First off, let me just state for the record: if you don't subscribe to Mary Jo Foley's All about Microsoft blog, you should. It's consistently interesting and offers up gems of information.
Mary Jo today cites Yankee Group's upcoming report on the state of the email market. I thought that Exchange was safe from open source incumbents, due to its massive footprint (and to its tie-ins to other Microsoft technologies). But that's not what Yankee/Mary Jo is reporting:
"In an ominous portent for Microsoft, 23% of the survey respondents indicated they intend to migrate away from Exchange Server and switch to an alternative Linux or open source Email and messaging distribution platform over the next 12 to 18 months. The users attributed their decision to their belief that Linux Email and messaging packages are cheaper and easier to manage than Exchange," according to study author and Yankee analyst Laura DiDio.And why make the switch? Cost, complexity, and difficulty of managing Exchange, apparently. 23% said that these negatives far outweigh the problems with open source email systems (missing features, etc.).
Zimbra, Scalix, and others should reap the potential bonanza here. Watch for Microsoft to continue to integrate Exchange more deeply into Sharepoint and Office as a competitive move. Or maybe it should simply improve it. You know, innovate. Innovate with features but also innovate by making it simpler to use. People would pay for that.
Posted by Matt Asay on March 23, 2007 07:39 AM
