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Mobile World Congress 2010
RIM Lures the Elusive SMB with Free BES Express
Event Summary
February 16, 2010 -- RIM introduced BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express, a free option for SMBs and individual-liable employees. The new software provides access to corporate e-mail, calendar, and contacts, but it still offers 35 IT policies as well as the existing security of a full BES solution. The software can run on an existing Exchange or Microsoft Windows Small Business Server for up to 75 users. A separate server can run the free software for up to 2,000 users.
Analytical Summary
• Current Perspective: Positive on RIM’s BES Express for SMBs, as this provides the company with a beautifully cost-effective story for SMBs, a market in which it has been trying to make significant inroads. By providing a very trimmed-down version of BES (with many fewer yet still critical centralized IT capabilities, policy settings, and security measures), RIM may finally crack the code on how to draw this segment. As Windows Mobile, iPhone, and any ActiveSync-connected devices do not require a separate and expensive server beyond the Exchange server, and BES always did, RIM had long suffered from the reputation of being too expensive compared to competitive solutions.
• Vendor Importance: High to RIM, which has tried a number of ways to penetrate the SMB and individual-liable market segments, but it has not succeeded in as deep a penetration of these segments as it hoped. As there are many more SMBs than large enterprise customers to go around, the potential revenue for selling many more BlackBerrys and associated BIS data plans into these accounts may be very significant.
• Market Impact: High on the enterprise mobility market, because all competitive smartphone and mobile OS vendors are also targeting the SMB, and they have had the benefit of offering relatively inexpensive middleware-less solutions that work via ActiveSync. This includes not only Windows Mobile devices, but Nokia Symbian S60 smartphones and the iPhone. BES Express still provides better management and security than generic ActiveSync, and you cannot beat the price.
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Current Perspective
Competitive Strengths and Weaknesses
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