RIM: BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10 will work with current models

Contradicting a published report on Tuesday, RIM has announced that the upcoming BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10 will work with the current BlackBerry lineup. BES 10 is expected to launch at the same time as the first BlackBerry 10 powered handsets and existing BlackBerry Enterprise Server users will get an upgrade to BES 10 to make sure that their server will work with both the new BlackBerry 10 handsets and with current models. RIM confirms that the new server will be able to work with BlackBerry 10 models, older BlackBerry handsets, and the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

The reason for the uproar was the fear among CIOs and IT departments that they would have to run two different versions of BES, one for legacy models and one for BlackBerry 10 devices. The worrying escalated on Tuesday when BGR reported that BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10 would only work with devices powered by the upcoming BlackBerry 10 OS.

The reason why RIM responded so quickly to the erroneous report is that the company is fighting for its life and any nervousness among CIOs and IT departments could lead to a loss of some enterprise business, something that the Canadian based manufacturer can't afford in its current position. With RIM losing market share in most countries, it is counting on the early 2013 release of the new QNX-based BlackBerry 10 OS and the new phones that will run it, to turn things around.

source: CNET

UPDATE:BGR is still sticking to its story and says that companies will still need to run BES 5 along with BES 10 for the latter to work with BlackBerry legacy models. BGR says that RIM has confirmed to them that "BES 10 will need to be installed in either a Virtual Machine or a new server in addition to the existing BES 5 deployment." 

source: BGR