It seems we’re all looking for ways to trim expenses.  We routinely review communication and technology expenses, looking for possibilities to reduce costs for our clients.

One of the more recent reviews dealt with BlackBerrys and Microsoft’s Exchange Server.  We focused on this because the additional cost for moving from the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) is roughly $200 per year, per device.

By using the BlackBerry Internet Service and performing manual sync’s throughout the day, saves the above mentioned $200 per BlackBerry.

The downside to this is that the BlackBerry user needs to remember to synchronize before they leave the office.  Also any changes made to their calendar if they share it, will not be sent to the BlackBerry.

Similarly, additions and/or edits made on the BlackBerry will not be reflected on the Exchange Server until a manual synchronization is performed.

Email is delivered almost instantaneously when using the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and typically between 5 and 10 minutes when using the BlackBerry Internet Service.