It looks like Cisco is going head-to-head against e-mail software giant Microsoft with its $215 million acquisition of PostPath, a maker of e-mail and calendaring software. PostPath apparently touts its 
PostPath Server e-mail and collaboration server as a replacement or supplement to Microsoft Exchange. What's more interesting is that Cisco plans to put the server in the cloud and selling an e-mail and calendaring service to its customers - this is perhaps Cisco's first formal offering in the oh-so fashionable cloud computing space that pundits have been busy discussing.
The software will be added to Cisco's WebEx Connect collaboration platform, expanding WebEx's software-as-a-service offerings, which include instant messaging, team spaces for collaboration, wikis and document sharing.
Our sister site Microsoft Subnet earlier this month profiled a company that said no to Exchange and yes to PostPath, Globe Manufacturing, Pittsfield, N.H., The Linux-based PostPath server (CentOS) was chosen by Globe as an alternative to Exchange because it bills itself as a drop-in replacement for Exchange and far less expensive. Globe isn't doing VoIP and has no plans for unified communications, so it doesn't need Exchange's fancier features. However, not that PostPath is Cisco's, we expect those fancy features, via Cisco's unified communications products, will certainly be integrated. Read more about How one customer said no to Exchange but yes to Outlook and Windows Mobile (part 1).
Also of interest is this LinuxWorld podcast: Cisco offers Microsoft Exchange replacement (19:59)
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Cisco still foggy about cloud services
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