A Better Option

Yesterday, I blogged about the cost of MS Exchange 2007, particularly since most SMBs do not buy Software Assurance and will need to purchase new licenses and new hardware.

In our example, a 20 person company looking to run a Standard Edition of Windows Server and MS Exchange would likely spend $20,000 to $25,000 over a three year period, or about $400 per user per year, to provide email, calendar, contacts, and tasks.

With support, SMBs can get these services via Google Apps for about $5000 over the same three year period. Yes, you can save 75%

Again, this is a baseline comparison. For in-house solutions, costs rise if you add redundancy or collaboration tools. With Google Apps, redundancy is built-in and collaboration tools are included for free.

Granted, Google Apps is not appropriate for every business. But, do you not owe it to your bottom line to explore the possibility?