I have a personal 8700g. My boss has offered to put me on the company BES. Other than being annoyed by email at all hours. And the fact that I need to periodically authenticate through our proxy server, are there any other disadvantages or advantages to going to the company BES?
Thanks for your opinions.
Last edited by msurrency; 05-11-2006 at 11:55 AM..
It policies that will restrict you in some ways could become a problem at the very least at such time as when it comes for you to be removed from the BES, if a default policy is not pushed back unto it. One of the most important benefits of course is wireless synch.
Agree with KonTiki - find out if your company forces users to have a password, the password criteria (length, difficulty), how often they have to enter that password, and if the device will lock regardless of user activity.
The wireless sync is wonderful, but if it's your own device make sure you do your homework before attaching it to a BES.
__________________ No longer a BES Admin, but it was fun while it lasted!
Well, I think they can also look at a lot of what you're doing on your BB. Like what sites you are visiting (probably also restrict the sites you go to) and what applications you can, cannot or must have etc.
Realize also that once a handheld has been activated on a BES, the IT policy is there forever. Some other default IT policy settings many don't realize is the auytomatic restriction in the use of BlueTooth to sync the device with Desktop Manager, or to use thrid party hardware devices like a BlueTooth key board. The BES IT POlicy and application control polices can be configured to allow these features to be used, but once the handheld is on the BES, you are at the mercy of what IT polocies, softare configurations and application control policies the IT admin will provide you. Then if you leave the company, your BlackBerry will have those settings forever unless activated on a different BES which can provide new policy settings.
The part that bothers me is that so many people bring in their personal BBs to a company and beg to be put on the corporate BES without first investigating what if any repercutions can result from that action. Furthermore the blame has to be shared, not only do the owners do not research it but the BES admins do not in many cases(notice I said many and not all) dont bother to make these people aware of such repercutions. I strongly believe that in cases of privately owned BBs that are added to BES, it should also be mandatory that at such time as the individuals leave such BES that any and all IT Policies be removed and devices returned to the state they were to begin with, this should also be augmented by full disclosure at the time of joining the BES. It should be a two sided effort. Until such times, it is IMHO, that I will discourage any privately owned device from being added to a corporate BES. The detriment in my eyes and opinion far outweigh the benefits.
I'd go further and say that privatly owned BBs should never be put on the company BES. If your boss thinks that you need a BB, or you can justify carying one, then the company should get you one.
so even by doing a wipe with javaloader, IT policy settings would still be in effect on a device until it was activated on a BES with a different IT Policy?
so even by doing a wipe with javaloader, IT policy settings would still be in effect on a device until it was activated on a BES with a different IT Policy?
YEP. Search the forum, there a a number of threads dealing with removing IT policies.
BIS vs BES
And the fact that I need to periodically authenticate through our proxy server, are there any other disadvantages or advantages to going to the company BES?
BB Tour 9650
