The one-two punch of Exchange server on the back end and the Outlook e-mail client on the desktop has allowed Microsoft to snag 65% of the enterprise e-mail market. But customers who use Exchange do so at a price. With the release of Exchange 2007, that price was especially apparent. The upgrade costs, hardware requirements, and hassle factor have businesses wondering “Is Microsoft still the right answer?”
Network World tested the following six alternatives to Exchange to try and answer that question: Zimbra Collaboration Server, Kerio MailServer, Communi-Gate Pro, MDaemon, Scalix Enterprise Edition, MailSite Fusion. The tester did fine ways where these e-mail systems outdid Exchange — particularly price/performance, Macintosh interoperability, and management of mid-sized deployments. But for the enterprise, Exchange remains the gold standard. It offers a range of features not easy to beat by its competitors.
Read the full test.Jump to the Scorecard chartExchange: Should I stay or should I go?
Also see:
Exchange alternatives: Front ends and back ends
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