Office365 or Google Apps

matt777 · 29th June 2012, 11:50 AM

Hi Guys, Got a client currently look at hosting 15 mailboxes in the cloud.

Needs are: Public folders
Shared global contact address book
OWA
Iphone/ Android support
Minimum 20gb storage

I usually go with google apps from most clients but they really need the shared contacts and public folders which as Im aware google apps lacks heavily.

I went onto Office 365 website but they have done some back hand deal with Telstra so more $$$ than the rest of the world but the difficult thing is finding exactly what features it offers.
I know that most people use a shared email mailbox as public folder within office365

The main reason for public folders are for project management communications archive for anyone in business to be able to access.
Also wants a global address book so that anyone in company can access and update etc.

I found this company http://www.ozhosting.com/email-hosti...are-plans.aspx
Doing some pretty good deals.. Am I better to go with something like that over office365.
Dont really need to the cloud documents solution just email solution.
Thought about doing onsite but cant justify the cost and licensing.
Any advice or recommendations would be great.

Cheers

Kodaz · 29th June 2012, 2:59 PM

The Hosted Exchange component of Office365 will do shared calendars and global contact list. You could also use the shared mailbox option (but you pay for a user license). In fact any shared mailboxes are new users so keep that caveat in mind.

With 15 users it's $4,300 over 3 years which is getting close to SBS server territory. I get the impression that Telstra\MS in Australia don't want to canabilise their SMB server sales.

And in a weird twist going for Exchange only is $13 a month (WTF??).

They certainly are leaving the door open for Google Apps here.

BoutS · 29th June 2012, 3:07 PM

I remember looking at the 365 when we had the Regional MS guy come from Telstra, he was so excited about it and everything else that came with being a typical jizz monkey.

I just couldnt believe the cost of it, when you weighed up basic email, compared to others like Google apps, it was way over priced.

Yeah you get the MS experience, but it was to me way over priced.

Id have easily payed for a server on a lease for 3 years with plenty of grunt to run other crap as well, with minimal maintenance requirements.

kndkris · 29th June 2012, 3:48 PM

You did not factor in the setup and ongoing support costs of the server hardware. Office 365 is good for medium-large sized businesses, i would stick with Googles offering and their Gdrive for a small business. (replace public folders with shared folders on gdrive)

Kodaz · 29th June 2012, 3:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kndkris

You did not factor in the setup and ongoing support costs of the server hardware. Office 365 is good for medium-large sized businesses, i would stick with Googles offering and their Gdrive for a small business. (replace public folders with shared folders on gdrive)

I'm assuming you think Office365 has no ongoing support or setup costs?

kndkris · 29th June 2012, 5:40 PM

The subscription covers the support costs (server maintenance, patches, upgrades)? There are setup costs and depending on your partner you may go for a support block with associated costs but i am guessing these would apply to a server installation also, I only mentioned setup costs as in the actual cost of installing and configuring the server.

I think those hosted solutions are fairly good, a couple of places i have worked used hosted server farms without issue so that ozhosting service should be fine if the Gmail offering is not up to scratch.

matt777 · 30th June 2012, 9:46 AM

Thanks for the replies, So does Google offer an equivalent "Public Folders" & Contact sharing?

I still think price is better than outlaying for server, backup solution, support, downtime, Setup time, licensing and usability
Onsite mail servers for under 100 staff i reckon are on the way out.
I love Google apps I have about 30 clients on it.. never a problem.
I just cant see Google offering the shared contacts and public folders like M$ at the present time.

f3n1x · 30th June 2012, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt777

Thanks for the replies, So does Google offer an equivalent "Public Folders" & Contact sharing?

I still think price is better than outlaying for server, backup solution, support, downtime, Setup time, licensing and usability
Onsite mail servers for under 100 staff i reckon are on the way out.
I love Google apps I have about 30 clients on it.. never a problem.
I just cant see Google offering the shared contacts and public folders like M$ at the present time.

I think it's already been mentioned but o365 doesn't offer public folders as such, but you can create a mailbox that's shared to other users (involves a different process for client side configuration to public folders), MS are also pushing hard for sharepoint to be the replacement, which works for i'd say about half of the scenario's i've seen public folders used for).

If you want any more specific details about the o365 service let me know, i work for a microsoft partner and I'm involved in o365 deployments and migrations.

matt777 · 30th June 2012, 10:02 PM

Thanks, im aware the the only way to get public folders is to use another email account.

Am I best to buy through telstra or different company as stated.
Im bloody annoyed at Telstras price hike on same service.

Anyone know if gmail will give me these features.

f3n1x · 30th June 2012, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt777

Thanks, im aware the the only way to get public folders is to use another email account.

Am I best to buy through telstra or different company as stated.
Im bloody annoyed at Telstras price hike on same service.

Anyone know if gmail will give me these features.

Everyone else only gets it via Telstra, telstra are the 'distributor' for Australia essentially, so you're unlikely to get it any cheaper, but you may be able to just order the service from America (im not sure what checks they do).

kogi · 30th June 2012, 11:05 PM

Public Folders? as in Public readable folders?
Is it the same as sharing a folder in gdrive?

And is this contact sharing?
http://support.google.com/a/bin/answ...n&answer=60218

Blackice · 30th June 2012, 11:44 PM

I use this for a number of clients, which I am a reseller of.

http://www.intermedia.net/

check it out, also has public folders, yes its in the US but my clients dont complain, never have any issues.

matt777 · 2nd July 2012, 5:55 PM

Really want to avoid Telstra I know how bad they can be in support from personal experience.

