consider the costs:
- Windows Server 2003 and Exchange Server - starting around $2,000, usually more
- CAL (Client Access Licenses) - in the neighborhood of $125 each
- You will probably need to buy a new server to host all this enterprise software.
- Microsoft Outlook for each person using the email system (included in some versions of Office - about $250 per person.
- Email Backup: an entire backup schema using an expensive backup program and tape drive is needed
- An expert to set this all up for you - $180 per hour. A basic setup will take at least a full workday.
Open Source solution: hMail Server
costs:
- software: free
- runs on any windows PC (even an old Pentium3)
- protocols: IMAP (This works so well that many large corporations use it instead of Exchange)
- Email Backup: All Email can be mirrored to a second drive or computer on your network- free and simple.
- An expert to set this all up for you - $100 per hour. It takes about 3 hours or less!
