Users Worried About Exchange 2007 Migrations, Survey Finds

Published: June 20, 2007

by Alex Woodie

The path toward Exchange Server 2007 is lined with fears of cost and complexity, according to a study commissioned by PostPath, which sells an alternative Linux-based product that competes with Microsoft's e-mail and collaboration platform.

According to the study, which PostPath paid Osterman Research to conduct and which was published in a report titled "E-mail Migration Trends and Challenges," while Microsoft Exchange 2007 has some key benefits, many enterprise customers are concerned that the migration process will be complex and costly and take many months to complete.

Osterman found that 70 percent of the companies surveyed were concerned or extremely concerned about the complexity of migrating to Exchange 2007, while a slightly lower percentage cited the amount of time it will take to complete a migration as a major concern.

Cost was also an issue that came up. Slightly more than one-half of organizations surveyed weren't aware that Outlook 2007 requires a separate Client Access License (CAL) and is no longer included in the Exchange CAL as with previous versions of Exchange, Osterman found.

"The survey highlights the fact that many organizations are hungry for an alternative solution to Exchange 2007," concluded Michael Osterman, principal of Osterman Research. "E-mail server solutions that can increase performance, reduce costs, and support a variety of compliance and mobility requirements should be seriously considered."

However, any Linux-based alternative has a long, steep climb ahead of it. Only five percent of the organizations that Osterman surveyed currently use a Linux-based messaging system. Only five percent of respondents are willing to consider a Linux-based system, according to a survey the firm did in late 2006.

Other issues that users of Exchange and other messaging environments are grappling with include the rapid growth of storage requirements and user mailbox sizes, spam abatement, license compliance, and compliance with regulatory initiatives, including the new federal rules regarding discovery in legal matters.

PostPath, which was founded in 2003 and develops on the Linux platform, sells what it bills as the industry's first "drop-in compatible" alternative to Exchange--meaning that it duplicates many of Exchange's features and enables users to maintain their Outlook e-mail clients.

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