Offering ZIMBRA to my customers?

[harmony]

Hey guys,

I'd love to offer ZIMBRA to my customers as an added value service. I am wondering if someone could please explain to me what the main differences in the "network" edition and the opensource are? (aside from the obvious huge price gaps).

Also if there are any major hurdles you could foresee, please feel free to add to the topic

Thanks in advance

[DVan]

I think this page pretty much explains the difference between the versions.

Server Installation process is similar between the different version in my experience.

http://www.zimbra.com/products/product_editions.html

[harmony]

Ok so there is no "mobile" support in the opensource version? That's the major missing feature?

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by harmony

Ok so there is no "mobile" support in the opensource version? That's the major missing feature?

There is also the fact that you get support from Zimbra for the Network Edition.

[dijichi2]

Branding and backups would also be major advantages of NE for me.

[harmony]

I' this is allowed here.. but can anyone give me a couple advantages/disadvantages zimbra has over the competition?

IE opengroupware open xchange scalix etc..? Where would a good place to find consulting be? I'd like to offer this for cheap.. I think people need to have this available.

[gmsmith]

Originally Posted by harmony

Ok so there is no "mobile" support in the opensource version? That's the major missing feature?

Don't forget no support for the Outlook Connector or iSync connector in the open source version.

[jholder]

Originally Posted by harmony

I' this is allowed here.. but can anyone give me a couple advantages/disadvantages zimbra has over the competition?

IE opengroupware open xchange scalix etc..? Where would a good place to find consulting be? I'd like to offer this for cheap.. I think people need to have this available.

I don't presume to speak for our competition, and there won't be any bashing here

However, I suppose the biggest difference is the wealth of technology and products that we provide to both our non-paying customers, and our paying customers.

We also have Documents and mobile sync(meaning over the air calendar, addressbook, and e-mail). Coming sometime in the future we will offer native Blackberry and IM capability through the webclient.

We also have the largest forum user base than any of the competition. So, if you need help, you can always post here

So the real difference is innovation. With the 5.0 release we will over shared folders, tasks, and many more totally awesome features I can't talk about yet

As far as price: obviously there is the Open Source version. This version is really geared towards those who are willing to do their own backups and rely 100% on the forums for support.

Then there's the network edition. You pay for proprietary features and support.

You can also go through one of our hosting providers or vars like the RedHat Exchange.

Hope this helps.

john

[harmony]

Thanks for the reply, when is 5.0 due out? when you say "do their own backups" wouldn't a RAID +off site be fine? Or is there some specific advantage backing up with you guys has?

Thank you for your in-depth reply

[dijichi2]

NE backups are 'hot' ie you don't have to shutdown zimbra to do proper backups.

5.0beta is due tomorrow (21 May) Although the date has been moving somewhat