It's difficult to justify spending the money and maintaining an Exchange server when you are a Small Business. But Microsoft's Exchange server is pretty much the defacto standard when it comes to e-mail, calendaring, and contact management in today's workplace.
Many SMBs turn to Hosted Exchange servers to solve this problem. The main cost avoided with Hosted Exchange is maintenance. Essentially, a Small Business is paying for an outsourced vendor to maintain their Exchange environment.
But even Hosted Exchange is still a relatively costly investment. Hosted Exchange can range from $4.95/user to $575/month (on the 50+ user end).
One of the new players on the block is a company called BlueTie. They aren't offering Exchange but their product looks very slick at first glance.
BlueTie's service includes what you would normally expect in Exchange and more: e-mail, collaborative calendaring (and tasks), and shared contact management. Their BlueTie Pro edition also provides IM. The major difference, however, between BlueTie and Hosted Exchange is the AJAX interface - check out their demo (available on the homepage) to see it in action.
The free service is actually pretty comprehensive (and generous in my opinion), providing up to 20 users per account and 5GB of storage per user. The free service does not include toll-free phone or e-mail support and lacks what I consider a killer feature: BlueTie's DirectConnect.
DirectConnect provides Outlook synchronization, POP3/IMAP, and WAP 2.0 mobile support. Synchronization can occur two-ways, Outlook to BlueTie, or BlueTie to Outlook. BlueTie was smart to play nice with Outlook and mobile devices.
BlueTie Pro pricing is very competitive at $4.99/user per month. Of course, you can use the free version too (and in that case, a similar offering is Google Apps for your Domain). If you are looking for a low cost Exchange alternative, you may want to give BlueTie a serious look.
Hi. Was just reading this blog and wanted to share a collabroation service I use in my own business. I'm home-based marcom consultant with clients, vendors and partners all over the US and am always collaborating or presenting long distance. I recently found a hosted service that combines video conferencing, desktop sharing and collaboration with only a webcam/microphone needed. It saves a lot of time trading edits and cuts down on overnighting. Very useful -- KnowledgeNetworks at http://poundi.com/knowledgeltd.com/.
Posted by: Liza Kurtz | July 04, 2007 at 02:55 PM