Cost Savings versus Sustainability?

A recent article in Mass High Tech lamented that "Company cost savings still trump cleantech, alternative energy".

The assumption that cleantech and cost savings are mutually exclusive, however, is flawed.

Cloud computing lowers carbon footprint and, in most cases, offers significant cost savings. Furthermore, cloud-based solutions shift IT spending from capital expenditures to operating expense.

To see how cloud based solutions, such as Google Apps, compare with in-house solutions, such as Exchange, click here and here.

Google Features Horizon in Case Study

Today's Google's Enterprise Blog features Horizon Info Services, one of our customers, and the web developer that brought us together.

Access Fitness Management Systems provides consulting and management services to health clubs, as well as being the owner and operator of the Worcester Fitness and Plymouth Fitness clubs here in the Boston area.

Horizon was introduced to the team at Access Fitness Management Systems by Cold Spring Design.

Read the full story Here.

Google Apps vs Exchange Part 3: Outlook Sync Compatibility

By now, you have heard about Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook. You may also hear rumblings about less than 100% compatibility.

Yes, there are limitations. That said, the ability to use Outlook with Google Apps Premier Edition is an easy, powerful way to help companies transition from Exchange services (in-house or hosted) to Google Apps.

So you know .... the tool does not sync:

• Tasks (a shame since Google Tasks integrate with the inbox and calendar so well)
• Notes
• Journal
• Public Folders

Additionally, installing Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook may change the way searching works within Outlook. According to Microsoft, it disables Outlook's use of Windows Desktop Search, which Outlook uses to "any and all Outlook data".

While the registry bit was not changed by the Google sync tool installation on any of our systems, here is the fix.

1. Run REGEDIT
   
   
2. Browse to: "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search"
   
   
3. Reset the value of “PreventIndexingOutlook” to “0” (without the quotes). To do this, right click on the “PreventIndexingOutlook” key, select “Modify…”, then change the value data to “0”.
   
   
4. Exit REGEDIT

Finally, Google is publishing a list of other Outlook Add-ins that may not be compatible with the sync tool. We are reviewing the information and will post an update later this week.

While some companies may find one or more of these limitations a "show stopper", our experience tells us that most companies will still benefit from being able to use Outlook and Google Apps via the MAPI connection.

Google Apps vs Exchange In-House

Functionality, cost, and user experience all play into the decision to run Google Apps versus Exchange in-house.

Our latest take ... we've added "the user experience" as our 8th consideration. With the addition of Outlook Sync for Google Apps, users can maintain their current client and services and have access to the additional features offered by Google Apps Premier Edition.

See the presentation here.

Google Apps vs. Exchange - Part 2

Until yesterday, Part 2 of the comparison was going to look at some of the more esoteric feature comparison between Google Apps and Exchange. Specifically, I was going to cover how Google Apps new Tasks features integrate with email and calendar functions in comparison to isolated manner in which Tasks function in Exchange/Outlook (separate reminders, separate date tracking).

Today's announcement by Google of a MAPI-based Outlook Synchronization solution, however, changes the focus completely.

With this capability, Outlook users can continue to use Outlook without the limitations of running as an IMAP client.

Click Here for Google's Announcement and to Learn More.

We'll be testing the add-on over the next week or so and I will post our findings as well.

A Better Option

Yesterday, I blogged about the cost of MS Exchange 2007, particularly since most SMBs do not buy Software Assurance and will need to purchase new licenses and new hardware.

In our example, a 20 person company looking to run a Standard Edition of Windows Server and MS Exchange would likely spend $20,000 to $25,000 over a three year period, or about $400 per user per year, to provide email, calendar, contacts, and tasks.

With support, SMBs can get these services via Google Apps for about $5000 over the same three year period. Yes, you can save 75%

Again, this is a baseline comparison. For in-house solutions, costs rise if you add redundancy or collaboration tools. With Google Apps, redundancy is built-in and collaboration tools are included for free.

Granted, Google Apps is not appropriate for every business. But, do you not owe it to your bottom line to explore the possibility?

How Expensive is MS Exchange 2007?

For most companies, the time to upgrade from MS Exchange 2003 to MS Exchange 2007 is when the physical server is ready for replacement. In part, this is a necessity because Exchange 2007 only runs in a 64-bit environment and most servers running MS Windows Server 2003 are running on a 32-bit system.

Unless you have purchased Software Assurance for your operating system, Exchange, and the Client Access Licenses (CALs), you will have the following software costs when you upgrade from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2007.

• Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition = $1000 per server and $40 per user
  
• MS Exchange 2007 Server Standard Edition = $700 per server and $67 per user

For a 20 person company, your software costs are $1800 for the server and $2040 for the Exchange server, a total of $3840. This assumes, of course, that you have already spent the $4000 to $7500 on an a 64-bit server. If not, your total cost is about $10,000, or $500 per user.

If you extend your analysis into the future, add costs for administrator time, hardware and software maintenance and updates, and the hard and soft costs of backup. Over three years, our 20 person company could easily spend $20,000 to $25,000 for email services.

This is the baseline. Add redundancy, collaboration, and other capabilities to your environment and you are buying more hardware, more software, and spending more on administration, support, and backups.

Email is critical to most businesses and maybe $500 per user per year is a good deal. Then again, maybe there is a better way. More to follow.