Backup your BlackBerrys – RIM “schedules” outage for this Saturday, March 22nd

It’s good to be prepared even though there’s a tiny chance something could go wrong. RIM learned that the hard way and now they are “scheduling” the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) outage. Actually, that’s just a possibility cause if everything goes smoothly, you shouldn’t notice any addiction disruptive activities.

According to RIM’s official note — which follows after the jump — the outage may hit North American BlackBerry users on Saturday, March 22nd between 6:00am and 10:00am GMT. In the meantime, we advise you to backup all your contacts and emails today just to make sure… And now the official note.

Description: Database upgrade for all North American subscribers in the following locations: The Americas

Change Window Start Date and Time: 03/22/08 06:00:00 (GMT) Change Window End Date and Time: 03/22/08 10:00:00 (GMT) Downtime Duration: 4 hour(s) and 0 minute(s)

Impact: BlackBerry subscribers may be unable to send or receive messages during the maintenance.

Subscribers may also be unable to register their device, roam in another location, or use other services such as Internet browsing.

BlackBerry Internet Service subscribers may be unable to use the BlackBerry Internet Service web site or perform activities such as creating new accounts, accessing their Internet mailbox, integrating third-party email accounts, or viewing email attachments during the maintenance.

Devices may not receive new service books during the maintenance. BlackBerry Connect and BlackBerry-enabled devices that require a new PIN may be unable to receive the PIN.

BlackBerry Enterprise Servers may be unable to connect to the BlackBerry Infrastructure during the maintenance.

Wireless service providers and device resellers may be unable to use BlackBerry administration web sites or perform activities such as creating subscriber accounts or provisioning services for subscribers during the maintenance.

[Via: Boy Genius Report]