An Overview of BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0

The BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) as we are allthe BlackBerry Domain, which consists of multiple BES
aware is specifically designed to create a secure,instances that use a single BlackBerry Configuration
central link between a company's communicationsDatabase.
software, applications, wireless network andI have detailed below a selection of new features and
BlackBerry device. The server integrates with existingbenefits available in BES 5.0:
infrastructure, which may include collaboration andAs mentioned above from an IT administrator's
messaging software, calendar and contact information,perspective one of the key benefits is in providing the
wireless intranet and internet access, all of which aimability to manage the BlackBerry environment remotely
to provide BlackBerry device users with mobile accessusing the BlackBerry Administration Service which
to an organisations resources.provides web-based access to centralised
From a security perspective the BES supports AES,management tools. In addition the administrator can
this is an encryption standard adopted by the U.Scustomise the BES to permit a 'tier-2' BES
government and the Triple DES encryption standardadministrator different levels of access to server
used within the electronic payment industry, it is sofunctions, this will free up management time for the
named because it applies the data encryption standardkey BES administrator. Devices, applications and IT
(DES) cipher algorithm three times to each data block,policy updates can now be scheduled to minimise the
this provides a relatively simple method of increasingimpact on end users and business operation and the
the key size of DES to protect against brute forcedeployment of hundreds of applications to thousands
attacks, without requiring a completely new blockof users with enhanced job management, throttling and
cipher algorithm. These two security standards protectscheduling is now very realistic.
and ensure the integrity of the wireless data this isIt is possible to monitor the overall health of the
transmitted between the BES components andBlackBerry environment with scalable monitoring
BlackBerry devices. BES administrators can in additioncapabilities combined with improved reporting, alerting
select from more than 450 IT policy rules that can beand troubleshooting all help to minimise potential issues
configured to control the features of the BlackBerrybefore they occur. Colour code monitoring provides a
device used within the organisations mobilesimple unified view of information to easily identify
environment.server or user related issues.
The BES supports several optional components andThe end user also benefits in a number of ways of
configurations to meet an organisations requirement.BES 5.0, providing a greater control of desktop
The BlackBerry Collaboration Service integrates withfeatures on smartphones, this helps bridge the gap
supported third-party instant messaging (IM) servers tobetween employees and the business tools required
permit users access an organisations IM system fromwhile away from the office. Some of these features
their BlackBerry devices using the BlackBerry IM client.and benefits include, organising emails that require a
The BlackBerry MDS Integration Service supportsfollow-up with the use of flags and they do in
bespoke application development and distribution. TheMicrosoft Outlook, users can where permitted access
BES and BES components are fully configurable tonetwork drives using the remote file explorer directly
support high availability and to enhance the consistencyfrom their device, open and forward calendar
and reliability of the BlackBerry environment.appointments including attachments. It is now possible
The BES, BlackBerry devices and user accounts canto view and attach files stored in the device folders to
be managed using the BlackBerry Administrationemail messages. Email folders can now be managed
Service (BAS), a web application that is accessiblebetter by adding, renaming, deleting and moving as
from any computer that can access the computerrequired.
that hosts the BAS. The BAS can be used to manage