Zimbra Apple iSync Beta

[KevinH]

The Zimbra iSync adaptor is now available for private beta for Network Edition customers and Network Trial participants. We've made it very simple for Mac user's to sync their calendar and contact data with Zimbra. There are no additional software packages needed. Zimbra will sync naively with your Apple iCal and Apple Address Book. The Zimbra iSync connector requires Mac OSX 10.4.1 or greater, and is currently certified to run against ZCS 3.0.1 Network Edition.

If you would like to participate in the private beta and are already a Network Edition customer or have been activated in our support system then email your sales rep for access to the beta. If you'd like to trial Zimbra's Network Edition please register for a trial. NOTE: Anonymous or free mail (gmail, yahoo, hotmail, etc) registrations will not be allowed to participate in the iSync private beta. You must register with an enterprise or corporate email account and complete the entire trial registration to be considered for the private beta.

Screen Shots

[besson3c]

This is very cool and exciting news!

I'm assuming that this will be open sourced once it is out of beta?

[KevinH]

Originally Posted by besson3c

I'm assuming that this will be open sourced once it is out of beta?

It's not been decided yet. For the time being it will be Network only. We want to make sure our customers and prospective customers get first access and can influence changes or features.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by KevinH

It's not been decided yet. For the time being it will be Network only. We want to make sure our customers and prospective customers get first access and can influence changes or features.

To me, the compelling advantage of the paid version is the support and enterprise level features designed for environments where Zimbra may ultimately replace Exchange. In a University or business setting, it is easy to allocate money for this given the promise of support, as long as the pricing is cheaper than MS Exchange.

However, I don't have 50 users or $1450 to toss at this thing yet since I don't manage email for a business with a lot of users (although I may in the very near future). To me, the connectors are absolutely vital and an extremely compelling reason to invest my time into this option at all. The connectors working damn well are also in the best interests of the Zimbra project too, which may benefit the greatest in being opened up (esp. as Zimbra gains momentum, if this hasn't already started

My vote would be to focus on selling enterprise level support and complete "blackbox" type solutions for these larger groups that can justify this expense, while not crippling the open source version by removing the connectors. I think Zimbra will have great value for smaller businesses and hobbyists too, and I think that this sort of usage can only help Zimbra in gaining momentum so that it starts to rake in the cash on sales within the enterprise.

Just my two cents.

[KevinH]

The Network Edition is not just about connectors. See my response here on a similar post regarding the Outlook connector. In your mind you can replace Outlook with iSync.

Connector Licensing

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by KevinH

The Network Edition is not just about connectors. See my response here on a similar post regarding the Outlook connector. In your mind you can replace Outlook with iSync.

Connector Licensing

I'm not sure how the word "Network" is being used in this post. By network do you mean "community"?

There is nothing to be ashamed of if one of the goals of the project is to make enough money to sustain itself, I don't have a problem with this premise or in stripping some features out of the open source edition, making money is not a bad thing. My tentative opinion is simply that Zimbra can do really well by focussing on targeting Enterprise users in the commercial edition, and everybody else in the open source edition. To me, the connectors are not enterprise features, but very compelling general-use features.

I don't want to sound argumentative here, just offering my two cents as a form of feedback.

[KevinH]

Originally Posted by besson3c

I'm not sure how the word "Network" is being used in this post. By network do you mean "community"?

Network means Network Edition. It means all the things you get with the Network Edition.

Originally Posted by besson3c

... very compelling ...

This is why at this time we hope folks who see value in iSync(yourself), will also see value in the Network Edition. If it's not *that* valuable then there are many other suitable means to sync with Zimbra.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by KevinH

Network means Network Edition. It means all the things you get with the Network Edition.



This is why at this time we hope folks who see value in iSync(yourself), will also see value in the Network Edition. If it's not *that* valuable then there are many other suitable means to sync with Zimbra.

What other means are there other than using the web client?

I do see the value in the Network Edition, i'm simply not your target audience for it. I don't have money to spend on it nor the users to benefit from it, because here I am discussing it with you at midnight instead of waiting during business hours to discuss this during my 8-5:00 work day

However, perhaps us hobbyists and very small business/freelance consulting folk are going to be the types that will turn on large businesses and Enterprises to Zimbra.

[marcmac]

It sounds like you want everything - connectors, backup, etc - all features - in the community edition, with paid support. But you're not in a situation to pay for support.

Originally Posted by besson3c

To me, the compelling advantage of the paid version is the support and enterprise level features designed for environments where Zimbra may ultimately replace Exchange. In a University or business setting, it is easy to allocate money for this given the promise of support, as long as the pricing is cheaper than MS Exchange.

However, I don't have 50 users or $1450 to toss at this thing yet since I don't manage email for a business with a lot of users (although I may in the very near future). To me, the connectors are absolutely vital and an extremely compelling reason to invest my time into this option at all. The connectors working damn well are also in the best interests of the Zimbra project too, which may benefit the greatest in being opened up (esp. as Zimbra gains momentum, if this hasn't already started

My vote would be to focus on selling enterprise level support and complete "blackbox" type solutions for these larger groups that can justify this expense, while not crippling the open source version by removing the connectors. I think Zimbra will have great value for smaller businesses and hobbyists too, and I think that this sort of usage can only help Zimbra in gaining momentum so that it starts to rake in the cash on sales within the enterprise.

Just my two cents.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by marcmac

It sounds like you want everything - connectors, backup, etc - all features - in the community edition, with paid support. But you're not in a situation to pay for support.

No, I don't care about the backup (I can handle that myself), clustering, rebranding or even built in spam controls (my server is already doing that). I don't even need multi-domain stuff, just the basics: contact/calendar server, connectors for contacts, web client, ability to subscribe to and publish calendars via iCal and similar apps, whatever else would be necessary to facilitate a few people collaborating together on various projects.

Zimbra seems to be really aiming for the stars in trying to replace Exchange in the workplace. That is a great and noble effort. However, it also seems like Zimbra is flexible enough to work out for much smaller and more modest environments too. I say, unless it counters Zimbra's design and makes life difficult for the developers, you guys should try to penetrate as many different markets as possible. 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.

Just my opinionated two cents, but since I've already offered my two cents I guess you have lots of extra change now


P.S. Zimbra is damn impressive. I'm really looking forward to being able to use it in FreeBSD! I'm trying to be patient Although I might not be successful in conveying this, I'm very appreciative of your efforts and am cheering loudly for this project!