RIM Blackberry Nationwide Failure!

[Rocco Augusto]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/18/technology/rimm/?postversion=2007041807' target='_blank'>http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/18/technology/rimm/?postversion=2007041807</a><br /><br /></div><i>"A system failure knocked out BlackBerry service to millions of customers late Tuesday but the company said Wednesday morning that service for "most customers" was restored. A statement from the company said: 'A service interruption occurred Tuesday night that affected BlackBerry in North America. E-mail delivery was delayed or intermittent during the service interruption. Root cause is currently under review, but service for most customers was restored overnight and RIM is closely monitoring systems in order to maintain normal service levels,' the statement said."</i><br /><br />All I can say is "ouch!" I cannot imagine what it would be like if all Windows Mobile handsets suddenly had a nation wide system failure and stopped delivering our important emails. An incident like this should be enough to make any Blackberry user cringe. There is good news for all of our readers that do happen to carry RIM products. Amazon.com is offering the Samsung Blackjack for as little as <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-i607-BlackJack-Smartphone-Cingular/dp/B000KJS8CI/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-5204220-7099367?ie=UTF8&amp;s=wireless&amp;qid=1176923058&amp;sr=8-1">$50USD with activation</a>! Keep in mind, some mail-in rebates apply! ;)

[Jason Dunn]

This is crazy - I hope it shows people how completely insane it is to route email through an external service...though I thought that if a company purchased a Blackberry server they didn't have to go through any form of central routing. If that's the case, then Blackberry makes even less sense to me. :?

[Pete Paxton]

I guess I just don't understand the whole Blackberry craze. I once had a BB 7100 and while it did everything it was supposed to, it was simply unfulfilling. Now that MS has Direct Push, my Dash WM5 smartphone beats every BB in every way. I couldn't imagine going back to a BB now.

[subzerohf]

The Blackberry email delivery model is more complicated than that of Direct Push. It relies heavily on the RIM NOC. If it goes down, then a lot of users are not getting email; we saw it happen yesterday.

Here is an excerpt from a document released by RIM (titled "Wireless EMail Efficiency Assessment - RIM BlackBerry and Microsoft Direct Push"), which brags about how efficient their model is compared to Direct Push:

"The RIM system and protocols are implemented in a much different manner. One important element of the system is the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). This component consists of several Windows Services, which maintain the synchronization state of the system and communicate directly with the Exchange Server as well as with the RIM registration and data servers at the RIM Network Operations Center (NOC).

When the Exchange Server receives a message, it notifies the BES via the Messaging Application Protocol Interface (MAPI) subsystem. The BES then communicates the message to the RIM NOC, which in turn notifies the device of the pending message by sending a UDP message. The device and the RIM NOC then communicate to confirm availability. The BES then processes the message and sends it via UDP based protocols to the device."

[Rocco Augusto]

personally, i can't figure out why users actually tolerate a system like rim has in place. if there was even the slightest possibility that a whole nation of smartphone users would not get our emails due to an error on microsoft's part, i wouldn't even think of using a smartphone.

when you pile this on top of the already outrageous monthly costs required to use a blackberry device, it astounds me that they are even still in business.

[Jerry Raia]

This is good, another nail in the RIM coffin :)

[Mike Temporale]

I emailed a couple clients this morning and pointed out that they wouldn't be down with Windows Mobile in their pocket. ;) It looks like it worked too, as one client is now asking us for a proposal on WinMo before their current contract with Telus expires at the end of the year. :mrgreen: Hey, thanks RIM!

[Kris Kumar]

The Blackberry email delivery model is more complicated than that of Direct Push. It relies heavily on the RIM NOC. If it goes down, then a lot of users are not getting email; we saw it happen yesterday.

Thanks subzerohf.

Where did you find this document. I was looking for an architecture or how it works diagram. But seems like RIM is doing a good job of hiding that all mail is going thru one site. Which makes sense. Who want to work with a company where all there personal stuff is going thru one site? Wait, there are millions.

Sad, very sad. I am surprised that RIM is doing incredibly well with the subscriptions. Why are enterprises signing up? Isn't it silly, you have to pay for BES and on top of that you still have to rely on their NOC.

