Chris Leckness

Everytime RIM has a network issue, there is a big uproar. Why, simple... it has millions of business men and women disconnected from their email and that ain't good boy and girls. Well, Palm asks why. Why do companies put all their email over a network they don't control the access to? It looks like a good marketing thought for Palm and Microsoft Exchange Server, but the points are quite valid...

Why risk a network outage?

As many of you are aware, the Research In Motion (RIM) Network Operations Center (NOC) had a nationwide network outage yesterday - for the second time since April 2007. That means Blackberry email came crashing to a halt for many BlackBerry customers. The impact of that network outage on productivity, business and communications was tremendous - millions of emails were delayed. All of this made me wonder whether the majority of people out there even know what a NOC is, let alone realize that their email is going through one. All email (business and personal) sent through RIM"s servers are routed through a NOC. When the NOC fails, your email stops working.
If a NOC does crash, users, IT departments and carriers who are using Blackberry devices have to sit and wait for the NOC to be fixed. They don't control the situation (or the fix). Let's not forget to mention the added costs of subscribing to the service.
Better to switch than fight?
We believe that the best solution is to eliminate third-party email servers, hassles, and costs, while maintaining simplicity and control. For instance, Microsoft Exchange Server provides a reliable foundation for a smart wireless deployment that leverages an organization's existing infrastructure - no middleware or third-party servers. Simply add a Palm smartphone and you have a voice and email solution that will keep you in touch and productive, without the NOC hassles - or the NOC outages.
Mark C. - Senior Manager, Enterprise Solutions

I am not trying to sell companies Exchange Server, but I will say that I am quite pleased with my current email situation using Exchange Server. I realize that many companies have lots of dollars already invested in hardware to use their RIM devices, so "switching" the way they do business is not always a cost effective method.
Source : Palm Blog... Thanks for reading this article, to comment on it, please click here...

Frenchy

The company I work for has had BB for a while now but they are slowly switching all these to PDA/Phone/Wireless devices. I have tested one device and a user is part of the testing group. This works very well but the only drawback is that the devices battery drains very quickly. My BB needs to be charge only once a week but the other devices it is daily and often during the day depending on the usage. These will get better overtime but for now don't forget to charge it or you are out of luck.

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Frenchy