linux Archives · AE Technology Group

Sustained Growth of Linux and Embracing a Microsoft Exchange Alternative Provider

Linux has been a mainstay of the web server ecosystem during most of the internet’s transition into a true global network. As an affordable server platform, it allowed many developers to establish a presence and reputation on the web and through the open source LAMP stack and allowed many to prop up websites with very little capital.

In enterprise, it has fought alongside Windows Server and various flavors of Unix for recognition. The first web bubble helped companies such as Sun sell a great deal of expensive, enterprise-ready equipment, and helped Microsoft license its server technology. However, are we long past the first web bubble (and much wiser for it.) In the modern economy, affordable Linux servers are far outpacing both Windows and Unix alternatives. However, it is not only the economic angle that is driving the growth of Linux.

In the past managers and IT directors have carried skepticism towards the platform, despite its overlap with Unix. It was fairly common to question its security and reliability. However, those fears have long dissipated and Linux is by far the fastest growing platform. According to a recent study, Linux experienced 12.7 percent year-over-year growth in the last quarter of 2012. Windows barely budged and Unix actually went down by 24.1 percent.

Furthermore, the breakdown of the key drivers to its adoption is:

the feature set at 75 percent
the reduced TCO at 71 percent
security at 69 percent

All misgiving and mischaracterizations of Linux have virtually disappeared, and now is the right time to begin embracing the platform.
The operating system has a successful history as a web server stack, a host for enterprise application servers, and it is also the base for major content management systems (CMS) such as WordPress and Drupal. However, it is just as effective as the foundation of an email server stack. Just as it has shown itself to be ideal for mission-critical applications, it has proven itself to be perfect as the host for a Microsoft Exchange alternative provider. Contact AE Technology to learn more.

What are the financial benefits of a Hosted Email solution?

The average employee of a modern company sends and receives email with little thought to as how much overhead is required to maintain the system. However, those that manage the IT budget do, and over time the paradigm of on-premise, company hosted and managed email servers has started to show inefficiency. Thankfully, there are many options currently available for hosted email solutions. Some recent findings are not just validating the intuitive notion that hosted solutions shave off IT costs in noticeable amounts, they also carry added organizational benefits beyond just the explicit TCO.

It has been shown that certain organizations can stand to save over $62,160 (£40,000 ) by switching to a hosted email solution, particularly SMBs with approximately 70 users. This factors in the following considerations:

Individual mailboxes incur storage costs.

On-premise email searches are not always optimal.
The typical three-year cycle of replacing hardware is expensive.
On-premise email ultimately means costly long-term licenses.

However, some have also noted that a hosted solution can bring with it less-obvious productivity and integration gains. For instance:

Hosted solutions are invariably more scalable.
Hosted solutions are often readily bundled or integrated with additional collaborative tools that can add further dimensions to workplace communication.
Hosted solutions bolster the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) initiative – they are inherently platform-independent and mobile devices are geared towards browser access.

Hosted email solutions are a major shift in an organization’s communication strategy, despite the fact that they still provide one of the most familiar forms of digital business interaction. It takes a trusted partner to help a business make the shift to hosted email. For more information contact AE Technology Group, a trusted technology partner that provides service with Zarafa, a leading open source email and collaboration solution.

What alternative email solution is better than Microsoft Exchange?

Microsoft Exchange and its associated Outlook client have been the face of enterprise communications for many years and are pretty much synonymous with the idea of work email. That does not mean, however, that there are not open source alternatives. There is a slate of clients/email servers that replicate the functions of Microsoft’s email solutions and not only have transparent code but plug into Linux server backends. One of the most well-known is Zarafa.

Zarafa released its email client/server technology as open source in 2008. Its distinguishing feature is that it is offered as a full-fledged, transparent replacement for Exchange, giving all its benefits as well as some additional features not available on the proprietary system:

Similarities

Zarafa has maintained an almost identical look and feel compared to Outlook, which is good news for any organization that decides to switch over as users can easily adjust. It not only is familiar in layout but carries similar features such as the address book, calendar, and public folders to which Outlook users have become accustomed. It also provides connectivity with Outlook by means of a plugin. Microsoft uses the proprietary Messaging API (MAPI) for communication between Exchange and Outlook. Zafara has implemented its own version (Mapi4Linux) for compatibility. Like Exchange it can also perform authentication through LDAP and Active Directory.

Differences

Linux is the platform of choice for Zafara, as you would expect, and it plugs into a MySQL database for added security. In addition to the difference in OS, the email client for Zafara is an AJAX-based web-app as opposed to being a stand-alone application like Outlook, giving it high accessibility as well as ease of use from mobile devices. As with all open-source solutions, it is cheaper than Exchange to license but not entirely free, as it comes in Standard, Professional, and Enterprise editions at different price points.