Are you too tied down to CHANGE?
Do you sometimes feel like pulling the hair out of your head? Well, that’s if you’re one of those unlucky souls in the IT department who has to maintain the Microsoft Exchange groupware beast. You see, a lot of IT shops in the Windows world are beholden to the Exchange/Outlook stack in order to function properly. This is an unfortunate outcome. Let’s just say that both applications are ANNOYING to say the least in terms of manageability, bloat, bugs and security risks that seem to surface regularly.

Small business: Watch out
Now, according to John C. Dvorak, who just happens to be my favorite Tech columnist in the whole wide world, Exchange is too pricey for most budgets. Take a peek at his on-the-ball (as usual) observation:

“Though there’s no doubt that Exchange’s integration with the Microsoft Outlook client, groupware features, and shared contact lists are handy, companies may object to its cost and complexity. The cost of running Exchange includes Windows Server. Unless you like paying Microsoft a small fortune (up to $8,000 for 25 user licenses for Windows Server and Exchange), you might consider a Linux solution.” {source: Life Without Exchange}

Decisions, decisions
Although Dvorak discussed 6 alternative Exchange solutions, I was quite intrigued at his mention of OpenGroupware.org (see screenshots). Once again, I present the word right from the horse’s mouth:

This Exchange alternative (aka OGo) provides contact management, group calendaring, resource planning, task management, e-mail, document and project management, news, and Palm syncing, all available via a Web interface. An Outlook plug-in is available. You can manage accounts, groups, and server configurations using a Web interface. The Projects application lets you share documents and link projects with contacts, tasks, notes, and appointments. The server runs on Linux or Windows. Cost: Free.

One thing that impressed the heck out of me about OpenGroupware’s brain trust is that they really understand their mission. This part made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside:

Use Open Protocols
We find it even more important to support open protocols than to provide the source code for a groupware solution, since open protocols provide the real freedom of choice for the customer and allow integration into existing IT infrastructures. Groupware is in a miserable state when it comes to interoperability, we try to fix that issue by cleanly documenting all the protocols used by the OGo reference server and by building protocol bridges.

Okay, end of rant.

Wrap up…more on Dvorak
To conclude, I urge you to take a look at Dvorak’s timely article, and give Exchange the boot. He’s always a step ahead of everyone in terms of where IT is headed, or where it ought to go. I’ve been a big fan of his ever since I got into computers thanks to an amazing high school Coop-Ed work term in Computers & Accounting at Computing Devices Corporation (now General Dynamics Canada).

I’ll never forget his insightful Inside Track columns (now in PC Magazine) in PC/Computing (now defunct), which kept me up to date on all the important goings on in the computer industry. He truly is a legend. Oh, he’s also joined to the hip with PC Magazine as chief editor (I think), which I also give credit for helping me to lose my “IT virginity” back then. After all, “knowledge is power” and I learned a lot simply from reading followed by “doing.”

Oh, you should see his non-IT blog: Dvorak Uncensored. I’m sure you’ll get a riot out of his Fixing California’s Problems blog entry where he proposes to split the sunshine state into 3 states: Northern California, California, and Southern California. Once again, I agree with his logic 100%.

John, thank YOU for making a difference in my LIFE!!! Much love.

By the way, here’s wishing you smooth sailing in your Exchange/Outlook ordeals. For those of you who simply need a better email client, I suggest Mozilla Thunderbird. You’ll have a different (and better) outlook on emailing and contact management once you take it for a spin. Guaranteed. Heck, if it’s sister, Mozilla Firefox (web browser), can obtain over 100 million users in record time, there’s no doubt this bird’s going to soar very high – and fast.

Happy computing!

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Related links:

• PC Pro: Analysis: Real World Computing: Exchanging Exchange
• Troubleshoot 10 common Exchange problems with these expert answers
• Serious Exchange Problems (Experts-Exchange forums)
• Exchange 2000 // 2003 & Active Directory (security-forums.com)
• Exchange 2003 Real World Tweaks (Part 1)
• Securing Exchange With ISA Server 2004
• Locking down Exchange Server
• Opinions from PC Magazine’s John C. Dvorak