Mary Jo Foley highlights an interesting point who/what is the real competition for IBM Lotus iNotes ? It’s the Business Productivity Online Suite from Microsoft. Lower price, more functionality, more choice.
…IBM’s announcement of a new hosted entry-level communications offering has led to lots of punditry around how it compares to Google Apps. But I’m not sure that’s IBM’s main competition here.
Google Apps Premier, which costs $50 per user per year, includes Web-based office applications (Google Docs), plus Gmail for businesses, Google Calendar, Google Sites and Postini hosted/archived email. IBM’s LotusLive iNotes includes hosted email, calendar and contact management service — but no hosted productivity apps — for $36 per user per year.
I’ve seen almost no one analyzing IBM’s new hosted offering in comparison to what Microsoft is offering business users.
Microsoft already has a business-focused hosted e-mail/collaboration product on the market known as the Deskless Worker Suite, which includes Exchange Online and SharePoint Online. Customers can get that suite for $36 per user per year. Exchange Online Deskless Worker includes e-mail, calendaring, global contact lists, anti-virus and anti-spam filters, and provides access to company e-mail via Outlook Web Access Light. SharePoint Online Deskless Worker gives you read-only access to SharePoint portal and team sites. If users want only Exchange Online Deskless or SharePoint Online Deskless, it’s $24 per user per service per year.
Microsoft offers a more comprehensive hosted communications/collaboration subscription service — one that includes Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Communications Online (corporate instant messaging and presence) and Live Meeting (Web conferencing and videoconferencing) — for $180 per user per year. That is the company’s Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). …
Source: Comparing oranges to oranges: Microsoft’s hosted collaboration suites vs. IBM’s LotusLive iNotes
Peter, It is not oranges with oranges! LotusLive iNotes is mail only. Then indeed “Microsoft offers a more comprehensive hosted communications/collaboration subscription service…”
So this is comparing blueberries with oranges.
Reinout,
Fair point. So the comparison should be Lotus iNOtes vs Exchange Online Deskless Worker and not the suite, because iNotes doesn’t offer additional functions (yet).
In the press IBM keeps insisting on the comparison of Lotus which are different types of fruit 😉