Ipswitch sent us a really neat package called the Ipswitch Collaboration Suite premium edition which not only contains the iMail Server but e-mail and discussion lists, secure instant messaging, schedule and contact sharing, anti-spam filters, and antivirus protection.
We were only interested in the iMail Server for the purposes of this review. Installation could not have been easier, likewise the initial configuration. This package really is simple, unfortunately too simple. Perhaps a few years ago a mail server like this would have been quite good, however when compared to any of the other packages in this review the Ipswitch iMail Server lacks in many areas.
We decided not to can the product immediately but to press on and have a look at its Web messaging interface and Web calendaring. Unfortunately this was equally unimpressive, quite awkward and very basic. It may well have just been the design and layout but it seemed to lack the finish, features, and polish of all the other applications.
In summary perhaps iMail was a good server in the past, but it has seen its day and definitely is due for some graphical and feature overhauls. On the upside, at least not all of Ipswitch's products are like this, I can personally attest to the fact that its popular WSFTP and What's Up applications are both excellent products.
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Interesting review, however, it misses in a nunber of areas.
1) At the low end of the market, the appropriate Microsoft product would be SBS2003. It is quite difficult to price the e-mail component as a number of products are bundled, however, I suspect the SBS2003 is a more appropriate product when compared with some of the lower end e-mail systems you have reviewed. Are you comparing apples with apples? or apples to oranges?
2) The the high-end of the market where clustering / high availability and a large number of users is concerned most of the reviewed packages couldn't deliver. Where is the indication of where these products sit in terms of number of users?
3) The most important criteria for purchasing an e-mail system has not even been considered, i.e. user understanding and productivity. Given the article asks the question about alternatives to Exchange, surely there needs to be some indication as to why customers continually purchase this product. And the answer is they understand how to use the client interface, i.e. Outlook, and individuals are productive. My feedback from people is they hate Notes (especially after using Outlook / Exchange) and they love the functionality and integration that Outlook / Exchange provides. An e-mail system is provided to enhance user/worker productivity and, essentially, they don't give a stuff about the e-mail server. They want functionality they can easily use on their client device and this is what IT Managers respond to.
4) I would suggest you have under-estimated Notes and Exchange for their back-end automation. Notes is a powerful database / workflow solution that provides much more than e-mail, so if you have such a requirement the other e-mail solutions look very ordinary. Likewise with Exchange, there is a huge amount automation / programming that can be achieved and an organisation with such requirements would seek a single solution rather than 2 separate systems.
Regards,
Russell Sumich