Whirlpool

Hi All,

I'm currently in the process of evaluating a groupware package that provides similar features to that of Exchange.

I know this has been discussed a few times on here, mainly in the Linux Forum but it has been a good 18+ months so I thought I'd bring it up again. :) Mods please feel free to move to Linux/BSD if you think its appropriate.

OK, I'm having a hard time trying to make a decision and thought I'd ask for some input from everyday users and mail admins.

Features required:

1) Mail enabled public folders
2) User friendly web interface
3) Proper integration (mapi??) with Outlook and Evolution
4) Support for active sync OTA (Windows mobile, etc)
5) Remote device wipe
6) Email archiving. Staff deletes an email (unintentionally or otherwise), we still have a copy.
7) Integration with a CRM like vTiger would be nice.
8) "Outlook Anywhere" (RPC over HTTPs) similar capabilities
9) Something similar to autodiscover on Exchange
10) Unified messaging. Voicemail and Fax to inbox?
11) Active Directory auth.

From a client POV, majority of users will be using Evolution on Ubuntu or Web access. Only a small handful of MS LookOut. Don't know if that changes our options?

Products evaluated so far:

Exchange 2007:

Pros:
Seamless integration with MS products (WM, Outlook)
Remote device wipe
RPC over HTTPs "Outlook Anywhere"

Anything else?

Cons:
Resource PIG! – Even with SP1
OWA is nice but full functionality only in IE. Boo!
Evolution integration seems like a band aid

Zimbra:

Pros:
Very impressive web interface
ActiveSync OTA has been rev engineered. Works with WM, no middleware.
Interface with BES. (Blackberry server)

Cons:
No remote wipe
Yahoo! owned
ActiveSync reversed engineered. What if MS changes something?

Scalix:

Pros:
ActiveSync licensed from MS.
Mapi (outlook Integration) seems smoother. Correct me if I'm wrong?
25 Free premium users
Again, web interface seems impressive

Cons:
Licensed ActiveSync not present. Due in future release. Middleware required at this stage.

The other ones I had shortlisted was Kerio, Zarafa, OpenExchange, Kolab & Postpath. Anyone have any thoughts on these or more alternatives to add?

Look forward to everyones thoughts.

Cheers!

Don't all reply at once!

:)

re-reading im going to shut my mouth :P

Ill be back in adel soon.

Umm..huh? :)

Frosty writes...

Umm..huh? :)

I guess i must have been getting confused with an old friend,

sorry for the mix up.

Frosty was a top chick at node :)

nvm

Frosty writes...

Features required:

1) Mail enabled public folders

2) User friendly web interface

3) Proper integration (mapi??) with Outlook and Evolution

4) Support for active sync OTA (Windows mobile, etc)

5) Remote device wipe

6) Email archiving. Staff deletes an email (unintentionally or otherwise), we still have a copy.

7) Integration with a CRM like vTiger would be nice.

8) "Outlook Anywhere" (RPC over HTTPs) similar capabilities

9) Something similar to autodiscover on Exchange

10) Unified messaging. Voicemail and Fax to inbox?

11) Active Directory auth.

Sounds like you really need Exchange.

How many users are you talking?

If relatively small (<40) you can get away with Small Business Server which in the OEM version is cheaper than stand alone Exchange and 1 off cost no ongoing subscription like other products you mentioned.

Since SBS2003 is about to be superceded by SBS2008 probably find a few deals particularly on bundled versions with hardware

all mobile clients will need to be configured with office whilst in the office via wifi, usb docking support is only good accessing files off the unit, unless the actual program supports active sync, at present as far as i know only outlook part of the last 2 versions of office support active sync, unless there has been a change in outlook express since xp which doesn't support active sync..

if this is going into a 40+ client office I would consider a foot print of up too 120 users for a start for the mail server only same with file server..

Anyone else got any input?

I did the same sort of evaluation about 6 months back – the best I can offer is to steer away from Scalix.

As a systems admin, the way that Scalix was engineered kept my test server at high load even while idling, something I'm not entirely comfortable with. I found Zimbra to be a bit better, but to be perfectly honest I'd have actually much preferred to go with an Exchange based solution. Given that I had directives to keep it UNIX based, that limited my choices a fair bit.

( Shock! Horror! Yes, I'm saying use a Microsoft product. But use your head, figure out what your budget can get, and how much resourcing it'd need to run and go with it. )

what about openxchange ?

http://www.open-xchange.com/

Commercial: IBM Lotus Domino Server 8.x.x + Lotus Notes 8 takes full advantage of it but you can use whatever email client u want.

It's got everything you mentioned afaik plus more pros:

-There are ports for running on large enterprise server architectures such as IBM System Z with Linux installed. We're talking half a mil $ server.

