BPS users have been waiting for HTML support for several months, all the while RIM has been telling us to be patient.  Well it looks like thats just a dream now.

This news might have horrible implications for companies like mine who thrive on the Microsoft Small Business Server installations for the 5-15 user offices.  One our biggest selling points is giving users the ability to be completed synced up wirelessly without having the spend the $3k like big guy’s do. That’s all gone now.

Anyone that has met me knows that I have a hard time functioning without my Blackberry in hand. I push this technology on customers, friends and barmates.  Once BPS is gone for good can I really continue to convert people Blackberry’s?

There is alot of speculation that RIM must be planning on replacing BPS with some other product, or at the very least a new pricing model for the full-fledged BES.  But alas this is still just speculation.  We can only hope they hear us loud and clear.  Make this right!

A while back RIM started giving away a version of BES (BES Express) that was the same as the normal BES except for a 15 user maximum limit.  User CALs for this version of the software still cost $100 each just like normal BES CALs, however you didn’t have to pay the ~$3000 for the full blown BES.

Well several months ago RIM stopped offering BES Express and changed it to Blackberry Professional Server (BPS).  BPS now had a 30 user limit.  Awesome! Mostly. RIM touted BPS as the new small business version of BES.  All the same great features and benefits. However the major change in this is that it is technically a completely different product.  Updates are released for BES separately from the updates for BPS.

Why does this matter you ask?  HTML and attachment editing support of course! A few months ago RIM announced a firmware upgrade for Blackberry devices that would support HTML and attachment editing.  This firmware update only does any good for you if the BES or BIS server you are using is also up to date with these new features. To this date, the service packs that have this new functionality built into them are still not available for BPS. In my eyes this is a travesty. RIM allows you to purchase an "Upgrade Key" for BPS to BES, but this of course will cost you the full price of BES – $3000.  This just isn’t possible for most companies running BPS – that’s why we’re running it in the first place of course!

I implore RIM to moving on this.  Of all companies RIM should be well aware that as more time goes on there will become many more alternate solutions to the Blackberry platform. I don’t imagine it is a good idea to upset the small business market.  One day we might not be a small business anymore and we might want to spend our $3000 on a different platform.