Gordano Ups Outlook Integration, Security In New Mail Version

And the company has bolstered security with what it's calling zero-hour virus protection, in partnership with CommTouch. The technology scans for patterns in incoming mail and can detect problems even before various blacklist services can, said John Stanners, managing director of the North Somerset, U.K.-based vendor.

Also new is support for Firefox 1.5 on Linux. The current offering supports Firefox on Windows as well as Internet Explorer.

The Outlook integration is much improved over the previous release, according to Matt Lavallee, Web Services Manager for PMP Technology, a Downers Grove, Ill. VAR. "They used to modify the way IMAP worked, which meant users ahd to get used to new things. This new release works just like Exchange," he said. Exchange is Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft's back-end mail offering.

. Gordano now uses the Outlook PST or private store, not their own, so it's "all native Outlook," Lavallee said

Outlook support is what is key to most users. If users can continue to use the interface they've become accustomed to, they don't much care what's on the backend as long as it works, VARs say.

That comes in handy for smaller e-mail vendors like Gordano, Scalix, Open-Xchange who want to wrest customers away from the Microsoft Exchange Server infrastructure.

That's not as hard as it sounds, given Microsoft licensing costs especially when it comes to growing small businesses, Lavalle said.

Small companies often start with Microsoft Small Business Server which is very inexpensive. "But at $120 a CAL and having to re-license every time you upgrade—especially as you go from 25 to 50 users--it's too expensive for many," Lavallee said.

Gordano Messaging System in small companies of up to 25 users costs $84 per user and that falls to $28 per user with 1000 seats or more. Exchange Server Standard configuration starts at around $95 per seat for 25 users, falling to $68 per user for 1,000 seats or more, according to Gordano figures.