On Monday morning, BlackBerry users began experiencing problems with accessing BBM, Email and Internet-based apps. The disruption entered its 2nd day on Tuesday and is due to a server failure in RIM’s Data Centre in Slough, UK. The Data Centre covers Europe, the Middle East and Africa. By the end of Tuesday, users in South American countries like Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela began having issues connecting their BlackBerry devices to the web. RIM says it’s working on solving the problem as soon as possible as users, who have access to the internet via other devices, have taken to social networks to show their frustration.
Early Wednesday morning, BlackBerry users in Canada and the US began experiencing problems in accessing BBM, Email and their internet-based apps. This is a big blow to RIM as studies have shown that 56% of BlackBerry users will switch to Android or iPhone at the end of their contract. This service disruption comes close to the launch of Apple’s iMessage: A messaging platform for iOS 5 devices.
For a lot of my friends who use BlackBerrys it’s because of BBM they’d stick to the device as Dunni stated earlier in the year. Whether RIM likes it or not, this outage is going to push its current crop of users to decide whether to stick with the BlackBerry or to move to other smartphone platforms. What RIM needs to do is to fix this disruption as soon as possible and then build more data centres. It’s not a wise decision (you can even call it cutting corners) for a company as large as RIM to have only 2 data centres powering its entire user base.
RIM in a press conference at 3PM ET today, said the outage was due to problems while backing up the European server at Slough. RIM is posting outage notifications here http://www.rim.com/newsroom/service-update.shtml RIM also wants its users to note that this is purely a technical failure and not due to a hack or security breach. RIM hasn’t given a definite time or date when the services will be restored. We’ll keep you updated as details emerge.
If you’re using a BlackBerry, you can use your internet based apps by connecting to WiFi or switching to Mobile Data in your phone settings.
[UPDATE] 12.37AM GMT: We’re beginning to receive reports from England and Nigeria. People are beginning to get Broadcasts and Emails on their BlackBerrys. It still seems to be sporadic.
[UPDATE] 12.48AM GMT: RIM CIO Robin Bienfait has said that e-mail systems are working worldwide. In the United States, Canada, and Latin America, the BlackBerry messenger and browsing service are running as well, though there are still reports of delays. In Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa, BBM Traffic is online and passing successfully
BlackBerry users how have you been able to cope without the BlackBerry Internet Service? Are you going to switch phone platforms soon? Leave us a comment.
Tags : BIS Outage, blackberry, Business, RIM
