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Google vs Microsoft: why you should switch to Gmail

How make the jump from Exchange to Gmail






"We're hardening the services by increasing reliability from 99.9 percent to 99.99 percent availability, and providing more tools for administrators to manage their information in the cloud. We're making the platform more flexible, and helping third parties build powerful applications on top of our own."

Most large businesses have yet to take email into the cloud, but interest is rising, says Ted Schadler, an analyst at Forrester Research.


The Google proposition

Moving from an on-premises model to a cloud-based model presents its own concerns; moving at the same time to a new email platform with an entirely different user interface and feature set is an even bigger step.

Still, from Patel's perspective, it made good sense to migrate from an enterprise-class on-premises email system such as Exchange on to the cloud-based Gmail architecture, despite Gmail's roots as a free, consumer-based application.

Not only does Google Apps for Business cost less than an on-premises Exchange Server system, but it has a "high level of functionality - 90 to 95 percent of what we were looking for", Patel says.

Generally speaking, moving to the cloud relieves IT of the responsibility of maintaining and operating an email infrastructure.





"It's a huge effort to ask people to learn something different - even if it's for a better price point," says Ce Cole Dillon, CIO at Chicago State University, which recently moved everyone to Google Apps but then decided to move some staffers back on to Exchange.

Finally, some users report that certain features in Google Apps aren't as sophisticated as those offered in Outlook and Exchange, particularly when it comes to calendaring - an assertion that Google vigorously disputes.

NEXT PAGE: A quick rollout

  1. What you need to know jumping from exchange to Gmail
  2. The Google proposition
  3. A quick rollout
  4. The calendar question
  5. Sticking points
  6. Classic cloud worries
  7. Availability and uptime
  8. Proceed with due dilligence

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