Stalker, Bynari Update E-Mail Software for OS/400, Other Platforms

by Alex Woodie

OS/400 shops looking to replace their Microsoft Exchange e-mail servers have new software to choose from. Independent software vendors Bynari and Stalker Software recently announced updated versions of their respective e-mail server and client products, which now support more of the calendaring functionality that the duo of Exchange and Outlook offer.

Stalker Offers Native OS/400 E-Mail Server

In June, Stalker Software announced CommuniGate Pro with Groupware (also know as CommuniGate Pro) Version 4.1, a new bundle of software that includes e-mail server software and a messaging application program interface (MAPI) connector for supporting Outlook clients. Stalker had already provided the groupware capability--a collaboration feature that allows employees to view each other's calendars to better arrange their schedules--to Outlook clients with CommuniGate Pro Version 4.0 (see "Stalker Creeps Up on Microsoft with Exchange Replacement"), which shipped in October 2002.

With the release of CommuniGate Pro 4.1, the Mill Valley, California, company made good on its promise to deliver CommuniGate Pro's groupware functionality beyond Outlook clients and to support that functionality on Web-based e-mail clients, such as Eudora and Netscape, and mobile groupware clients such as the Evolution product from Ximian (which was acquired by Novell last week). In fact, CommuniGate Pro 4.1 supports any client or device that adheres to the new Internet calendaring and groupware standards, such as iCalendar, iTIP, and iMIP.

Stalker's CommuniGate Pro runs natively on OS/400 and a number of other platforms, including Windows, Linux, Unix, FreeBSD, MacOS, and many others. One of the most visible organizations running CommuniGate Pro on OS/400 servers is the electronic OS/400 user group IGNITe/400. Licenses for CommuniGate Pro 4.1 range from $499, which supports up to 50 users and up to five distribution lists, to $59,999 for an unlimited number of users and lists.

Bynari Takes Linux Route to iSeries

Another company offering a collection of e-mail servers, clients, and connectors for replacing Microsoft Exchange is Dallas, Texas, based Bynari, which develops for the Linux platform. The company recently announced a wave of new products, including a Web-based e-mail client that supports Microsoft-style calendaring. Insight Web Client Services 1.0, which started shipping two months ago, allows road warriors to make meetings, edit tasks, view contacts, and send e-mail from a Web browser. The software works with Bynari's e-mail server software, InsightServer, and its MAPI connector, called InsightConnector. The company also announced a beta release of LDAP Client 2.0, which adds phone number support.

Earlier this year, Bynari announced InsightServer 4.0, an overhaul of the company's InsightServer 3.55 product. With this release, Bynari delivered an enterprise-class e-mail server, says Hyun Kim, who took over management of Bynari last year. Some of the advanced features users will find in InsightServer 4.0 include a new Web management console that features new backup and recovery tools, a migration tool that supports Exchange 5.5 and Exchange 2000, new reporting and statistical tools, and support for companies operating multiple e-mail domains.

InsightServer 4.0 also features a new GUI. "The previous version was menu driven, and required a command line," Kim says. "It was great if you were a Linux expert. We turned [InsightServer] into a business application."

Bynari recently completed porting InsightServer 4.0 to iSeries Linux, as well as zSeries Linux. Kim, who spent 13 years at IBM, worked with the iSeries in the Global Services division and knows the value of the machine, she says.

Bynari offers a bundle that includes InsightServer, the InsightConnector, and an address book. On the iSeries, this bundle ranges in cost from $13 to $24 per seat, depending on the number of users. Insight Web Client Services is separately priced from $12 to $20 per user, depending on the number of users.

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