PDA

View Full Version : XDA Management


alpha_geek
16th April 2005, 05:42 PM
I have owned an O2 XDA for a while and I currently use an XDA II (Himalaya). I have now found myself supporting 8 XDA IIs devices and 15 XDA IIi devices, in addition to 6 Blackberries.

We are currently running Blackberry Enterprise Server and although I do not like the software or the devices very much I can't deny their impressive features. For the XDA devices we have a contract with O2 and provide wireless Active Sync and OMA using MS Exchange over both WiFi and GPRS, however management for the devices is a bit lacking. I am forever setting up devices for users who have hard re-set their devices or let them go flat.

With the Blackberrys the BES software can manage the fleet of devices, push software to them, define policy etc.

My question is, has anyone else used software that can manage PDA devices in an organization. I have been reading about MS System Management Server and its Device Management Feature Pack. Has anyone used this, is it any good, reliable etc.

I have looked into Blackberry software for the PDA's and it seems possible, but I would rather integrate with active directory and group policy if I can.

Also what are the possibilities of cooking ROMs and deploying them, such as getting rid of that damn O2 software and installing the GPRS monitor? While I am at it can I automatically collect log files in any way, such as the GPRS software or Active Sync errors (coz I get that allot of them). It would beet setting up all this stuff by hand. I will go ahead and give this a try anyway I think but I would be interested in talking to any one that has done this before.

In return I have noticed that there is not much information here on these subjects, and I would be happy to share my experiences in this area if it is needed.

Thanks for the advice.

fishmedia
4th May 2005, 02:23 PM
I think you scared everyone off. What a scary thought, having to support that many devices. Just one is enough of a pain for most on here!

alpha_geek
5th May 2005, 08:25 PM
Well I have managed to configure the ExtROM of the blueangle deviced, and i am happy to say that my users can now take there xda IIs devices on the road, if they go flat, or hard reset, all is ok. I installed the demo version of Microsoft SMS server on my test network at home and i love it. Using this I created cab files that configured activesync, GPRS, VPN and browser settings that now mean my users only need to set the time, and put in the username and password and the hole thing is up and running, GPRS sync and all (my boss is very happy). All I need to do now is convince them to buy the software.

I am looking in to useing WMI to collect device information, and perhaps a .NET app to gather loggs etc.

Thanks for all your help. I could not have done this without this forum, cooking up my ExtROM and geting rid of the O2 software and even puting on a company splash screen are all very cool. (oh and i upgraded my xda 2 to 2005 while i was at it ;) )

Some thougts

a cab to configure WiFi ? (registery patch?)
will the XDA IIi be as easy?
could i install tom tom useing the ExtROM ? to many prompts ?

and my origanl plee for help stands,

thanks again guys

Puff The Magic Wagon!
6th May 2005, 12:03 AM
Running 40 XDA2, some on a BES server, all using a flaky bespoke software requiring a BT connection!

Need some help on the MKROM stuff as I'm fed up of activsync 10+ times a day :rolleyes: