Some highlights from the press release:

• Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM)(TSX: RIM) today announced the availability of BlackBerry® Enterprise Server 5.0 – the next generation of RIM’s secure, push-based server software for business mobility. Version 5.0 supports advanced IT administration features and smartphone controls that help improve the productivity of mobile workers and more effectively meet the demands of large-scale, mission critical enterprise deployments.
• BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 enables a secure, centrally managed link between BlackBerry® smartphones and enterprise systems, applications, corporate phone environments (with BlackBerry® Mobile Voice System) and wireless networks.
• BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 Enhancements and Key Features
• Support for New Smartphone Features
• RIM is also announcing today new technical support, professional services, and training and certification programs to help BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 customers achieve the best possible performance and return on investment from their BlackBerry smartphone deployments
• Also announced today, BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 has obtained Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level 4 (EAL 4+) certification (see separate release). The Common Criteria is an international standard for validating that IT products meet specific security requirements. Certifications are recognized by 26 countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Read the full press release after the jump.

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Info about the BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 is now available through RIM’s BlackBerry Connection Newsletter.

New to BlackBerry Enterprise Server v5.0

BlackBerry Enterprise Transporter Tool
With the BlackBerry® Enterprise Transporter tool you can run parallel BlackBerry Enterprise Server environments, allowing you to do real-world testing in the new BlackBerry Enterprise Server v5.0 environment with part of your team before making a full migration. There’s no need to wipe devices before transferring to BlackBerry Enterprise Server v5.0, and backing out to the pre-existing environment is easy.

Threshold Assistance Tool
The Threshold Assistance Tool resides within the BlackBerry® Monitoring Service; it uses the information gathered by your monitoring database to suggest acceptable operating thresholds for your particular server and network environment. As your company grows, you can run the tool again to set new baselines.

High Availability
Utilizing High Availability is easier than you think—three clicks and you’re done. Learn more about this feature in an upcoming edition of BlackBerry Connection.

Role-Based Admins
BlackBerry Enterprise Server v5.0 allows for granular control of admin permissions. You can now scope a given role to a set of users the admin can take action on. For example, you can create an executive-support IT group, which would allow for only particular employees to perform administrative tasks against the execs’ accounts.

Maintenance Windows
You can now opt to suspend alerts during specific periods, for example, during server maintenance. Using this function just might end those early-morning wake-up calls that occur during scheduled server downtime.

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