Research in Motion today announced the immediate availability of BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express. The best thing about it is that it is available for free to download for anyone with a BlackBerry PIN.
Personally I think that this is a great move by RIM. A major obstacle barring the entry of BlackBerry Enterprise Server into many small and medium sized organizations is the cost. These small companies are the ones most easily swayed to competitors. Device costs are about a wash, however, BES is generally significantly more expensive than RIM’s competitor’s back-end servers which are often free starting out.
BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express includes:
- One free, full version download of the BlackBerry Enterprise Server v4.1 Express (suitable for 1 to 15 users 1 user included) for Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino or Novell GroupWise
- The opportunity to purchase up to an additional fourteen CALs towards the product’s fifteen-CAL limit
- Two free months of Tx0 Technical Support Services (where available)
- The opportunity to purchase the Upgrade, which adds five additional CALs and removes the fifteen-CAL limit
My guess is that BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express will take off as fast as RIM thought BES Small Business Edition would.
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