We haven’t forgotten about small businesses – we love the passion and drive that small business owners and employees have for taking on challenges and working towards their goals. We have a rich history with SMB’s. In fact, we recently launched the Better Business Hub in the United Kingdom designed exclusively for small businesses looking to improve their mobility and use of social media.

BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express was a revolutionary product that helped businesses get up and running with corporate email and manage BlackBerry smartphones – all for free.

For those businesses using BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express to manage BlackBerry smartphones, we’ll be continuing to support you and to support BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express with updates through to 2015; that’s a promise. But, the mobile landscape is changing – and we’ve heard that straight from our customers.

The Need for Multi-platform Management

Particularly if a Bring Your Own Device model is being adopted, as is the case in many small businesses, you’re likely beginning to see multiple devices being brought into the workplace. Tablets, BlackBerry, iOS and Android devices, and all manner of personally preferred mobile ware are making appearances that pose challenges to centralized management and connectivity to corporate email services.

The Addition of ActiveSync Functionality for BlackBerry 10 Devices

We’ve worked to help keep you prepared to tackle this changing mobile landscape in two particular ways. First, we’ve adopted Microsoft® ActiveSync protocols to allow connectivity of BlackBerry 10 smartphones and BlackBerry PlayBook tablets straight into your mail servers at no cost. No extra servers or software required. And, you get to manage the devices using the built-in ActiveSync policies. From my perspective, this actually makes things much easier.

Is ActiveSync with BlackBerry 10 secure? We’ve answered that question in a recent blog post from our Senior Director of Enterprise Product Management.

Say Goodbye to Server Licensing Costs

For those looking to step up their mobility management game and take on multi-platform smartphones and tablets, BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10, launched this week, is the evolution of our enterprise mobility management innovation. Our portfolio of management products has been streamlined, and efforts poured into providing free and direct connectivity with ActiveSync, and the enterprise server option for staying on top of a diverse mobile landscape. To make it easier for our customers to adopt BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10, we have removed the server component of the licensing and moved to a device license only model. BES 10 device licenses are very cost effective – only $99 USD per device with bulk discounts.

At the end of the day…

You have options. Your end users can connect their BlackBerry 10 devices either directly (for free) using ActiveSync or using BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 for enhanced management capabilities and behind the firewall application access without expensive VPN infrastructure. Try out BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 today at:
http://www.blackberry.com/bes10

We’ve streamlined and consolidated our various management products into a solution set that has the capability to meet the needs of small and large businesses alike, with a strong focus on the changing mobile landscape and helping you to address future challenges. Both RIM and our customers are adapting, innovating, and moving forward.

Communication is crucial. We welcome your questions on these topics, as we know that they’re a concern for you. Share your thoughts in the comments below.

For many organizations, BlackBerry® Enterprise Server or BlackBerry® Enterprise Server Express is the essential platform for mobilizing employees worldwide, and Research In Motion® (RIM®) continues to make improvements and enhancements to the solution. BlackBerry Enterprise Server is recognized as the gold standard in Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), which also encompasses Mobile Device Management (MDM).

Features and Enhancements

BlackBerry Enterprise Server version 5 Service Pack 4 is available today for Microsoft® Exchange and IBM® Lotus® Domino®, and coming in November 2012 for Novell® GroupWise®. This free update introduces new features for both administrators and end-users. The service pack and all feature updates apply to both BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express deployments. Check out the details below:

Improvements for administrators

• Access control rules for groups
• BlackBerry Administration Service improvements
• The latest security patches and bug fixes are included

Improvements for the End User experience

• Improved handling of HTML email messages
• Support for larger email attachments
• Improved graphics rendering for Microsoft® PowerPoint® attachments
• Support for Microsoft Office password-protected attachments
• Calendar & message enhancements

Enterprises that utilize Novell GroupWise as their business email platform will be pleased to learn that BlackBerry Balance is now available to address the needs of their employee-owned BlackBerry® smartphones, or to extend the full BlackBerry experience to their corporately-owned BlackBerry smartphones. The BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0.4 update will be available for Novell GroupWise in November of 2012.

Getting ready for BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10

We’ve heard it from our customers – your enterprise mobility management needs are changing as you face new trends and challenges, and as you prepare for the future. We’re expanding and consolidating our enterprise product portfolio alongside you to make sure that you’re well prepared, by releasing solutions like BlackBerry Mobile Fusion and designing BlackBerry® Enterprise Service 10.

While these are exciting changes, RIM does remain firmly committed to supporting the BlackBerry Enterprise Server well into the future with care and attention paid to keeping security and management up to date with service packs and maintenance releases.

Upgrading to BlackBerry Enterprise Server version 5 Service Pack 4 prepares you for BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 which will be launching with BlackBerry® 10 smartphones, with an update planned for BlackBerry World™ in May 2013. The May update is designed to enable BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 to be installed on the same physical server that is currently running BlackBerry Enterprise Server version 5, enabling organizations to securely manage all of their BlackBerry smartphones & tablets, in addition to iOS® and Android™ devices, from a single platform.

Get the Service Pack Today

This Service Pack is available at no additional charge for existing BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5 customers, and can be downloaded from www.blackberry.com/besupdate

There is no change in server or Client Access License (CAL) pricing. If you currently run BlackBerry Enterprise Server 4, you can upgrade to the latest version of BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5 for $999 USD (plus any applicable fees/taxes), or for free for those with Advantage or higher BlackBerry® Technical Support Services subscriptions.

Need help upgrading to the latest Service Pack? Don’t forget that you can always contact BlackBerry Technical Support Services to assist you. BlackBerry Technical Support Services offers both incident-based pricing or annual subscriptions which provide 7x24x365 end-to-end technical support for BlackBerry Enterprise Server, BlackBerry Mobile Fusion, and BlackBerry smartphones and BlackBerry® PlayBookTM tablets. For more information on BlackBerry Technical Support Services, check out www.blackberry.com/btss