[Kris Kumar]

...though I thought that if a company purchased a Blackberry server they didn't have to go through any form of central routing.

I was in the same boat, till Mike mentioned that is not the case. And this incident has really highlighted.

I also cannot understand why companies are signing up when there are better, cheaper alternatives; also better-looking.

[Foxbat121]

Don't you guys remember when RIM was involved in patent law suit not too long ago, one of RIM's argument is that all emails are routered to RIM's Canada center and hence don't have to be subjected to US patent restrictions.

The reason ppl love BB is because in dark ages, that was the only viable solution. New users see everybody around him uses BB and he will use it too. Same as iPOD.

[Kris Kumar]

The reason ppl love BB is because in dark ages, that was the only viable solution.

Totally. The other trouble is people like to follow others. Nobody wants to do their own research.

[subzerohf]

Where did you find this document. I was looking for an architecture or how it works diagram. ...

The paper was authored by a consulting company called Rysavy Research (www.rysavy.com). The paper can be found at this link:

http://www.rysavy.com/Articles/Rysavy_Wireless_EMail.pdf

This paper concluded that the RIM model is more efficient than Direct Push, because it focused narrowly on the network efficiency from the network operator's point of view, which is only one side of the story. The other side of the story is that one incident like that on Tuesday could have caused substantial business losses.

[Rocco Augusto]

The reason ppl love BB is because in dark ages, that was the only viable solution.

Totally. The other trouble is people like to follow others. Nobody wants to do their own research.

i think you could also attribute it to the fact that the average consumer usually is not aware of all the cool things going on around them. i think my fiancee summed it up best a few weeks ago when she said "why should i learn about this stuff, its why i keep you around!?" ;)

[Mike Temporale]

So late yesterday, RIM makes an announcement stating that the outage was related to a software update that went wrong. They are looking into better ways to test their software to catch these issues before they go live. As well, they are looking into what prevented their backup system from kicking in and keeping the mail flowing. :roll:

I think it's pretty clear that RIM's NOC design model is not a smart choice at this time. Too bad most people just think they sell hardware and don't realize that there is a service behind it that's paid for by your carrier.

[Sven Johannsen]

i think my fiancee summed it up best a few weeks ago when she said "why should i learn about this stuff, its why i keep you around!?" ;)
Lucky for you ,eh. :wink: I can lift heavy stuff and put things together 'that require some assembly'. Otherwise I expect my wife would have little use for me.

[aristoBrat]

One nice thing about RIM's NOC is the fact that BlackBerry's register with it.

I'm not sure if you guys know this, or work in a sector where this is important, but if you have a BES, it's the BES that initiates a secure-tunnel to each users BlackBerry. There is no way for a BlackBerry to initiate contact with a BES. This means that no outside ports need to be opened (or forwarded) on a company's firewall for a BlackBerry and BES to communicate.

I know some of you are simply amazed that people use BlackBerry at all, but remember that there are still tens of millions of email seats that aren't hosted on Microsoft Exchange. I'd be surprised if anyone thought that WM, when used without an Exchange server, provides the user with anywhere near the same experience as WM + an Exchange Server + AUTD ActiceSync.

[Kris Kumar]

I'm not sure if you guys know this, or work in a sector where this is important, but if you have a BES, it's the BES that initiates a secure-tunnel to each users BlackBerry. There is no way for a BlackBerry to initiate contact with a BES. This means that no outside ports need to be opened (or forwarded) on a company's firewall for a BlackBerry and BES to communicate.

I know lot of enterprises are touchy about opening up the ports. That is why they liked BlackBerry and don't trust Microsoft.

I'd be surprised if anyone thought that WM, when used without an Exchange server, provides the user with anywhere near the same experience as WM + an Exchange Server + AUTD ActiceSync.

Good point. Microsoft has been selling ActiveSync client licenses to Nokia and others. They should focus on licensing the ActiveSync server component to Lotus Notes and other email providers.

Overall that Microsoft's biggest weakness. They work well in a Microsoft only environment. Exchange, SharePoint, Office, Windows....the interoperability is great (though it the latest releases it is a bit broken). But the moment you add a product from a competitor they don't play well. As a developer I know the challenges but I don't think the market cares. The market just wants the thing to work.