[jibi]

Originally Posted by bbgirl

for those posters with 200+ users, why so many servers are they in remote areas?

in our situation, we have BES servers where our Exchange servers reside. we have a single Exchange org that has atleast 3 administrative groups (w/ BES servers associated) that reside in two different physical locations, which is why we have decided to place the servers where they are. when we bring our global business into the AD, that will be another Exchange environment and BES server to add onto the every-growing collection. we have another company that we purchased that is being integrated into ours, at which time i'll have me another BES license and roughly 60 user CALs that i'll have to play with. there's also one other BES floating out there somewhere that will be reallocated eventually (which reminds me to check up on their migration status).

if everyone was services on an Exchange farm located in the same data center, then i don't see any sort of issue with having a single BES housing 500-700 users, though. in the next year, our two main BES servers will likely grow to 150 and 200 users, respectively.

i'm sure most large deployments use the same logic - as it is, for once, an educated, fact-based suggestion from RIM. in those situations, as an engineer/administrator, especially dealing with 6-to-7-figure executives, you tend to want to following the black and white to the 'T'. if they make the suggestion to place a BES where each Exchange server resides (in physical proximity) and only put 500-1,000 users per BES, then by all means ... meet or beat that suggestion (you'll usually want to exceed their 'suggested' requirements, be it hardware specs, resources, users per server, etc.).

[waddyjohn]

Originally Posted by bbgirl

for those posters with 200+ users, why so many servers are they in remote areas?


I was the BES admin for a US govt agency, that had 500 users and one server, but I left and am now the BB tech for an agency with 250 users and one server. I want my old job back...(sniff) they are so clueless here.
I also have a certificate from RIM, they told me that was the closest thing to a certification for now, they used to give training where you could become certified if you were not a partner, but not anymore.


also, waddyjohn, can you adopt me?

haha, i would if i could!! My fiance would have something to say about it lol!!

[Frank Castle]

Great topic.

I'm at a fortune 100 company in the North east - been in IT for 10+ years with a heavy desktop / executive support background. Recruited onto the exchange group as I'm the "blackberry guy" .. you learn this stuff by being in the middle of it .. salary wise 60-75 range ... excellent benefits / good work environment .. so I can't complain.

Primary support BES - 1600 users (1 active / 1 cold) poor mans cluster
DR BES environment mirrors production

Order and contracts are handled by purchasing but it's open to any vendor / blackberry - gets me lots of toys to check out.

Also all exchange support / 3rd party exchange (rightfax, IM montoring, Spam etc) So I'd say BES takes 60% of my week. I'm the guy that gets the messy issues but Blackberry support is very logical .. you pretty much can understand where something breaks -

Nightmare this year is it's saturated into all lines of business and all kinds of 3rd party snap ons to the BES are being requested (SAP, Bloomberg, CRM ect) .. so should be a interesting year!

Great post .. I'd love tail 3 times a week ..!

[automaton]

I'm on about 40k US dollars equivalent (I work in London). I run the BES and everything that goes with it for 50 users and I am responsible for the IT helpdesk and pretty much all the network admin stuff. I do have a 1st line support guy nowadays to do the most basic stuff.

No comment on the tail stuff...

[rpfeffer]

I could maybe see BES/Blackberry admin being a full time position at a large corporation, but in my position, while BES administration and blackberry support is my responsibility, I only support 1 BES & ~50 users, so it is definitely not enough to require all of my time. I am however, on call for any Blackberry email services 24/7, which is pretty cool for me.

I would not be opposed to increasing our Blackberry numbers significantly, but our environment doesn't warrant it. Hopefully the recent settlement and the 8700c will prompt more interest.

Around here I am also known as "the blackberry guy."

[rpfeffer]

Originally Posted by bbgirl

for those posters with 200+ users, why so many servers are they in remote areas?


I was the BES admin for a US govt agency, that had 500 users and one server, but I left and am now the BB tech for an agency with 250 users and one server. I want my old job back...(sniff) they are so clueless here.
I also have a certificate from RIM, they told me that was the closest thing to a certification for now, they used to give training where you could become certified if you were not a partner, but not anymore.


also, waddyjohn, can you adopt me?

how did you get a certificate from them? I would love one to frame and put up in my cube and further my status as "the blackberry guy."

[markerman]

1 BES server, 360 users, Also I'm the Active Directory / Exchange / Mobile Data Service Administrator for large multi domain, multi Exchange Admin Group environment with 13K+ users. Total Compensation package is 83K a year. Mortgage=$2200.00, RV, SUV, 4X4SUT, Beautiful wife, 5 wonderful kids. Life is good!

[val7250]

i do it all, anything and everything, just how things run here

[careyana]

Interesting thread!

I work for a Fortune 500 company with 3 BES/3 domain organization. The BES hardware and maintenance is run by the core server team, BES administration (adds/removes) is done by user administration, and I am the sole 3rd tier support for around 1300 users local and remote. The tech side requires some ~3 hours a day, and I have plenty to do in the mean time working on the telecom team.

