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Windows Server Forum / Exchange Server / Applications / January 2006Share contacts and calendar without Exchange
Hello, I have a customer with Exchange 2000 and ~25-30 users that will soon migrate all email accounts to an external provider/ISP (IMAP4). So, the exchange 2000 server will be switched off and removed from the LAN. The customer want to maintain a shared address book and a shared calendar but without the Exchange Server. All clients run Outlook 2003 on a mixed environment (XP Pro and 2000 workstation). I know that on Internet I can find many solutions (like OutlookFolders or MAPILab Groupware Server, etc...) but I don't have any experience with these software... The optimal solution will be a centralized solution with rights administration on the shared contacts & calendars and the capability to import all data from the existing Exchange server. (at last contacts...) Anyone here have some experience with this problem? Any suggestions? Thank you for your patience! :) > Hello, > I have a customer with Exchange 2000 and ~25-30 users that will soon [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Thank you for your patience! :) Well, if this is so important to them, I have to ask why on earth they're getting rid of the product that will make it possible, especially given that they've already paid for it and installed it. What is the reason for this? I'd consider it a very major downgrade - not only because of the lack of anything built-in that will let them share Outlook data, but also because you will no longer be able to centralize data, back it up in one place, administer it in one place, etc. - even with IMAP, as it doesn't support anything besides mail. You might search for "sharing" at www.slipstick.com, but honestly, I'd view anything you see in there as being in the category of "What to try if you can't afford to use Exchange." Hi Lanwench, the reason of this migration is moderately complex. This customer have lost the system administrator responsible of this Exchange (the guy as changed job) and after an acquisition this my customer need to adopt the new infrastructure standards (outsourcing email server). Usually, for this customer, I deploy networking solutions (CIsco &c) and this time I'm involved to suggest a compatible solution between the new standards and the customer ideas. At this time I'm evaluating these "solutions": http://www.officecalendar.com/ http://www.opusflow.nl/html/cat_index_19.shtml http://www.publicshareware.com/ ...and I will take a tour on the website that you have suggested. Finally, sorry for my multi-wrong post! Thank you! > Hi Lanwench, > the reason of this migration is moderately complex. This customer have > lost the system administrator responsible of this Exchange (the guy as > changed job) How about outsourcing it to hosted exchange, then? I would certainly recommend that over going with IMAP and PST file sharing software (which I doubt MS supports). You're actually going to have far more admin work otherwise, and nothing is going to work as well to achieve the stated goals as Exchange. >and after an acquisition this my customer need to adopt > the new infrastructure standards (outsourcing email server). I'd speak to whomever is making this decision and explain that if they truly want what they say they want, Exchange is pretty much the only way to go. Of course, there's also Groupwise and Notes. You just don't want to move from a centralized solution like a server (whether on site or off) to a bunch of PST files sitting on failure-prone IDE drives on users' workstations. Don't they also care about remote access to their data? Disaster recovery? > Usually, for this customer, I deploy networking solutions (CIsco &c) > and this time I'm involved to suggest a compatible solution between [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Finally, sorry for my multi-wrong post! No worries... > Thank you! I'd concur that a hosted Exchange server is what you want. We spent a good portion of a year trying to make an IMAp+calendar+etc. solution work, and we had it in house. We eventually bit the bullet and switched to Exchange. There's just no way to replicate the seamless integration Exchange offers with multiple third party solutions. > > Hi Lanwench, > > the reason of this migration is moderately complex. This customer have [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > > > > Thank you! How about looking at an outsourced Exchange box. Plenty of them about. Nick > Hi Lanwench, > the reason of this migration is moderately complex. This customer have [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Thank you! Hi, If you just want to share calendar, contacts and don't neet the email function, I'd like to recommend a 3'nd part solutions, WinPIM at http://www.winpim.com/ It gives you an easy and low cost network solution for sharing all data simultaneously with everyone in your workgroup! You can share data with or without a server. It can also transfer all the data in your outlook without any problem. We use it for over one year in our group (about 20 users), it works great. Thank you, I will give it a try |
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