Outlook Bleak on Microsoft Exchange Paradigm

Increasing number of VAR’s are considering alternatives to MS Exchange/Outlook.

Guest post by Blair MacDonald, Business Development Manager at IBM.

Since I have been hearing so many complaints from IT resellers about the pains of Microsoft over the past few months, I figured I would condense them into a quick post. How am I coming across these complaints? I’m responsible for recruiting VAR’s into the reseller program for IBM Lotus Foundations. Typically in the past, I had to really campaign the SMB channel to bring resellers on board. Since last year’s US election, I haven’t had to call out as much. That’s because more and more VAR’s seem to be on the lookout for alternatives Microsoft solutions. Some are even are finding out about the Lotus Foundations offering and come beating down my door.

Now, I’m trying to be as objective as possible and just telling you what I’ve been hearing. Just so you know, I didn’t just go out and find a bunch of pro-Notes/Domino articles that trash MS Exchange. Actually, the links throughout this post have been provided to me by Microsoft VAR’s, who have become frustrated, disheartened and disgruntled, with the direction Microsoft has taken in the past couple of years. Some have gone so far as to say that they are embarrassed to offer Microsoft solutions, because it ends up costing their clients more money to maintain. But Microsoft has maintained such a strong control on marketshare in the SMB space for so long, they have become a paradigm. So really, what’s all the fuss about? Why the shift?

I haven’t really put this in any logical order, and my post isn’t very long. The links are compelling enough, so I don’t really need to add much commentary.

Transitioning from Exchange 2000/2003 to Exchange 2007 can be tricky. At least that’s most people’s perception. After doing a bit of searching, I think the process is probably fairly straightforward, if you’re really savvy with Exchange and Active Directory. However, it does take a large amount of reading. It might also make some people nervous to know that there are no supported “in-place upgrades” to Exchange 2007, not no mention it requires 64-bit hardware to run it. In today’s economy, who wants to spend the extra dough upgrading to 64-bit hardware? (Recall: Microsoft Vista also required you to upgrade to have similar performance as XP)
http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/Transitioning-Exchange-2000-2003-Exchange-Server-2007-Part1.html

Many people are talking about moving Exchange 2007 to a virtualized environment. If that’s the case, why not run it in Lotus Foundations Run? (Oops, did I just actually say that?) Well, if these guys put MS SBS on LFR, then why not Exchange 2007?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o25jpiVjheU

Well, if you really want to, I suppose you could. You might want to do that if you really, really like Microsoft and want to keep using the Exchange/Outlook stack. But, with the extra administrative overhead, is it really worth it? Hmmmm…

Plus, the Lotus Notes 8.5 user interface is so intuitive and easy to use, it’s not a huge stretch in transitioning away from Outlook. So why fork out the extra cash? Why not just utilize the Domino/Notes stack that’s included with Lotus Foundations Start?

Outlook is no longer included in Exchange 2007 or MS SBS 2008 CAL’s. What’s interesting is that this has been known since late 2006, but some people were still unaware of this in 2008. It seems that the folks in Redmond who like to spend so much on marketing, forgot to mention that in the brochure. http://www.petri.co.il/forums/showthread.php?p=50962

But oh well, you get a really cool client called OWA.

I think that what it all really comes down to is that people are looking for value… “bang for their hard earned buck”. Especially in today’s economy. That’s why it’s fascinating to see CRN’s review of ND 8.5 vs. Exchange 07. The verdict — close call but Lotus wins! Exchange won on feature set and performance while Notes/Domino took installation and interoperability. The tiebreaker — is cost, swaying CRN’s overall recommendation to Lotus. So ease-of-deployment, superior integration with Web 2.0 tools and serious savings are all key advantages that this review independently reinforces.
http://www.crn.com/mobile/217800062

It just reinforces what ITComparison.com said almost a year ago.