SNTT - When BES OTA is DOA

One of our partners asked if we could test their Blackberry application for them.

Sure, send the files we will put it out there.

I do not have a Blackberry as readers will know, so I tend to fly blind a little bit and ask some nice people to let me know when they get the apps. Problem was no one got them. Historically I had to troll logs and other files, but that was in the past.

You see around the time of BES 4.1.5 a new column appeared in the BES Manager which was next to Software Configurations and is called Software Config Status which makes life much easier when trying to troubleshoot what went wrong with the OTA.

In this case 2 errors appeared, one asked for a new device.xml which I posted to Twitter looking for a file link which I couldn't find initially, and a second one which I thought could be useful since had recently changed physical servers.

See these 2 technotes about clearing the apploader cache and replacing the xml files:

Cannot push applications to a BlackBerry smartphone over the wireless network

How to update the device.xml and vendor.xml files

The last one was updated a month ago as of this writing.

And there is a configuration change, but you should have been using it anyway, policies for the software configuration are pretty much required now otherwise the apps do not get sent.

Sales pitch coming(he's gnawing at my feet I never ask for business, so here you go):
We monitor and maintain BES for a number of companies throughout the world, and keep them up to date, so if this is of interest, inquire within. For a small fee we maintain, monitor and upgrade your BES(including the Domino part) when available in addition to helping secure and distribute applications for your staff and clients.

Fud Buster Friday # 31 - Hosted Mail is the killer app

Microsoft SVP Chris Capossela puts it bluntly: "Customers will write us bigger checks."

from this Fortune article. Thanks to Ed for posting it this week.

Couldn't resist putting this quote up here. Hate Microsoft? No. Jealous. I wish everyone bought our service and products so easily. Moving on...

Foolish mortals, it's a new world, full of fun, excitement, twitter and someday soon Football again.

I start this by admitting I have been and always will be a strong proponent of email but as my clients start asking for more hosted options I am wondering if hosting is the convenience people prefer because the cost savings really aren't there...yet.

Your world is not your own any more, everyone is screaming at you to use an ASP, I mean, an SaaS, no I mean a Host/Hosted facility, no Microsoft, no wait Google or IBM, no "The Cloud".

Save money right? Cut expenses. Reduce your budget. Fire some one, anyone, except yourself, of course.

In 2009 you have a choice to get off the Microsoft merry go round, but is Google a better answer? Desktop or laptop or netbook? Phone? What drives a company like GSK to make the choices they make?

The bottom line still is applications, not email. Email, while important, is secondary to the spreadsheets, documents, databases and yes presentation software.

What is the real killer app? I would argue wireless technology as a whole.
In Fahrenheit 451 the idea of a wall being a video screen seemed futuristic, today it's a reality and soon may be one for everyone, ok maybe not yet but soon enough.

Virtually unlimited drive space is also a killer app. We may be seeing a dawn of a new era for online everything, but who will make it happen well, not first.

Does IBM want to play in this space as Duffbert posited? Should they? Symphony is not hosted yet although it is conceivable but is it enough?

Should Google win? It's not about winning for them, it's about the greater good( I know some feel otherwise) of the world. Microsoft really doesn't care about the world, not in the same way. And maybe Redmond is experiencing some of the 90's IBM issues.

Perhaps someone else out there is thinking they can take over this space, maybe they can, but lead with an application other than email...the world has enough religions.