I've been in IT for about 20 years and have set up many servers in my time, mostly for small businesses. I've done a couple Exchange setups a while ago, but haven't yet done a BES install. No big deal, I've looked at the docs and I can handle it.
I have a few questions, though:
1 - On step 1, I believe you mean "Employer".
2 - I plan on using the blackberry simulator for testing, but if that doesn't work out I'll snag a cheap BB.
3 - Is there an existing infrastructure(AD domain), or is this a completely new setup?
4 - Will the server(s) be on-site, or cloud hosted?
5 - Have you checked the compatibility matrix for the 3 products and the OS?