-add sametime standard and you get fully featured instant messaging integrated into your email clients (outlook, thunderbird, evolution...and offcoarse lotus notes)
-you can also store everything in db2 database format (but i avoided this for a very long time because the DB2 Enterprise server is buggy)
-You can use domino administrator from the domino suite to control any domino server remotely and entirely
-The webmail interface has all the same features as Lotus Notes therefore more features then Evolution, Thunderbird. Primarily because it's designed to edit almost any type of document or NSF database as well.

Cons:
-Don't be silly enough to use the free office suite the Lotus suites include. They're based on Open Office 1.0, Just download Open Office 2.0 and walla.
-Almost everything made by lotus software uses Java
-IBM Support sucks donkey balls, 90% of it are under qualified staff.
-DB2 is buggy, undefined, poorly documented

Go to the IBM website register and download some 30day trial servers, set them up in a test environment on linux or solaris and see how that goes for you.

Penguin writes...

what about openxchange ?

http://www.open-xchange.com/

That to me looks like a horrible rebranding of open-source products! You might as well just use apache + mail server + whatever else and integrate it yourself. Don't be a lazy admin scum, you know open source is always better because it's written entirely by enthusiasts.

Edit: I stand corrected, after watching the flash demo it seems ridiculously simplified, i can see where this would have it's market.

Also that "link to document on server" feature is a total steal from domino. Domino does the same but whilst displaying a matching document icon.

Oh.. GOD. Notes. *twitch*

I would recommend Zimbra. Latest version 5.09 runs on Ubuntu 8.04 (32-bit and 64-bit).

1) Mail enabled public folders

Shared folders ? Zimbra has a Briefcase for file storage. Users can share Briefcases (and mail folders / calendars )

2) User friendly web interface

The Zimbra AJAX web client is excellent. I use it exclusively, mostly because I'm not interested in wrestling with Thunderbird / Evolution / insert other fat mail client here.

3) Proper integration (mapi??) with Outlook and Evolution

Zimbra Network Edition has connectors for Outlook and Evolution.

4) Support for active sync OTA (Windows mobile, etc)

Zimbra Mobile is just the bomb (but costs $500 a year)....if you have an iPhone then you will love it.

5) Remote device wipe

Not available on Zimbra at the moment. There is a bug request to add this functionality in future versions.

6) Email archiving. Staff deletes an email (unintentionally or otherwise), we still have a copy.

Zimbra has an optional Archiving and Discovery add-on

7) Integration with a CRM like vTiger would be nice.

Zimgar lets you integrate SugarCRM and Zimbra. Otherwise you could write your own Zimlet to do the job

http://www.datasyncsuite.com/datasync-suite/sugarcrmzimbraintegration

8) "Outlook Anywhere" (RPC over HTTPs) similar capabilities

Might I suggest a real VPN might be a better solution ? OpenVPN is good.

9) Something similar to autodiscover on Exchange

Hmm, looks like you want centralised management of email clients ? Zimbra web client maybe ?

10) Unified messaging. Voicemail and Fax to inbox?

There is a Zimlet to play voicemail from an Asterisk server.

You can integrate Zimbra and Hylafax

http://blog.iwayvietnam.com/tuanta/2008/09/08/zimbra-and-hylafax-integration/

11) Active Directory auth.

Zimbra can use AD for authentication, objects (conference rooms, etc) and global address list (GAL).

golgy writes...

Oh.. GOD. Notes. *twitch*

Notes is just the email client that takes full advantage of a domino server. No doubt IBM Lotus software is only slightly less buggy then Microsoft, but it's the highest in features. It does all of the above mentioned.

Also applying Microsoft Exchange in a corporate environment is suicide, especially because that means you can't run advanced mainframe architectures such as "IBM system z"(z/Architecture) because windows doesn't run on them. You end up piling up hundreds of crap servers in a server farm instead of 4-5 large corporate servers.

Solutions like Scalix and Zimbra would work in corporate environments too because they're easily ported. OpenSource software such as exim4 and postfix actually do the best job under linux if you don't need those annoying integration with propriatery software features.

Edit: I see you mention the iphone, IBM Lotus has iNotes which is a java lotus Notes client for the iphone.

Windows Mobiles can just use Outlook or whatever they have as their email client.

A couple of solutions spring to mind:

• Unison (Excellent for a total solution)
• PostPath (Very good)
• Bynari suite of products (Been around a long time) or take a look at NeonInsight

Failing that — take a look at the Samba Wiki that has a page on Exchange Server Replacements

The one that holds my interest the most at present is OpenChange

It is worth mentioning that Zarafa is open source as of Thursday.

http://www.zarafa.com/?q=en/content/18-sept-number-one-exchange-replacement-zarafa-releases-software-open-source

§tr!deя writes...

The one that holds my interest the most at present is OpenChange

Seems like this is really in its infancy, but looks interesting !

Vinco writes...

It is worth mentioning that Zarafa is open source as of Thursday.

http://www.zarafa.com/?q=en/content/18-sept-number-one-exchange-replacement-zarafa-releases-software-open-source

This one seem really good though