Cisco is acquiring PostPath - a Linux based messaging product. PostPath claims a 1:5 cost advantage against MS Exchange. But to me it should be going after hosted mail or outsourced Exchange.
Especially if it can support 1 GB mailboxes for users. Most outsourced arrangements today barely support 200 mb. And cost companies anywhere from $ 5 to 15 a mailbox a month. For the sample configuration of 2,000 users they use in their comparison to Exchange, the break even of buy versus outsource should be reached in the matter of a few months.
Often this is not a purely cost/size issue. There are usual concerns about privacy of course, but most challenges are around legal compliance and system/functional integration of email with other business applications such as CRM. This could be cumbersome and expensive.
Posted by: Gregory Y | August 28, 2008 at 04:50 PM