BES 5.0.2 Released With Employee Liable Policies & Features

RIM let us know that they have updated their flagship BlackBerry Enterprise Server to version 5.0.2. Once again the BES Express server is lagging behind in this update and will only get these employee liable BlackBerry features in the next release later this year.

The big new feature in this update is RIM’s first crack at separating business vs personal content on BlackBerrys. They have also added single sign on and new security self service options for users and admins. Last of all they have also added support for Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization technology.

The first steps RIM has taken to separate business vs personal content on devices includes the ability to:

• Remove corporate content from employee owned devices without changing employees personal information and apps
• A new Individual Liable Device Policy to let users access personal email and make calls and view email even when the device is locked. It also stops comingling between enterprise data and social networking apps.

You can read more about the update at www.blackberry.com/server. There is also an instructional video at this link detailing the new features.

Here are the features RIM is highlighting in BES 5.0.2:

Single sign-on allows end users and administrators to directly and securely access BlackBerry Web Desktop Manager and BlackBerry Administration Service once they’ve signed in to the network without the need to re-enter their user ID and password. Smartphone users can be allowed access to the intranet, files and business systems “behind the firewall” directly from their BlackBerry smartphone without the need to enter their network password with the device already authenticated via Active Directory and BlackBerry Enterprise Server.

Remote removal of corporate data from employee-owned devices is a new function built into BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0.2 that is expected to be supported with an upcoming versions of the BlackBerry OS, allowing IT administrators to remove only corporate data from an employee-owned BlackBerry smartphone without affecting the employee’s personal information and applications. Additional features for keeping corporate content separate from personal content on employee-owned devices are expected later this year.

A new Individual-Liable Devices Policy permits employees who have purchased their own BlackBerry smartphones and have been connected to a BlackBerry Enterprise Server to access their personal email and calendar and make calls on their personal voice plan when the device is locked. It also prevents users from accessing organizer data from within social networking applications on their BlackBerry smartphones.

New security self-service options for end users – End users with BlackBerry smartphones connected to a BlackBerry Enterprise Server now have access to new self-service features in BlackBerry Web Desktop Manager, including the ability to reset their device password and lock the device, or remotely delete all device data and disable it in the event that it is lost or stolen. Previously, these functions could only be performed by contacting their IT administrator. (IT administrators can allow or disallow these self-service features.)

Flexible URL-based smartphone authentication – IT administrators can now assign different authentication requirements for specific URLs.  For example, 2-factor authentication can be enabled for specific internal business systems containing customer information while no authentication may be required to access the Web.

Support for additional web browsers has been added to enable access to the BlackBerry Administration Service for IT Staff and BlackBerry Web Desktop Manager for employees via the latest versions of popular web browsers, including Google Chrome 4.0, Internet Explorer 8, Mozilla Firefox 3.6 and Safari 4.

Standardized BlackBerry Administration Groups for IT staff – BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0.2 ships with a set of predefined administration groups for IT administrators to quickly assign permissions and access to BlackBerry Administration Service for different IT staff responsibilities, including junior IT staff, help desk and senior administrators. These predefined administration groups reflect best practices and can help IT departments standardize permissions across their staff.

IT policy reconciliation – This new feature gives administrators the flexibility to leverage group administration to deliver IT policies to end users.  IT policies can be assigned to groups and a blended IT policy can be delivered to the end users device based on the groups they belong to.

Support for Windows Server 2008 R2, upcoming support for SQL Server 2008 R2 and all new support for MS Hyper-V 2008 have been added to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server platform certification list.  These continue to keep BlackBerry Enterprise Server compatible with leading business, network and communications systems in the market today. SQL Server 2008 R2 is expected to be supported within 30 days of release.

Brazilian Portuguese has been added to the languages supported, making BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5 now available in 7 languages, including English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese and Brazilian Portuguese.