[nylug-talk] The future of Zimbra after Microsoft's bid for Yahoo!

[George Bourozikas]

On Monday 04 February 2008 19:01:39 Ruben Safir wrote:
[...]
> That is mostly a mistake.  Getting the job done is not what is discussed
> in the room when decisions are made, and I've been in those rooms.  What
> they do is whip out sale brouchures, and run what they believe are the
> numbers, which in the case of exchange and outlook is almost free....minus
> the millions of needless dollars spent on unecessary maintence buy personel
> with little functional background...

Like I said, businesses may decide to spend what they need to spend in order 
to get the job done (with their definition of "job").  You may disagree with 
their decisions on business and/or philosophical grounds but that's a 
different story.

> not to mention the cost in virus, spyware and dozens of other malware 
> problems directly linked to Outlook Express.  

Outlook Express is not a real Exchange client.  You probably meant Outlook.

> Postfix "gets the job done" better and at less cost.  

I must have overlooked the shared calendar functionality of Postfix.  That and 
Blackberry synchronization.

> Buying decisions are NOT rational.  

Personal buying decisions may not be rational but business decisions usually 
are.  When businesses make too many irrational buying decisions in a row, 
they end up removing themselves from the genetic pool - Darwin awards for 
businesses, anyone?

Do not confuse "business" with "academic," by the way.  I know of a 
professional school in NYC which is trying to get everyone (around 10,000 
people) on Exchange with an annual support budget that wasn't enough to 
administer an IMAP server (1/2 time admin).


> > So I guess Zimbra probably won't be the solution I've been looking for.  
> > For  
> > now I will continue to recommend hosted Exchange to my clients who need 
> > this  
> > kind of functionality.  (Last I looked into it Kolab and Open-Xchange 
> > didn't  
> > quite cut it.)
> > 
> > --george
 
> And after that you have to benifit of selling them spyware removal programs.

Hardly a benefit... not my idea of a fun morning, either.
 
> Exchange really just sucks.... it sucks all the way 

I won't argue.  But Exchange also does some things that people want done.  We 
are going in a circle.

> and George, I swear if I  
> didn't 
> know better I'd had thought you to be a Microsoft paid troll with this 
> conversation.
> 
> Ruben

I won't bite.

--george