BlackBerry enterprise server zooms in on IT management tools

Research in Motion Ltd. officials Wednesday offered a broad-brush preview of Argon, the codename for RIM's BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0, which is expected to launch sometime in the second quarter.

The presentation to about 20 reporters provided the opportunity to see a new interface that will be used by IT managers that deploy 5.0, but only general details were given. Primarily, Argon will bring easier manageability of BlackBerry devices to IT managers, RIM officials said.

RIM also said its Mobile Voice System, first announced in May 2007, has been sold to hundreds of businesses and is expected to grow to thousands of customers with the release of Argon and further adoption of unified communications technologies.

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Research in Motion Ltd. officials Wednesday offered a broad-brush preview of Argon, the codename for RIM's BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0, which is expected to launch sometime in the second quarter.

The presentation to about 20 reporters provided the opportunity to see a new interface that will be used by IT managers that deploy 5.0, but only general details were given. Primarily, Argon will bring easier manageability of BlackBerry devices to IT managers, RIM officials said.

RIM also said its Mobile Voice System, first announced in May 2007, has been sold to hundreds of businesses and is expected to grow to thousands of customers with the release of Argon and further adoption of unified communications technologies.

Natan Glaich, MIS director for the Jam Industries Ltd., a private music distribution company in Montreal, described using MVS to drastically lower phone costs at his company, especially for international travelers who use voice functions on BlackBerry smartphones. He said his costs for the system were about US$30,000, but have already been paid back in three months of use by 15 workers.

In one example of greater manageability, Argon will give IT shops the ability to monitor over-the-air BlackBerry activations and software updates, RIM said. Currently, users can activate and update a device wirelessly, but IT managers cannot follow the process to make sure it happens or to spot problems as they occur, said Peter Mitchelmore, RIM's technical product manager.

Additionally, updates will not require users to attach a BlackBerry to a desktop, which one industry analyst called "great," since eliminating the desktop connection can improve security.

Alan Panezic, vice president of platform product management for RIM, called Argon the biggest and most comprehensive release since BlackBerry devices started shipping 10 years ago. The BlackBerry Enterprise Server, affectionately called BES by IT managers, runs inside major corporations to connect workers with BlackBerry devices to e-mail, voice calls, the Web and enterprise applications of all shapes and sizes.

The BlackBerry market has grown so large that several major corporations are now approaching rollouts of 100,000 users, Panezic said. Overall, there are 21 million BlackBerry subscribers globally, including consumers who don't rely on BES to connect wirelessly, a spokeswoman said.

Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM has begun an aggressive focus on the consumer smartphone market in recent months, following the lead of Apple Inc. with its iPhone. Panezic admitted that the focus of Argon is on enhancements to help IT administrators, adding, "these are not hugely sexy features to the end user."

In one example, Panezic said Argon will give IT managers greater control over 35 new IT policies for greater security, although he didn't name them. RIM will continue to offer 256-bit encryption of data as it is sent over the air and also as the data is stored on a BlackBerry device.

IT administrators will still have the ability to wirelessly lock or wipe data off a device that's lost by a user so that its content cannot be seen by any unauthorized user, RIM officials said.

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