I recently installed BES SP2 and noticed you can configure to use Exchange Web Services to manage calendars. Has anyone done this and is it better?

On a semi-related issue our company is looking to start setting "cache Exchange mode" on Outlook clients. In the past we have pushed against this because of how it can affect BB sync. Would Exchange Web Services solve issue when cache Exchange mode is active over MAPI?

Thanks!

I recommend using Exchange Web Services if you're using Exchange 2007 SP1 or higher or Exchange 2010 Update Rollup 1 or higher. You will see performance improvements when calendar entries created on the device are synced back to users' mailboxes and during free/busy lookups. To enable EWS, take a look at KB20157 (KB20157-How to enable BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0 SP1 and SP2 to use Microsoft Exchange Web Services). With BES 5.0.2, EWS is already enabled on the BES so you can skip step #4.

Cache mode is not recommended because users forget to push changes to their mailbox on the mail server and email reconciliation issues are seen. EWS is only for calendaring...doesn't do anything for email at this time.

FYI - even with EWS enabled, calendar entries created in Outlook are still synced to devices via MAPI.