Google Unveils Potential Exchange Killer

Created by Eric L. Likness (University of Rochester) on June 11, 2009

We will see if this is everything it promises to be. I have to say this makes the decision whether or not to provision email accounts to Faculty & Staff to Gmail much more interesting. Especially for IT Depts. who depend completely on Outlook as an email client, this provides another path to outsource email services. And best of all I can fully appreciate the difference between IMAP4 versus Microsoft's MAPI protocols for retrieving new email messages and calendar appointments. I have both an Exchange account and an IMAP email account that I use through Microsoft Outlook. Exchange using the MAPI protocol is WAY faster than IMAP4. So the argument over Exchange being faster is moot. It will be interesting to see how this Sync Service evolves and which Universities are beta testing or planning to implement this service on their campuses.

From: Campus Technology Thursday, June 11, 2009

"Google just made it easier for IT organizations to ditch Microsoft Exchange Server.

On Tuesday, the company unveiled Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook. With it, users don't have to switch from the familiar Microsoft Outlook interface for calendar, contacts, and e-mail functions. They can continue to use Outlook while connecting directly to Google's servers. It eliminates the need for an Exchange mail server to be in the loop.

The Google enterprise blog posted a video comment by Robert J. Rudy, vice president and CIO of Avago Technologies, which was an early adopter of Google's synchronization technology. Rudy claimed that using Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook runs one-sixth of the cost of running and maintaining Microsoft Exchange. He also said that it eliminates a "performance hit" from running the IMAP 4 protocol."

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		Google Unveils Potential Exchange Killer Created by Eric L. Likness (University of Rochester) on June 11, 2009 We will see if this is everything it promises to be. I have to say this makes the decision whether or not to provision email accounts to Faculty & Staff to Gmail much more interesting. Especially for IT Depts. who depend completely on Outlook as an email client, this provides another path to outsource email services. And best of all I can fully appreciate the difference between IMAP4 versus Microsoft's MAPI protocols for retrieving new email messages and calendar appointments. I have both an Exchange account and an IMAP email account that I use through Microsoft Outlook. Exchange using the MAPI protocol is WAY faster than IMAP4. So the argument over Exchange being faster is moot. It will be interesting to see how this Sync Service evolves and which Universities are beta testing or planning to implement this service on their campuses. From: Campus Technology Thursday, June 11, 2009 "Google just made it easier for IT organizations to ditch Microsoft Exchange Server. On Tuesday, the company unveiled Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook. With it, users don't have to switch from the familiar Microsoft Outlook interface for calendar, contacts, and e-mail functions. They can continue to use Outlook while connecting directly to Google's servers. It eliminates the need for an Exchange mail server to be in the loop. The Google enterprise blog posted a video comment by Robert J. Rudy, vice president and CIO of Avago Technologies, which was an early adopter of Google's synchronization technology. Rudy claimed that using Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook runs one-sixth of the cost of running and maintaining Microsoft Exchange. He also said that it eliminates a "performance hit" from running the IMAP 4 protocol." gmail \| Outsourcing E-mail Eric's blog Login or register to post comments 171 reads
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