 USD value). Visit www.blackberry.com/professionalfor details.

Source: Blackberry press release

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