Might look into one of the 3rd party companies offering exchange hosting.
Any recommend anyone?

Blackice · 2nd July 2012, 9:49 PM

intermedia dude

ewok85 · 3rd July 2012, 5:20 PM

Google Apps has contact sharing. Use Google Drive instead of Public Folders - Microsoft is dropping it from future products and it is a bad way to work in general.

29th June 2012, 11:50 AM	#1
matt777 Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 168	Office365 or Google Apps Hi Guys, Got a client currently look at hosting 15 mailboxes in the cloud. Needs are: Public folders Shared global contact address book OWA Iphone/ Android support Minimum 20gb storage I usually go with google apps from most clients but they really need the shared contacts and public folders which as Im aware google apps lacks heavily. I went onto Office 365 website but they have done some back hand deal with Telstra so more $$$ than the rest of the world but the difficult thing is finding exactly what features it offers. I know that most people use a shared email mailbox as public folder within office365 The main reason for public folders are for project management communications archive for anyone in business to be able to access. Also wants a global address book so that anyone in company can access and update etc. I found this company http://www.ozhosting.com/email-hosti...are-plans.aspx Doing some pretty good deals.. Am I better to go with something like that over office365. Dont really need to the cloud documents solution just email solution. Thought about doing onsite but cant justify the cost and licensing. Any advice or recommendations would be great. Cheers

29th June 2012, 3:07 PM	#3
BoutS Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: International Posts: 2,329	I remember looking at the 365 when we had the Regional MS guy come from Telstra, he was so excited about it and everything else that came with being a typical jizz monkey. I just couldnt believe the cost of it, when you weighed up basic email, compared to others like Google apps, it was way over priced. Yeah you get the MS experience, but it was to me way over priced. Id have easily payed for a server on a lease for 3 years with plenty of grunt to run other crap as well, with minimal maintenance requirements. __________________ There all holes... Esquobar on Jubei Thos

30th June 2012, 11:44 PM	#12
Blackice Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Perth Posts: 228	I use this for a number of clients, which I am a reseller of. http://www.intermedia.net/ check it out, also has public folders, yes its in the US but my clients dont complain, never have any issues. __________________ Senior System & Network Engineer \| MCITP \| CCNP \| CCNVP \| CCNP W

2nd July 2012, 9:49 PM	#14
Blackice Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Perth Posts: 228	intermedia dude __________________ Senior System & Network Engineer \| MCITP \| CCNP \| CCNVP \| CCNP W

3rd July 2012, 5:20 PM	#15
ewok85 Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Tokyo, Japan Posts: 7,927	Google Apps has contact sharing. Use Google Drive instead of Public Folders - Microsoft is dropping it from future products and it is a bad way to work in general. __________________ 半ばは自己の幸せを、半ばは他人の幸せを http://www.leonjp.com - Rants and info about living in Japan http://forums.expatjapan.net - The Expat Japan Network!

29th June 2012, 2:59 PM	#2
Kodaz Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Brisbane 4124 Posts: 832	The Hosted Exchange component of Office365 will do shared calendars and global contact list. You could also use the shared mailbox option (but you pay for a user license). In fact any shared mailboxes are new users so keep that caveat in mind. With 15 users it's $4,300 over 3 years which is getting close to SBS server territory. I get the impression that Telstra\MS in Australia don't want to canabilise their SMB server sales. And in a weird twist going for Exchange only is $13 a month (WTF??). They certainly are leaving the door open for Google Apps here.

29th June 2012, 3:48 PM	#4
kndkris Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Perth Posts: 129	You did not factor in the setup and ongoing support costs of the server hardware. Office 365 is good for medium-large sized businesses, i would stick with Googles offering and their Gdrive for a small business. (replace public folders with shared folders on gdrive)

29th June 2012, 5:40 PM	#6
kndkris Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Perth Posts: 129	The subscription covers the support costs (server maintenance, patches, upgrades)? There are setup costs and depending on your partner you may go for a support block with associated costs but i am guessing these would apply to a server installation also, I only mentioned setup costs as in the actual cost of installing and configuring the server. I think those hosted solutions are fairly good, a couple of places i have worked used hosted server farms without issue so that ozhosting service should be fine if the Gmail offering is not up to scratch.

30th June 2012, 9:46 AM	#7
matt777 Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 168	Thanks for the replies, So does Google offer an equivalent "Public Folders" & Contact sharing? I still think price is better than outlaying for server, backup solution, support, downtime, Setup time, licensing and usability Onsite mail servers for under 100 staff i reckon are on the way out. I love Google apps I have about 30 clients on it.. never a problem. I just cant see Google offering the shared contacts and public folders like M$ at the present time.

30th June 2012, 10:02 PM	#9
matt777 Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 168	Thanks, im aware the the only way to get public folders is to use another email account. Am I best to buy through telstra or different company as stated. Im bloody annoyed at Telstras price hike on same service. Anyone know if gmail will give me these features.

30th June 2012, 11:05 PM	#11
kogi Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: 2031 Posts: 4,068	Public Folders? as in Public readable folders? Is it the same as sharing a folder in gdrive? And is this contact sharing? http://support.google.com/a/bin/answ...n&answer=60218

2nd July 2012, 5:55 PM	#13
matt777 Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 168	Really want to avoid Telstra I know how bad they can be in support from personal experience. Might look into one of the 3rd party companies offering exchange hosting. Any recommend anyone?