For large users, outsourcing e-mail may make cents

I f you think privately owned Lotus, Microsoft, Netscape and Novell products are the only choices for a mid-size or large enterprise e-mail environment, think again. The market for managed electronic mail, in which a company outsources its e-mail operations, is starting to take off.

For example, Wiltek, a managed e-mail provider based in Norwalk, Conn., has provided backbone messaging integration, directory synchronization and consulting services for some time. Wiltek relieves companies of the complex task of interconnecting disparate e-mail platforms, for as little as $8 per user per month in some cases.

CompuServe Network Services, now a subsidiary of WorldCom, recently raised the ante, entering the managed e-mail market with a new service called WANmail. WANmail consists of three offerings: WANmail/POP3, WANmail/Hub and WANmail/Relay.

WANmail/POP3 offers mailbox hosting from a server infrastructure located in CompuServe Network Services' secure data center. It provides a Web-based mailbox administration interface, allowing customers to add, delete and change user information. On the backbone side, WANmail/Hub provides managed Internet mail gateways, disparate e-mail system connectivity and dispersed, same-system connectivity. WANmail/ Relay is a single gateway service between a user's proprietary mail system and the Internet.

WANmail/POP3 will be available this week starting at $3.50 per user per month, according to CompuServe Network Services. While customers still have to pay their administrators, cover help desk costs and fund the network, POP3-only services such as WANmail (or the equivalent operated internally) are cheaper than complex mail systems such as Lotus Notes or Microsoft Exchange on a total cost of ownership basis.

WANmail/Hub and WANmail/Relay will be available later this summer.

Still, privately owned advanced messaging and groupware systems do provide a higher level of functionality than POP3 systems, outsourced or otherwise. If your enterprise is undecided about whether to make cost or functionality your highest priority, here are three ways to achieve an optimal cost/functionality trade-off.

First, you can stratify your user base. Plan to deploy high- function mail systems only to your knowledge workers, and provide users with simpler job functions, such as retail, order entry and manufacturing, with simpler POP3 clients and servers. Deal with a couple of different vendors and consider outsourcing for the low and/or high end.

Second, you can wait for today's low-end products and services to evolve. Today's POP3 systems are fast and robust, and interoperability problems are rare. The same cannot be said for newer, less stable systems based on the Internet IMAP4 messaging and LDAP directory standards. However, within a year or two, standards-based IMAP4/ LDAP clients and servers should be almost as robust as their POP3 counterparts, and almost as rich as current high-function messaging products.

Third, you can lean heavily on the high end. Try to get your messaging vendor to offer you a package that includes outsourcing, user stratification and a significant level of responsibility for coordinating messaging deployment architectures with your network topology.

However, if you're ready to give up some of the richer groupware and workflow options that come with high-function messaging systems, using an outsourced solution such as WANmail/POP3 may be the way to go.

Blum is a senior vice president and principal consultant with The Burton Group, an IT advisory service providing in-depth analysis for network planners. He can be reached at dblum@tbg.com.