With all of the handwringing about the possible shutdown of the Blackberry service in the US, there is news that the cost to migrate off of Blackberry may be just as daunting.
In the article, a research firm estimates that it could cost about $845 per user to make the switch, depending on the device chosen, the amount of downtime, and various licensing fees. Other than the fact that most IT managers aren't educating themselves as to the options, costs, and background of the case, the other part of the article that stands out is 'will there be enough alternative devices to go around?'
"The risk is, during those 30 days, is Cingular going to have enough [Palm] Treo 650s?" Stelfox asked. "If I was an IT manager and I had 50 or more BlackBerrys, I would be looking at alternatives today and securing devices. You can't count on the fact that [RIM and NTP] will work it out. It will be panic in the streets. It will be a race on devices."
Basically, though, most IT managers said that if the Blackberry service is shut down, the cost of whatever migration is needed will be justified. For a good overview of the ramifications, this is a pretty good article.
Comment posted by Chris Whisonant02/08/2006 04:42:43 PM
Homepage: http://cwhisonant.blogspot.com
It may be a negligible cost:
http://www.rimarkable.com/archives/535
Funambol is an open source push mail/PIM system that works with tons of devices - including BB... I'm hoping it doesn't shutdown. We just bought 50 licenses!
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