Introduction

A while back, Microsoft announced that Blackberry’s online offering (Blackberry Business Cloud Services) would be available through Public Beta. Reason enough for me to go ahead and see how it works.

Before moving on and taking a look at how to setup your Blackberry for Office 365, let’s first try to find an answer for the following question: do I really need the Business Cloud Services from RIM?

The answer is –in my humble opinion-  inconclusive. It really depends: if you are used to working with BlackBerry and you like the secure feeling that it gives you, even if that means that you might have to accept a multi-day outage now and then; the answer would probably be: YES!. More importantly, if you’ve got a lot of users travelling world-wide and you want to keep your data-cost under control, BlackBerry might even be the only viable solution for you. This is because BlackBerry uses it’s own virtual network through different providers world-wide (own BlackBerry APN) and is therefore able to provide an attractive price offering – even when roaming. Other devices that use ActiveSync connect through the “traditional” mobile network and while that might be the best fit in your country, the international rates are usually much, much higher.

On the other hand, RIM has got a hard time keeping up with more popular models and manufacturers like the iPhone, Android and Windows Phone 7. On the other hand, BlackBerry has it’s popular BlackBerry Messenger (free text messaging), which makes it quite popular with the younger generation. Whatever the reason is to us or not to use a BlackBerry, you are not required to use the Business Cloud Service when using a BlackBerry device. The devices can also use ActiveSync to connect to Exchange (Online). However; that will not give you the benefit of the BlackBerry network or management capabilities offered through the BlackBerry Server.

So what is this BlackBerry Cloud Service?

To keep things really simple: it’s the online version of a BlackBerry Enterprise Server. It allows you to manage your connected BlackBerry devices from a central point. The management console allows you to push software and set policies for your connected devices. These features have been very popular amongst IT managers, but with more and more mobile device management platforms for other vendors, Blackberry starts to lose ground in that area as well.

Now that we’ve set that straight, let’s take a look at how you can setup the BlackBerry service, shall we?

Enabling Blackberry Business Cloud Services

Before you can start using the BlackBerry services, you need to enable them for your account. From the admin overview page (in the portal), click “Setting up email on mobile phones” from the Resources-section on your right-hand side:

This will load another page, where you will be able to enable the BlackBerry Business Cloud Services (at the bottom):

Clicking “Enable” will open a new window, which requires you to accept the terms and conditions for the service:

Note the warning at the bottom which states that by enabling the service, RIM will have full access to all of your Exchange Online data. Why is that?

Application Impersonation

Even in an cloud deployment of a BlackBerry enterprise server, the Enterprise Server service accounts needs sufficient rights to access user’s mailboxes.
This guide from BlackBerry explains how to do it: http://btsc.webapps.blackberry.com/btsc/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=KB20157

Basically, the service accounts gets application impersonation rights, which provides it with enough access to users’ mailboxes.

Let’s see how that looks like in Office 365:

From the Exchange Control Panel, we can clearly see there is a new Role Group:

Unfortunately, we cannot get more information through the ECP, so we will have to revert to PowerShell.

As you can see, the Role Group has indeed got a Role Assignment.

Let’s take a look at the details of this role assignment:

Using the Get-ManagementRole cmdlet reveals more information about the role itself:

In other words: it’s normal that you get that warning. However; some – who are not aware of the prerequisites for running an Enterprise Server – might be surprised to read it.
You don’t have to worry about it, just know that it’s there for a purpose.

Blackberry Business Cloud Services

Once, the services has been authorized, you will see that it’s available from the admin overview page:

Clicking “Manage” will bring you to the Business Cloud Services management page. If you did not signup with RIM before, you will be required to do so first:

At this moment, your service will be set up.

The first time you access the management page, you will be required to install some components on your computer. Basically, this makes sure that you can use the management page correctly:

I’ve noticed that initially loading the management page can take quite a while. However, once it is loaded, it’s relatively fast:

As you will see, the management page is almost identical to the on-premise version. Of course, server-side settings are not available in the cloud-version.

Setting up a Blackberry

Setting up a users for a blackberry is relatively simple.

First, click “Create User”. This will allow you to search for a user:

Then, you are able to select a group to which the user should belong. A Group can be seen as a sort of “profile”. This profile contains an IT Policy, Wi-Fi Profile and VPN Profile.
In the bottom you will have to option to either choose an activation password yourself or let the server generate one:

The user will be created. It may take up to 20 minutes before the services becomes active and that you can configure your BlackBerry handheld (Enterprise Activation). During that time, the Blackberry Server will not accept any activation for that user.

All that is left to do now, is to wait and to activate the users’ Blackberry by running and Enterprise Activation from his device.
For more information on how to run an Enterprise Activation, have a look at the following link: http://btsc.webapps.blackberry.com/btsc/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=KB21124