[table color="orange"]
| ITworks Hosted Exchange | Google Apps | |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise-grade service level agreement | Financially backed 99.999% uptime SLA | O |
[/table]
ITworks Hosted Exchange vs Google Apps
Compare our full-service exchange 2010 solution with google apps
| ITworks Hosted Exchange | Google Apps | |
| Enterprise-grade service level agreement | Financially backed 99.999% uptime SLA | Only offers a 99.9% uptime SLA; based on service credits and does not include downtime of less than 10 minutes. Much of Google Apps is released in “Beta” form for liability purposes, and is therefore not subject to SLAs, uptime or support. |
| Fortune 500 infrastructure | Premium Dell servers and Cisco network hardware. EMC fiber channel for secure storage. | Proprietary, inexpensive SATA-based storage and architecture. |
| Active Directory synchronization | Offers AD synchronization; allows customers to run on-premise IT alongside ITworks’ services. | Google Apps Directory Sync is available only for Premier, Education Edition or Partner Edition. |
| Resource mailboxes | Schedule shared resources like meeting rooms, conference lines or projectors. | Not applicable. |
| Compliance | Offers options for compliance including secure mail, archiving and MessageMirror. Additional features include options for enforced company disclaimer. | Not applicable |
| IMAP connections | Supports multiple IMAP connections allowing users to access email simultaneously from home, office and mobile device. In addition, multiple users can view mailboxes such as support@ABC.com or sales@ABC.com | Users experience issues when two or more users (or devices) are connected to a single email account. From a recent blog, “Google Apps is simply not suitable for business email use.” |
| Offline email via Outlook | Outlook available for offline use and syncs when a connection is available | Offers IMAP/POP access (which is email only), or the Google Apps Connector for Outlook (which only synchronizes some information & settings with Google). |
| Webmail | Outlook Web Access 2010 – latest features include conversation style messaging. | Gmail consumer-grade interface. |
| Calendar | Outlook syncs. | Outlook syncs with the web. |
| Contacts | Outlook syncs with OWA. Detailed contact database. | Limited contact database available on the web. Does not sync Contacts with Outlook. This means there’s no back-up. |
| Tasks | Outlook syncs. | Outlook doesn’t sync with Google tasks in Gmail. There are task lists available in Gmail. This means there’s no back-up. |
| Notes | Outlook syncs. | Outlook doesn’t sync with Google. No notes feature in Gmail but there is in Google Docs. This means there’s no back-up. |
| BlackBerry support | Full BES support for BlackBerry devices. Sync Email, Calendar, Contacts, Notes and Tasks. Plus option to remotely wipe the handheld in the event it is lost. | BES connector available, which requires you to manage your mobile solution on-premise, separately from your messaging solution. |
| iPhone support | Full ActiveSync support and wireless sync of Email, Calendar, Contacts, Notes and Tasks included in the offering. Remote wipe supported. | Sync Email, Calendar and Contacts via Exchange ActiveSync with Premier edition ($50/year per user). |
| Shared folders | Can create shared folders for Email, Calendars, Contacts, Notes and Tasks. Accessible in Outlook and via Outlook Web App. | Can create shared Calendars accessible only on the web. Cannot share Contact folders, Tasks or Notes. |
| Delegation | Grant others fine-grained access to Email, Calendar, Contacts, Notes and Tasks. Available in Outlook and on the web. | Delegation available via web. Via Outlook there are privacy concerns that should be evaluated: No tracking in sent items, no mark as private, full access is required, etc. |
