[b52junebug]

is anyone else being subjected to a Good Link and BES environment? What gives with Goodlink anyway.. and what are you feelings about the Good interface.

[Spydertech]

Originally Posted by b52junebug

is anyone else being subjected to a Good Link and BES environment? What gives with Goodlink anyway.. and what are you feelings about the Good interface.

Yup - I administer both here. We have Good Mobile Messaging and Blackberry Enterprise Server.

The Goodlink was the first installation, since I was more of a mobile PC kind of guy, so I pushed for it. It works OK, but has some definite drawbacks. Still, for all those non-blackberry people it does the trick. I finally changed my own device over to a Blackberry 7130, and never wanted to mess with Palm or Windows Mobile again. Of course, now I have the 8100 Pearl, and love it even more.

I don't have any issues with the Goodlink Management Console. It works, but that's about it. I do have issues with the way the Good Client software actually installs and takes over devices. Most people who had Treo's previously got totally confused when they ended up with two contacts lists. Also, on Windows Mobile Phones, the Good software doesn't completely take over from the Pocket Outlook - things like alt-clicking to select SMS Contact didn't work from the Good Software. The one thing Good has over Blackberry is the Good Online Portal. I can go and check a devices network connectivity for the last 24 hours. I can't do that with Blackberry. So when the CFO calls and says "I didn't get an important email yesterday! We missed a deadline and now it is going to cost us $50,000 for failing! Why did your server screw up?" I can actually research and tell him that his phone lost network connectivity. It had nothing to do with the server. Instead of guessing....

The BES is a much more complicated beast, and because of that, I love it and hate it. For a new BES Admin, it can be rather daunting. I will pick Blackberry over Good any day though. Mainly because of the support issue. Right now, it is nice to tell everyone "buy a Blackberry, or you can't use the BES" We won't install Blackberry Connect devices here - they end up using the Good Mobile Messaging Server. That may change once this "virtual Blackberry software" is ready to ship.

Good works, and everyone has there Internet and applications on there handhelds working fine. One of the problems I have with BES is that I had to disable Internal Connections in the policy. That little piece, when enabled (which it is by default), gave every Blackberry the ability to connect to all internal network devices. I really don't want these handhelds to be able to connect to the payroll server, central router, etc... The only downfall to disabling the Internal Connections is that it breaks some applications on the Blackberry devices. I.E. Google maps, Telenav, Blackberry Messenger, etc... It's weird, some things work. Others don't.

To put a little perspective on it - I am the only admin for both the BES and the Good Mobile Messaging. We have 32 devices on the GMM, and 157 on the BES. I have people changing from the GMM over to the BES every other week....

Spydertech

[rliebsch]

BES is the BESt and Goodlink is just good.

We got our Good Server when the Q came out. The goodlink software is such a shell game though that everyone brought back their Q's in a week demanding the return of their 8700s.

I have only one user left on the Good Server, and he is using the most recent TREO. He is pretty happy with it. It is kind of a 0 admin thing, so I can't speak that much on it. It works, hasn't crashed, seems fine. But with a heavier load and more help requests I am certain my opinion would change.

But on the WIndows Mobile, the Good Killer is the fact that the Good interface is a complete and separate 'shell'. Contacts in Good aren't available to your WM addressbook. No easy way to SMS someone. So its makes your device less useful, or 2x as difficult to use. I suppose if you kept your personal and business stuff exclusive of the others, it would be a different story.

The blackberry interface is so much more intuitive and useful. Only a couple clicks to get anywhere.

[b52junebug]

i have heard the argument that the blackberry is less 'techie' and i couldnt agree more. That and the glitches that seem to happen all the time with the windows mobile devices. Like everything else MS, it has to be rebooted and updated and upgraded all the friggin time it seems. Good also likes to disconnect itself and so you have to have the users go and open a new browser page to get it to reconnect with the data network. Another downside is its use of battery power.

Alright im done venting.. lol. We are a healthcare provider and are using some pretty cool apps that only seem to run on a smart phone or pda, so that is one down side.

Im a BES admin having to adjust to a mixed environment where BES is the minority, and may be extinct.