Hi Jill, Now the discussion is open and offical. Like i told you on the phone, this will not work for many many many customers.
It is a shame, that ipswitch ignores the need of the mainstream customers. I can talk only for myself: We have around 300 installed IMail-servers here in our small switzerland. Mostly they bought IMail as a affordable mail server and ipswitch has a good reputation. ICS goes into new direction, into the class of Exchange and Notes. Is this the mainstream? What will happens to the lot of small and medium customers and especially the ISP's? Their budget is very limited, the hosting business is pretty hard. The can't afford the update to ICS. Simple like that. OK, you can live with some 'collateral damage' if you like. Again, let's take my case: I can't afford the upgrade to ICS. I really don't have to money to upgrade to an unlimited version. I need a unlimited version, we have more than 250 accounts. Jill, i made tons of phone calls and i informed my customers about the strategy of ipswitch. **None** of the customers will upgrade to ICS. The reasons are: - No need for Antivirus solutions provided by ipswitch. They have already a product. - No need for the collaboration thing. - No need for the Instant Messaging Loosing customers is NOT a 'collateral damage'. Ok, There is chance to find new customers. Really? If companies have the need for collaboration solution, they have already exchange, notes or other products running. So, they are happy and will not change to ICS. I compared the prices too, ICS not really cheaper compared to microsoft, if you have all aspects of TCO and ROI in mind. At the end, ipswitch will lose a lot of money and reputation for the shutdown of IMail. I know, that selling subs is not the big business, but it's better than nothing, especially for a small company. Selling IMail or subs was also the door opener for selling other things, like WhatsUp Gold or my AntiSpam solution based on IMail. This means, my loss of customers will count double: No more IMail, nore more AntiSpam Subscription. Like a lot of other's, i have to think about the future of my tiny IMail server. I have some thoughts: - Can't afford ICS Upgrade anyway. - My subscription will running out soon. I can run IMail without it, but this not fun. - Should we evaluate a new mail system? I don't really like that. Before we switch into panic mode, i will watch the market. If the market will not accept the new strategy of ipswitch, this means no deals and loosing customers, ipswitch must think over and do something. At the end, this will be the hard way. On the other hand, i have no clue, why ipswitch does not offer an modular system. Ok, it needs a bit more administration, but it would be a win-win situation for everbody. I really do not understand this decision. ============================================ Am Montag, 25. Oktober 2004 um 20:27 schrieben Sie: > Hi All, > As you are aware, Ipswitch has announced a new flagship messaging product > called Ipswitch Collaboration Suite (ICS). ICS is a comprehensive > communication and collaboration solution for small and medium sized > businesses, schools and service providers. ICS provides all the tools your > business needs to communicate and collaborate efficiently - email, > discussion lists, protection from spam and viruses, instant messaging, and > when using Microsoft Outlook, shared calendars and global contacts. > If you currently hold a Service Agreement for IMail, the terms of that > Service Agreement are still valid, so any updates that are made available > (8.14, 8.15, etc.) will be yours to apply to your IMail server. However, we > will no longer be selling IMail or Ipswitch Instant Messaging as stand-alone > products or stand-alone service. > For those of you interested in evaluating ICS, please visit our website to > download a 30-day evaluation version. Remember, if you install the > evaluation version on your IMail machine, be sure not to install the 30-day > version over your current IMail install, or you'll have to reinstall IMail > with the 30 days are up. (You will not lose any users, messages or > settings). > We realize that this is a big change, but it is one that has been long in > coming. Ipswitch feels confident that ICS is a solution that the market has > been clamoring for. > Best regards, > Jill Jones > Product Manager, Messaging > Ipswitch Inc. > To Unsubscribe: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/mailing-lists.html > List Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/imail_forum%40list.ipswitch.com/ > Knowledge Base/FAQ: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/IMail/ ============================================ -- Mit freundlichen Gr�ssen -------------------------------------------- Merlin Consulting Martin Schaible Bahnhofstrasse 27 CH-8702 Zollikon Phone: +41 1 391 30 00 Fax: +41 1 391 32 49 Mail: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] URL: http://www.merlinconsulting.ch Support: http://support.merlinconsulting.ch GPS: N47 20.235 E8 34.226 -------------------------------------------- News - Neue Produkte: .:. Kiwi Syslog Monitor .:. Paessler GmbH .:. 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