Gordano Bans Spam

A new confirmation process in the update package, dubbed GLWebMail XT, lets users prevent delivery of messages without an address in the "From:" field. Questionable e-mail is routed to a quarantine file, and the system automatically sends a message back to the sender asking for confirmation of his or her existence, the company said.

If the sender is a person and not a spam service, he or she is prompted to hit reply. Once that response is received, the Gordano e-mail system matches a token in the original message and routes it back to the inbox, according to Gordano. The update package also includes personal calendars and alarms.

Gordano, based in North Somerset, U.K., is starting to find success with SMBs that don't want to pay full freight for feature- and resource-intensive e-mail applications such as Lotus Notes/Domino and Microsoft Exchange, some solution providers said.

Many small companies wind up using only a small portion of the functionality in Notes or Exchange, said Steve Larson, vice president of systems integration and Internet security at Gordano reseller Enterprise Network Systems, Egan, Minn. "I don't see a lot of Notes in medium accounts," he said. "And the price of Exchange is huge compared to [Gordano NTMail."

NTMail is Gordano's existing Windows-based e-mail package; GLMail is the Linux/Unix version. The new spam-control product, GLWebMail XT, can be added to either offering, the company said.

Solution providers and analysts said e-mail software companies including Gordano, Rockliffe and Ipswitch may be able to grab market share as Microsoft and IBM's Lotus Software group make fundamental changes to the infrastructure of their own offerings. Those changes, coupled with the tough economy, could spur companies to look at lower-cost alternatives, they said.

"People look at other choices when migrations are painful and expensive," said Amy Wohl, president of Wohl Associates, a Narberth, Pa.-based consultancy. "This is the opportunity for new guys and the downside for old guys, which is why legacy players like Microsoft always pretend every new product is a continuation of the old product."

A 50-user license for GLWebMail XT costs $1,100 for Unix. For 50 Windows users, the price is $744.