Hosted email offering full cross-OS support

[Baxtersoup]

Hello,

A few months ago I make the big jump and got myself a Macbook Pro. My first foray back into using a Mac since I had Powerbook Titanium when OS X first came out.

The obvious – it’s brilliant, I can never imaging using Windows as my main machine again. I’ve managed to find OS X alternatives to most of my Windows apps, apart from one – which is a service really… Exchange.

I host my email with an Exchange SaaS provider which works well enough, but still needles me that I can’t fully move away from Microsoft. In typical Microsoft fashion Outlook Web Access doesn’t fully work with anything other than IE, this is improved with Exchange 2007 and OWA Light but still… it’s the typical Microsoft approach. To get full integration with OS X apps such as Mail an iCal you have to use third-party tools.

Having experience in the hosted email industry I’m aware of the limitations with Exchange especially in case of disaster, and am not comfortable with a potentially long restore in case the environment fails.

As such, I’m considering launching a hosted email service that would offer the majority of the same functions of Exchange whilst providing a much greater level of cross-platform compatability.

The solution would provide;

- Fully server-based groupware support for Entourage, Mail/iCal/Address Book (via iSync) & Outlook.
- LDAP and IMAP or POP3 support for other client.
- Webmail client with drag and drop functionality, showing the same data as when used with groupware support or IMAP – including from non-MS browers.
- Private groupware areas such as Global Address Lists and Public Folders
- Advanced spam and AV filtering – spam is stopped before it reaches your mailbox.
- Mobile device support for iPhone, Windows Mobile, Nokia Symbian, Blackberry and mobile web browsers. Some devices require third-party tools if instant mail is required and IMAP is not used.
- Web administration console to allow alteration of users and aliases in your domain.
- Customisable login pages to use on your own websites.

Obviously such as solution requires a huge investment, and as such I’d like to invite feedback. Type of feedback I’m looking for are;

- Would you use such as service?
- What sort of features would you expect?
>> Mailbox quota
>> Maximum mail size
>> Secure SMTP/IMAP/LDAP/POP3
- What price would you expect to pay?
- Anything else you can think of!

In advance I’d like to offer thanks for your time reading and (hopefully) replying to this post. If I launch the service I’ll offer the first month free to anyone who replies to this.

Regards,

Baxtersoup

[Giaguara]

Hi Baxter,

- I wouldn't use such service. Exchange and Outlook are only corporate nuisances, and if I need those on my Mac, it will be run via VMware Fusion.
- Besides, if I needed Exchange, it would HAVE TO be from the company or the corporation I work for. Not for a outside work experience for me thanks.
- What would I expect? Simplicity, functionality. Like spiced up version of mail.app, hosted by MY service. Search that works (unlike Outlook etc). Ability to create rules on client and server side, e.g. every mail that contains any attachment or html, and the sender is not specifically added to a list of approved senders (by me), send all attachments to trash. Encryption to work. Full control of my mail on server side, so e.g. no ISP or other side backups, no government backdoors, no one that I don't authorize myself to have access to MY mails. Spam filters that I can fully open and educate
- Quota and mail sizes: I would rather decide
- IMAP, LDAP/AD as I need
- Payment? Hm. Gmail has a mailbox with no size limits practically and it's free. How do you expect to compete with them? Also Yahoo and hotmail have huge storages now (huge for average user). So I guess I'd pay whatever I need to get the domain, and then set up my own servers ....

Are you planning to serve this for individuals or companies?

[Baxtersoup]

Hi Giaguara,

Thanks for your reply. I can see from your replies (and machine specs) that you're a high-end user. Most hosted email solutions are used by either very small companies or ex-corporate users who have setup their own business and want the same functionality they had previously but are unable to setup due to lack of technical knowledge or funds.

Running a dedicated Exchange box for 1-2 users sounds fine if you have the equipment lying around and the knowledge, if you don't it can be an expensive option. Especially if you're a home-office worker and go away for a weeks business trip and the server dies whilst your away, or if Exchange has a 'blip' that the business person can't fix themselves.

The main reasons I've found that people don't use a Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo mailbox for business are generally;

- Can't use your own domain (I know some of the services offer this - but usually for a fee).
- If it's free then support can be limited, a Yahoo! account I had just wouldn't let me in one day - for no reason. Five support requests and four weeks later it finally got resolved - but this is a lifetime for a business user.
- No guarantee of service - I've heard quite a few horror stories of Yahoo and Hotmail (and Google - although less) just closing an account or the user losing access to it... with no explanation.
- Some of the free mail domains aren't accepted by certain services when subscribing to things like merchant accounts.
- I agree entirely on capacity, there is no way to compete with the quotas set by the three big players, however most users don't use anywhere near this. In my experience most hosted Exchange users mailboxes never exceed 500MB.

I see your perspective, likewise if I wanted an Exchange server I could easily throw my own box together and run behind my connection with a spam service I have access to... this was my initial approach when I wanted my own Exchange account, but it cost more in the long run due to time spend configuring and administering it that it costs to pay for a hosted solution.

Thanks for your view point and I appreciate your time spent replying.

Regards,

Baxtersoup