Mayor has it right that you shouldn't tie yourself down to any particular fields. I've had my hands in just about everything IT related within the past 8 years. Telecom is just my newest fetish.

[Spannermonkee]

You were lucky, In my day we in the UK had to work down pit for 25 hours a day, 8 days a week for the privilege of administrating on Blackberry server, and if we were lucky the pit owner would give us a scrap of bread at the end of the week as payment. But if you try to tell you youngster's that now a days, you wouldn't believe me.

We all have a good moan about our wages, but at the end of the day if we aren't happy with what we get then we move on.

14 years in IT at the same company, I've been sold with the company more times than a cheap trick, but hey, they pay me well so I stay in the job.

1 x BES
100+ BES users
1000+ Exchange users.
1 x Administrators ( Me )

[dlautman]

Originally Posted by dcpuser

I have never seen a fulltime BES admin position. Generally its given to one of the network or system administrators as part of his or her duties since the BES does not require 24/7 maintenance.

I'm with you. In our organization, BES administration is definitely not even a part-time responsibility. Of course we have less than 40 users...

[Chewwy13]

I am currently the the bes admin, handheld support and BES DB admin, Currently I support 550 users on my 4.0 bes server and also help out the exchange admin. The bb's for me is a full time job and I would love to make more money but as they always say the grass isnt always greener on the outside.

[haigd]

In my environment, we group BES backend operations and support with Exchange backend support. About 30,000 mailboxes on six servers and 1,600 BES 3.6 users on 1 BES. Desktop support is distributed to the field support systems officers. I estimate that BES support and maintenance is about 5 to 10% of my work time.

[bbmann5k+]

In our enviroment we have 13 production srp's, 4 BESMgmt databases for 5900 users, active/standby nodes I started on Lotus (some Nestscape) then moved to Exchange and were BES came in. I also do the SQL admin for the BES along with Exchange archiving. Running all BES services including MDS and develope front end web maintainence apps and device apps.

[devildawg]

hmm... I wonder what a BESAdmin/SAP Basis Admin/Exchange Admin/Network Engineer/DBA Salary range is...

I somehow feel like i am not making what i should be!

[MrFace]

Originally Posted by devildawg

hmm... I wonder what a BESAdmin/SAP Basis Admin/Exchange Admin/Network Engineer/DBA Salary range is...

I somehow feel like i am not making what i should be!

I'm right there with you...

[EoRaptor]

Man, I am terribly underpaid by the standards here. My company is very small, though, and we only have 3 Blackberry users.

Of course, I'm not one of them, so it makes diagnosing problems a real joy.

I do most of the other IT work as well. Maybe I'll get a bigger raise during my next review.

[kpoland]

Originally Posted by EoRaptor

Man, I am terribly underpaid by the standards here. My company is very small, though, and we only have 3 Blackberry users.

Of course, I'm not one of them, so it makes diagnosing problems a real joy.

I do most of the other IT work as well. Maybe I'll get a bigger raise during my next review.

Thank you all for your input. My salary was making me very bitter and cynical at work.

It is my great pleasure to let ya'll know I finally got a decent salary adjustment! I got over $10,000 raise, and I finally feel that I'm paid fairly (not great, mind you. Just good enough) for all the work I do.

Next up... CCNA cert ;) Gotta keep giving them reasons to bump the salary every year!

[LRM]

Originally Posted by kburd CH

I also tend to view IT skills as a trade skill and therefore highly portable.

I havent spent more than 2 years in any one position - and most recently was able to secure a position in a company in Seattle that has provided a great learning platform as well as a 26k raise...(60k + 10% bonus) I was making 40k and had taken on a ton of SysAdmin responsibilities with no raise. So I split...and Im not finished going up the ladder. I am hopefully on the road that mayor has travelled. Sure I now have a pretty full plate with all the BES admin duties like the rest of us, but its a great resume bullet I have only been in the industry since 2001 and have to reiterate what these guys are saying...I too started out under desks and putting mb's in pc's and have just latched on to those who had the experience until Ive finally been able to do just about everything this current company needs from engineering to HD. The old adage that companies look at how long youve stayed at previous jobs doesnt necessarily apply to IT folks - technology changes quickly but a lot of companies dont embrace that. You have to seek out the environment that will showcase your base skills but has new (to you) technology and allows (forces) you to learn the technology...one other tip: interviewing is an artform.

That was beautiful. It is also my story, plus an extra $10k Don't leave out luck. Sometimes luck and timing are everything.

[EricaJ1074]

Originally Posted by jibi

BlackBerry Handheld Support:
Typically this would be help desk/deskside personnel, although in smaller environments, this could be placed on the plate of the resident BlackBerry 'expert' (the Administrator).


BlackBerry Handheld Management:
I would say that this would fall into the hands of Telecom or Purchasing personnel.

If I was on a BES (I'm not. I just know about them after having 6 BB's), these would be mine with my level of knowledge.