Zimbra Apple iSync Beta

[ojehle]

i read in some threads here, that you are evaluate/prepare native solutions also for other platforms, not only isync.

I ask, because my company is searching for a groupware tool. but the keypoint is the sync with pim's.

Windows is not the solution, because the plan is use Linux everywhere...

can you give some infos about the state and the plan?


PS: sales department is not a solution

[marcmac]

Originally Posted by besson3c

Go for market penetration and volume in recouping your costs rather than just limiting yourself to Enterprise customers. There are plenty of markets out there just chomping at the bit for a solid Groupware product like this, all sorts of people can benefit from this.

I have to point out, that if you're willing to pay US $0.00 for the product (which seems to be the case) - we could sell an infinite number of copies at that price, and still not recoup our costs - let alone, make a profit.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by marcmac

I have to point out, that if you're willing to pay US $0.00 for the product (which seems to be the case) - we could sell an infinite number of copies at that price, and still not recoup our costs - let alone, make a profit.

I disagree.

1) You could also not recoup your costs by selling the product for $1000 and pricing it too high for a certain population, esp. if this population ends up being larger than you originally expected.

2) By opening it up, it increase market penetration. You get geeks using it and they will bring this to their workplaces which do have 500 users, or can afford the $1000 that would have otherwise been spent on Exchange licenses.

Don't underestimate the power of market penetration, esp. given that many people will only switch away from Exchange over their dead bodies. The more users you have (paid or not), the more potential sales you will have in the long run.

[KevinH]

Originally Posted by ojehle

i read in some threads here, that you are evaluate/prepare native solutions also for other platforms, not only isync.

I ask, because my company is searching for a groupware tool. but the keypoint is the sync with pim's.

Windows is not the solution, because the plan is use Linux everywhere...

can you give some infos about the state and the plan?

What devices do you have? If the device support SyncML then you should be all set.

Originally Posted by ojehle

PS: sales department is not a solution

Maybe... but it sure makes it a bit easier to pay our bills. In general they have the tools and ability to track who wants what. So while I do refer to sales@zimbra.com it's because they have the tools to track which customers or prospective customers want certain features. So when iSync was ready it was trivial for them to notify the folks who had interest in that functionality. Similar when we first released the Outlook connector. This will also be the same for SyncML and Treo/PocketPC sync when they are ready for beta.

[marcmac]

#2 is out business model exactly - we just don't agree on where to draw the line on what's free(beer) and what's not free(beer).

Originally Posted by besson3c

I disagree.

1) You could also not recoup your costs by selling the product for $1000 and pricing it too high for a certain population, esp. if this population ends up being larger than you originally expected.

2) By opening it up, it increase market penetration. You get geeks using it and they will bring this to their workplaces which do have 500 users, or can afford the $1000 that would have otherwise been spent on Exchange licenses.

Don't underestimate the power of market penetration, esp. given that many people will only switch away from Exchange over their dead bodies. The more users you have (paid or not), the more potential sales you will have in the long run.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by marcmac

#2 is out business model exactly - we just don't agree on where to draw the line on what's free(beer) and what's not free(beer).

Okay, I'll stop my annoying preaching

However, if my voice is useful, to me providing the open source edition without the connectors is like a car without a steering wheel to me, according to my own personal needs.

Just FWIW.

Stepping off of my soapbox now...

[KevinH]

Originally Posted by besson3c

However, if my voice is useful, to me providing the open source edition without the connectors is like a car without a steering wheel to me, according to my own personal needs.

Ahh another car analogy... I think I've responded to one of those before too.

Um... okay, I don't want this anymore

While were at it... an you point me to a couple *cars* (aka collaboration suites) in the OSS world that come with *steering wheels*(aka all the connectors)?


PS: Marc and I have lots of fun with posts like this... Breaks the norm of mis-configured DNS and trying to install Zimbra on a machine with 256Megs of RAM.

[nxnw]

For all the elegance of your integration and AJAX interface, putting a reminder on my screen and syncing to portable devices are essential. My concern is not so much that you may not offer the connectors in the open source version, but that the entry fee for the commercial version — if that's required for these essential features — makes the product impracticable for me (and I would venture to say, a lot of other people).

For my small office, I am looking at competing commercial products that meet my needs and cost a few hundred dollars. They certainly don't do everything Zimbra does, but on the other hand, they do what I need, are mature and will provide customer support. Back to cars: I don't need or want, and can't afford, a Ferrari with all the options, but I can't use a Toyota without a steering wheel either.

If you maintain a pricing plan that discourages a smaller user base, restricting the connectors to the commercial version will, in my view, limit the utility and adoption of the open source version. Of course, there is nothing inherently wrong with that and it may be completely consistent with your plans.

[KevinH]

Originally Posted by nxnw

If you maintain a pricing plan that discourages a smaller user base, restricting the connectors to the commercial version will, in my view, limit the utility and adoption of the open source version. Of course, there is nothing inherently wrong with that and it may be completely consistent with your plans.

While one may argue the OSS version adoption is limited, by not giving everything for free I don't think there is a faster growing OSS suite out there today. Sure we could always grow even faster, but in general we are seeing some amazing adoption.

In time you'll see more ways to get smaller organizations on Zimbra. We care about the community and do our best to act on your needs and concerns. In the end we still have some bills to pay so all-you-can-eat or just what *I* want for $0 is not an option.

The first move we've made for small groups is hosting. We've now released the first batch of hosting providers and many more are in the works. This is the easiest, fastest and cheapest way for a small group to get on Zimbra and have all the bells and whistles.

We know there are still groups out there who for one reason or another want to host your own system. Eventually we'd like to have smaller user packs which lower the entry point to the Network Version. Still some work to do before we get there but it's something we've thought about as a response to the communities needs.

Thanks again for all the great feedback and comments!

[nxnw]

Originally Posted by KevinH

While one may argue the OSS version adoption is limited, by not giving everything for free I don't think there is a faster growing OSS suite out there today. Sure we could always grow even faster, but in general we are seeing some amazing adoption.

I don't think anyone here has suggested that you give "everything for free".

Out of curiosity, do you base you assessment of amazing adoption on downloads or some other statistics? If it's not confidential information, how many Zimbra OSS servers are in service now (as opposed to being evaluated), and what do you base this belief on?