Should your Email Server be in the Cloud?
Respected industry analyst Forrester reports that corporate email will be one of the first application services to be moved from on-premise server operation out to the cloud.
Cloud Computing offers the promise of improved operational efficiency and IT cost reduction through the outsourcing of utility IT applications and platforms.
Forrester concluded:
- Cloud based services are always cheaper for businesses with fewer than 15,000 users
- Google Apps for Business service offers the lowest cost of operation of the available cloud-based services
Forrester Report
Forrester's report - "Should your Email Live in the Cloud? A Comparative Cost Analysis" surveyed opinion in over 50 companies and reviewed over 20 email vendors, they determined that:
- 40% of businesses believe that managing email is now too expensive
- Consolidation, mergers or facing another software upgrade are triggers to consider moving to the cloud
Forrester identified the following key benefits of cloud offerings which go beyond cost:
- Reduced cost
- Ability to rapidly provision new users
- Reallocation of IT resources to more business centric projects
- Always running the latest software release and eliminating the pain associated with software upgrades
- Cashflow: Shifting the financial burden from up-front capital expense to operating expense
Market Review - Google, Microsoft, IBM
Forrester reviewed the marketplace and offerings from Google, Microsoft and IBM.
The report considered alternatives such as Google Apps Email, Microsoft Exchange Online (BPOS), conventional hosted implementations of Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino. It assessed the full costs of service provisioning including:
- Service subscription
- Server hardware and operating system
- Service application software licencing
- Client Software
- Storage
- Message security (filtering, anti-virus, archiving)
- Staff and administration
The report determined that Google Apps Email part of the Google Apps for Business service offered the lowest cost of operation of the available cloud-based services and that "Google is setting a new price floor on email and archiving costs" .
Google Apps Email
Google Apps for Business Email is a fully cloud-based service, no hardware or software to purchase, maintain, patch or update. It includes:
- 25GB of email storage per user
- Shared calendars and contacts
- Support for Blackberry and mobile devices
- Built-in anti-virus and anti-spam
- Support for clients including Microsoft Outlook
- Migration tools from Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange or other IMAP servers
- More information >>>
References
Ancoris has an impressive list of customers who have migrated to Google Apps , ranging from small and medium businesses to major corporations such as Specsavers. Other major companies who have switched to Google include Motorola, Rentokil Initial, Jaguar Land Rover and the Telegraph Group.
Implementation
Ancoris is the UK's leading Google Enterprise Partner with over 140 customers for Google's cloud based services.
Ancoris offer comprehensive assessment, trial, migration, training and support services for organisations transitioning their email to the cloud.
We can also offer a risk-free 30 day trial of the Google Apps Service together with associated migration and assessment services.
