Dell Replaces All Blackberrys with Own-Branded Phones
The Blackberrys at Dell are dwindling.
In the summer of 2010, Microsoft made headlines by giving out more than 90,000 Windows Phone 7 phones to its staff. Not too long after, there were reports that Dell was planning a similar move. Word on the street was that the company would move its 25,000 employees over to its own line of smartphones, giving them all Windows Phone 7-equipped Venue Pros in exchange for handing in their BlackBerrys.
Though it's obvious why Dell would want all of its employees using a Dell-branded cell phone, the company said that the switch would also help keep costs down, too. CFO Brian Gladden said at the time that the company would be working with T-Mobile to hash out a deal that would allow Dell to purchase minutes and data in bulk rather than buying individual plans for employees. The switch itself would eliminate the need for BlackBerry servers, saving Dell 25 percent in communication costs.
Though it sounds like a wonderful plan, the switch hasn't gone quite as quickly as one might have thought. However, it seems it is still trundling along at a steady enough pace. WMPowerUser cites Dell global chief information officer Robin Johnson as telling the Australian (subscription required) that the company has replaced more than 50 per cent of around 30,000 BlackBerrys worldwide with Dell's own Windows Phones.
Dell used to be a "100 per cent BlackBerry shop", Mr. Johnson said, adding that the switch has allowed the company to manage its costs as well as drive innovation. Johnson did not give any indication as to when the switch would be complete. Dell has yet to release a follow up to the Venue Pro, which might be a problem when the Venue Pro starts to get a bit long in the tooth.
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Too bad, I hope Blackberry makes some moves to become competitive and in demand again.
I wonder how much MS had to do with this deal. It's good for them to be force feeding people WP7 so they get some market share and exposure. Especially at the expense of a competitor.
@ SMileyTPB1 I don't think Dell ever sold BlackBerry, so moving to a product they actually sell only makes sense. Also, corporations are abandoning RIM over reliability, cost and security issues.
They need to seriously change their strategy or they will go the way of Palm.
I doubt that Microsoft did anything to get Dell to switch. Its a net 0 for MS get 30,000 Win Phones lose out on 10 to 20 server licences for all the BES servers you would need to run that mess.
I cant believe it has taken so long.
If you want a enterprise phone you only have 2 real options blackberry witch needs at least 1 server $50 to $100 CALs and an admin\s for 30,000 of the things you would need at least 1 sql server with huge disk IO and 10 to 15 servers depending on load and then fail over hardware. Plus SQL CALs, network upgrades, ( nothing kills a network like a BES server ) mail server upgrades, and backups. Granted all that gets you total control over the phone that you wont use 99% of . Its also the most secure option against civilian hackers a government just needs to make a phone call and they have everything Blackberry does more to spy on you then Uncle Sam .
Go windows phones lose some of the control you wont use. Run everything off your exchange and AD that you already have. The only upgrades needed would be some extra ram. Get rid of all your Bes servers your Bes admin\s. Your users get a phone that is at least some what modern and since its .net you can make your own apps with in house developers.
Android has not done anything to get in on this kind of market.
Apple is a enterprise joke its cheaper to just keep the Blackberrys.
Good... If I produce crap that I cannot sell I'll give it to my workers too.
If Dell's workers begin using the phones, the bugs the find and complain about will probably be better heard by the designers. Hopefully this will improve the phones and make the market slightly more competitive.
If Dell's workers begin using the phones, the bugs the find and complain about will probably be better heard by the designers. Hopefully this will improve the phones and make the market slightly more competitive.
Its known as 'dogfooding' as in eat your own dogfood, and many companies do it.
This will work out just like it did for HP....A sad mess
This will work out just like it did for HP....A sad mess
I don't remember HP switching there employees to another phone, and how exactly do you see it ending in a mess?
Nice move for dell for simplifying there structure, if it goes well, and they use it as a learning experience for there engineers I can see dell leveraging the experience to produce some better business product.
I don't remember HP switching there employees to another phone, and how exactly do you see it ending in a mess? Nice move for dell for simplifying there structure, if it goes well, and they use it as a learning experience for there engineers I can see dell leveraging the experience to produce some better business product.
Of course you don't remember because it didn't involve you or perhaps just not where you live.
Dell doesn't care much about what the customers tell them to fix and they pay for them.
The hardware is good but implementation of new firmware is so poor it makes me cry.
As for ending in a mess, I never recommend peeing in your own pool figure it out bro
Guess someone has to use the venue pro, if not the public why not your own company.
WP7 gets a pretty bad rap, its a good OS, just sales are bad - that should pick up soon
agree WP7 is good, and if Verizon would just get one with a slide keyboard, they could have a lot more sales, I know at least a dozen who want it but are holding out for a keyboard..
agree WP7 is good, and if Verizon would just get one with a slide keyboard, they could have a lot more sales, I know at least a dozen who want it but are holding out for a keyboard..
I always liked phone keyboards better than the touchscreen until I used a phone with a 4.3" touchscreen.
I always liked phone keyboards better than the touchscreen until I used a phone with a 4.3" touchscreen.
I have a 4.3 on an android phone now, but I find it just a little too big to comfortably use with one hand during phone use, and find that I am not nearly as fast or accurate with the touch-keyboard. have had it for 7-8 months, do quite a few posts/messages and still miss the keyboard.
I would be willing to go back to the 3.8 display size for the keyboard, without a doubt.
A questionable move considering BlackBerries are still the king for enterprise use.