Alternatives to Outlook OWA 2013

smcgiff

Hello,

I fondly remember my desktop outlook from the late 90s. It was a thing of beautiful simplicity.

Recently we've been changed over to OWA 2013 and nobody in the company is feeling the love for it.

I understand the need to give new experiences time and it has grown on me somewhat. I've gone from hating it with psychotic loathing, to mere animosity.

However, the CEO is not as zen as I and wants alternatives.

I've asked what he specifically dislikes about the new OWA, but I wont get an answer.

So... what are the alternatives? It has to be internet based and available to access via phones. Is Gmail the only other alternative?

Mr. G

I know a lot of businesses have not upgraded from Exchange 2010 because of the cost and because they hate the interface.

Office 365 would be nearly the same as OWA in Exchange 2013.

Zimbra may be an option. I have tested it and found it very easy to set up and use. As an alternative to Exchange, I quite like it. It runs on Linux and can be accessed via Zimbra Desktop, IMAP/POP and through a web browser. There is a free and a paid version- obviously paid has more features. It is also on a Linux system so is a lot less likely to have security holes and viruses.

I chose it over Exchange.

There are a few others, but certainly Google Apps and Zimbra are the main contenders.

Google Apps is hosted, whereas Exchange and Zimbra can be hosted on site also. I would assume in your case, it is onsite.

Hosting off site has it's advantages, for example, less downtime and fully supported SLAs.

smcgiff

Great Mr G,

That gives me something to work with.

I'm also now on the look out for an Email service provider.

Any PMs from people with recommendations appreciated.

Thanks