[umbernaut]

Hi,

We're making the move to Blackberry, and I am tasked with setting-up BES. I have Exchange 2007 all ready to go, but have a couple of questions regarding BES.

Verizon gave us a copy of 4.1. Is it worth purchasing support with Blackberry which would include the version 5 upgrade and access to their support? (Is the support worth it or will google suffice?).

Also, I have an entire Exchange 2007 test environment. Can I install BES on it first, to test things out, and then use the same install disks on the live Exchange 2007 server? Is there some special registration that will prevent the 2nd, real, install?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[bulletooth]

Make sure you disable services or shutdown the test BES first before installing in production.

TSupport is definitely worth it if you can cough up the cash-

[umbernaut]

Should I go with the 4.1 install Verizon gave us or make the move to 5? Also, from reading the install docs for the 5 upgrade, it appears you can do a clean install of 5 without version 4.x, but is that correct?

And it sounds like I can fully install BES on my test server, but just make sure to kill the services as you said before going with it on the live server using the same install? There's no special catch where it would get married to my test server?

[bulletooth]

BES does not tie down to a machine via a license per se

you have an SRP id that talks to RIM's network. that SRP can only live in 1 place at 1 time. As long as you shut a BES down (via OS or services), reinstalling on a new machine using the same SRP will be fine.

I'd recommend going straight to 5.0 if you're new to BES as you won't have as much work later on to do the upgrade.

If you're considering T-Support, get that first for your 4.1 SRP and download 5.0 via your access to Blackberry Expert Support Center.

[umbernaut]

Excellent stuff! Will do. I'll go ahead and get the support contract then go straight to v5. I was talking to the sales lady today and she said I couldn't do that, that I had to install 4.1 first then upgrade to 5.

[umbernaut]

Ok, I think I understand now. Talking with the sales lady this morning, she is going to sell us a support contract for 30 users with software upgrade -- so, I think she meant we can only get a version 5 upgrade, meaning 4.1 will need to be installed first. I'm assuming version 5 comes as both an upgrade and a full install, and we're getting the upgrade. She said this was the only way she could get us up to version 5 at the cost she was offering -- $1,499.