[clug] outlook advice

[Justin Freeman]

From: Chris Smart <mail at christophersmart.com>

> I'm pretty sure IBM uses Lotus, as do a great many Government departments.

ABS, Centrelink, FACS, AFP, DFAT, ACIAR and most of the Victorian Government (if not all Vic Gov). There are about 500,000 organisations using Lotus Notes world-wide.

> The problem is that calendaring support is lacking in the free
> software world.. and it's a great shame. There are lots now, but
> nothing is quite as "easy to use" as Exchange and they just can't
> break into the market.

This statement was true, like 5 years ago. A lot has changed since then, time to update!
Zimbra, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbra
Scalix, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalix
Roundcube, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RoundCube
I am sure there are other good ones out there too :)

More can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Free_groupware
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_e-mail_clients

> Plus, when you're in a Microsoft environment, Exchange makes the most
> sense for Microsoft admins. Most small businesses probably use it too
> as they can buy Small Business Server which comes with a complete
> email/calendaring, etc system out of the box.
> So yes, most do use Exchange, but not all.

Last statistic I read, was that Microsoft Exchange had 39% marketshare in USA. From http://www.radicati.com

<theplug>
Agileware sell & support Zimbra which replaces Microsoft Exchange quite nicely. Outperforming, scaling and a cheaper overall solution. Using a FOSS stack.

Learn more at:
http://agileware.net/flash/zimbra-collaboration-suite-overview
http://agileware.net/content/zimbra
http://zimbra.com
</theplug>

If you never investigate options outside the Microsoft eco-system, then I guess it is only natural to think that there is no competition (or if there is - it ain't that good).

Justin :)