RIM's BlackBerry vs iPhone's ActiveSync

[DeepIn2U]

You should have placed you disclaimer before your comments.

With that said, perhaps it's time that you hedge your bets and stop thinking like a typical "know it all IT person" and open up to other technologies.

RIM and Blackberries had a nice run and it may continue, but if it doesn't you shouldn't be so closed minded to newer technology.

I've seen this a million times. Sure yesterday's technology may have some cool features and may be technically better, but if that's not what the enduser wants to use then....

What I'm seeing more and more are people, mostly sales people either carrying both a Blackberry and a iPhone around (with the iPhone being their preferred device) during work hours and then when it comes time to just carry one device they choose the iPhone.

I've also seen many small to medium business buy into the Blackberry and then when it doesn't work they go to their Exchange Administrator who tells them that their server is up, it must be something in the black cloud which is RIM. Just recently RIM customers had to suffer through a 3 - hour service outage because RIM had problems upgrading an internal data routing system. Alright I'm a sales person on the road and I want to connect to my e-mail and I can't because of this. I call my IT department and they tell me that they're up, but RIM is down.

Look at my signature for the disclaimer.

The Exchange Administrator has no clue how to run a BES. Without specific training their not sure. A BES admin is fully trained as an Exchange Admin & very specific training in Active Directory as well as SQL. Many times I'VE personally seen issues (I'm not a FULL BES Admin, btw), where its an SQL or an Exchange patch update. Sure their Outlook will still receive emails - even a quick MAPI fix - but an SQL db issue will affect emails being routed through the BES which most of the time is quickly resolvable. If you read ALL my posts in this thread you'd realize that I was OPEN to other technologies - just not satisfied with basic Exchange PUSH for business compliance. Many ppl look at the popularized outtages (and cannot distinguish between the hooplah of a NOC outtage or a network outtage from a wireless provider). I'll agree to the last outtage being a NOC outtage - but what most ppl are not realizing is the many issues that have happened with Exchange.

As to other technologies I'm mentioned Microsofts newest AD implementation with Exchange PUSH that will compete with BES that I was looking forward too and HOPING that Apple would've collaborated/licensed this from MS but because its not ready maybe we'll hear of it next QTR when it is.

I've never claimed to be a "know-it-all" ... and sorry to others that perceive this. I'm mereley informing that I KNOW a LOT of BES & RIM technologies and implementations in large corporate environment that ppl have no clue on and commenting on that THIS will compete directly with RIM. For small & medium business' of course, surely sales ... especially if Video Out is fully enabled & supported on the iPhone.

Many corporate BB users have a secondary phoen for their preference - I use an SE K790a & K850i for what they offer me that a BB cannot. Sure I can email on it. But thats not what BB's are only used for in a corporate environment.

Lastly, Exchange PUSH is good for what it does. It'll improve greatly when Mobile Data Center Server arrives and we'll see HUGE competition for RIM & BES, more choice for devices - which still need to be more intuitive (argumentative really; based on opinion) - and pricing. But many business' use Novell or Domino servers for email.

 

[smacdoug]

+1
Firewalls can be configured to temporarily authenticate a device IP to pass through the firewall using either a certificate or token+pin and domain credentials. No permanent open ports are necessary.

PKI? Two-Factor authentication? I've done both through firewalls and VPN. PKI works brilliantly when it's all set up, but can be a nightmare to deploy and manage, especially on smartphones. Two-factor probably isn't the best choice for mobile workers who want seamless access to e-mail without having to fumble for their token to generate their OTP.

I don't deny that ActiveSync can be configured in many ways to be secure. Using DMZs, firewalls, VPN, PKI, etc. But suddenly the whole picture has become a lot more complex than the stick diagram we saw on the presentation (many more points of failure too). And all of this just to re-invent the wheel.

 

[diamond.g]

PKI? Two-Factor authentication? I've done both through firewalls and VPN. PKI works brilliantly when it's all set up, but can be a nightmare to deploy and manage, especially on smartphones. Two-factor probably isn't the best choice for mobile workers who want seamless access to e-mail without having to fumble for their token to generate their OTP.

I don't deny that ActiveSync can be configured in many ways to be secure. Using DMZs, firewalls, VPN, PKI, etc. But suddenly the whole picture has become a lot more complex than the stick diagram we saw on the presentation (many more points of failure too). And all of this just to re-invent the wheel.

Yup. Does the iPhone support PKI (with CAC certs, etc)? I seem to recall that being a potential issue when I was in the AF (who mandated CAC login sometime 2 years ago).

Tight security makes things get complex real quick.