Swap the mail server, not the clients

For companies seeking to improve their messaging infrastructure, there is a strong motivation to focus on changing the back end of the system while maintaining the same client infrastructure.

That's because the most expensive aspects of migrating from one messaging system to another, particularly for large organizations, are deploying new clients on the desktop, training end users on the features of the client and fielding help desk calls from users who need time to come down the learning curve. This can be further complicated - and made more costly - when mobile workers and telecommuters are involved.

By contrast, the migration of servers from one system to another, which includes retraining of administrators and technical support personnel, is typically much less expensive.

This is what is driving some e-mail system vendors to replace Microsoft Exchange servers rather than both servers and clients. Rockliffe, for example, offers MailSite LE, a messaging system it markets as an alternative to Exchange. Because MailSite LE works with Microsoft's Outlook client, it allows an enterprise to replace its Exchange servers while leaving the Outlook infrastructure untouched. MailSite LE is also attractive because it integrates virus scanning and content filtering capabilities at a very low cost per user; Rockliffe has priced LE at less than $2 per user. We've been briefed on another company's Exchange alternative that will be released later this year and will discuss it in a future column.

The downside of some alternatives to Exchange is that they don't all offer the same level of functionality you'd find in Exchange, nor do they all exploit the full feature set of Outlook. For example, alternatives don't always provide the same level of calendaring or task management capabilities that users can have with the combination of an Outlook front end and an Exchange back end.

That said, these alternatives can provide a useful alternative to Exchange in some scenarios, namely where an enterprise seeks a lower cost of ownership and where the full feature set of Outlook isn't needed.

Michael D. Osterman is the principal of Osterman Research, a market research firm that helps organizations understand the markets for messaging, directory and related products and services. He can be reached by clicking here.

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