If your small business has its employees use BlackBerry devices, you’ll need to set it up with a BlackBerry Enterprise Server. This is a software package — middleware, for the more tech savvy — that links the company’s server software to the wireless BlackBerry devices.
This allows the syncing of personal information manager (PIM) software between desktop and mobile software. PIM data includes e-mail, calendar, contacts, tasks, notes, instant messaging, and web-based applications. Therefore, it is an essential element for companies heavily reliant on BlackBerries for information and communication.
Businesses with an in-house IT department and who host their e-mail on-site may not find much trouble setting up a BlackBerry Enterprise Server. It is compatible with Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, and Novell GroupWise, which covers most in-house servers. This is why there are many proponents of e-mail insourcing.
It may cost more money up front, but it doesn’t incur the perpetual monthly charge — plus overtime — of having hosted servers. But what if your company outsources it’s e-mail and IT resources? It is becoming an increasingly popular trend these days — when a company like Google is jumping into the fray, you know something’s up. Outsourcing the work means one less thing for the company to worry about and pay overtime for.
In fact, some are even speculating that “90 percent of the businesses currently insourcing their email can’t legitimately justify the practice.” So if you’re one of the many businesses that outsources its e-mail, how do you go about having that system synced up with your company’s BlackBerries? Well, you’d better hope that your host uses a Hosted BlackBerry Enterprise Server. If so, you’re in business. If not, well, they’re going to have to get with the times.
With all of the businesses turning wireless nowadays, they’re surely losing out on tons of business — including yours. How do you know which hosts utilize a Hosted BlackBerry Enterprise Server? Just take a look through our list of hosted exchange reviews, of course.
123 Together (123together.com) – 123 Together review Alentus (alentus.com) – Alentus review AppRiver (appriver.com) – AppRiver review ASP-One (asp-one.com) – ASP-One review CityNet Computing (citynt.com) DSLExtreme (dslextreme.com) – DSLExtreme review Elephant Outlook (elephantoutlook.com) – Elephant Outlook review Exchange My Mail (exchangemymail.com) – Exchange My Mail review HostLabs (hostlabs.com) – HostLabs review Host My Site (hostmysite.com) – Host My Site review Hostway (hostway.com) – Hostway review Intermedia (intermedia.net) – Intermedia review Lanlogic (lanlogic.net) – Lanlogic review – Link2Exchange review MailStreet (mailstreet.com) – MailStreet review Mi8 Hosted Exchange (mi8.com) – Mistral Internet review MS Exchange (msexchange.org) NetVigour (netvigour.com) – NetVigour review Pacific Coast Information Systems (pcis.com) Prominic.net (prominic.net) – Prominic review SherWeb (sherweb.com) – SherWeb review The Message Center (themessagecenter.com) – The Message Center review ThoughtBus (thoughtbus.com) – ThoughtBus review – USA Mobility (usamobility.com)
4 comments… read them below or add one
We’ve had great success with our hosted Exchange – http://www.Intermedia – and now they’re giving away Microsoft Expression Web and SharePoint Designer.
We’re also using Intermedia and I’ve been happy with their service. Having my email on my desktop along with my Blackberry has been great.
intermedia has done wonders for our business. having email that actually works has been amazing!
We used to be customers of Mi8 which was acquired by Apptix (also the owner of Mailstreet).
After having been a customer of Mi8 for over 8 years, we have had nothing but trouble with Apptix/Mailstreet:
1. We have constant interruptions of our service. We have at least issues every single month with activesync not working, the exchange server not working, or something like it. CONSTANTLY THE SERVICE IS NOT WORKING!
2. Apptix will sell you more service than they can actually provide. We have one very heavy exchange user with multiple folders and thousands of items in his mailbox. Although Apptix gladly charges you for multiple GB of space for mailboxes, they cannot actually provide that service! THEY CHARGE FOR SERVICE THAT THEY CANNOT OR WILL NOT PROVIDE! And when we asked for a discount in pricing, since they are clearly charging us for service that they are unable or unwilling to provide, customer service gets rude, which brings me to my next point …
3.. Customer service is just rude. They will not help you with issues and the standard answer seems to be that nothing seems to be wrong on their end and that they will get back to you … which happens hours later when they admit that there was some issue on their server.
4. Pricing. Apptix is just plain more expensive than any other exchange provider. They have hidden fees and charges for everything and customer service will attempt to charge you for technical support, even if the issue is on their side! And forget about ever getting a discount, if you complain about interruptions to service. We would gladly pay their higher prices if it meant that our emails “just worked” without anybody having to worry about or troubleshoot it.
Verdict: STAY AWAY!