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Imagine getting the full power of Microsoft Exchange without having to run an Exchange server. That's the promise of the newly released Gordano Messaging Server, version 10. Gordano has always been an excellent alternative mail server with a strong variety of add-ons, but with its latest improvement it finally delivers a no-compromise collaboration option.

Gordano Ltd. has been around for ten years now, although it started life as Internet Shopper Ltd. It developed its first mail server, NTMail, for internal use, and only released it commercially after getting several requests from existing customers. NTMail was the first Internet mail server written for Microsoft Windows NT. Besides that, the Gordano Web site boasts that it was the first company to offer software downloads over the Internet, so that customers could begin using NTMail immediately.

In time, the company changed names and so did the server. Now it's Gordano Messaging Server (GMS), but it's still just as easy and reliable. Since 2000, it's come with a built-in WebMail client that works in any Web browser, making it even more versatile. While the company has grown tremendously, it's still known for offering a personal, hands-on touch to it's users.

Welcome Upgrades

As it's grown and evolved, GMS has added messaging features that users have requested. The suite now has a highly-effective spam filter, an instant messaging client, online calendaring, and archiving.

These apps even interconnect, to work more effectively. When checking e-mail, you can see which of your contacts are online, so that you can IM them, if you choose. IM sessions are automatically recorded and sent to you by e-mail, when the chat is finished. In fact, if you enter a group chat, leave, and come back again, you'll only be e-mailed the parts of the chat in which you were present.

Gordano's WebMail client has proven so popular with its customers, that many of them have decided to use it as their default e-mail reader, rather than run Outlook or another app. It offers perks like being able to instantly turn e-mail messages into calendar items, holding multiple address books, and sending SMS (short message system) notes. In one especially useful feature, you can create multiple disposable addresses, so you can post an address to an online group, then have it become invalid after a set amount of time. The lets you get replies to your posting, but avoid the deluge of spam that would inevitably follow. The WebMail client can be branded to match a corporate identity.

Collaboration is Key

Collaboration is the focus of the new Exchange server abilities, but Gordano isn't rolling it out all at once. In fact, this marks the third part of a three-step collaboration rollout that's already in progress.

With phase one and the release of version 1 of the GMS Collaboration Server, Gordano introduced a system-wide shared address book. To use it, people needed to use Microsoft Outlook.

The second phase came with the release of version 2 of the GMS Collaboration Server. With this sweeping upgrade, Outlook became fully integrated into the Gordano Messaging environment. This meant users could enjoy the advanced collaboration features of Outlook, such as tasks, journals, notes, contacts, and calendars, all without using Exchange. Users could also now fully synchronize all of the above items and download their information for offline working, then resynchronize it at the next connection. Users could also access their stored info from a second Outlook client, say when working at home.

The Third Phase

The release of version 3 of the GMS Collaboration Server extends its collaborative abilities across a range of platforms, as the suite becomes a full Exchange replacement. Users don't need to rely on Outlook anymore, but can also use clients such as Mozilla Firefox, KDE Kontact, and of course GMS WebMail. In fact, any WebDAV-compliant application will work.

One highly sought-after feature that comes with the latest release is the ability to grant other users access to your own shared information. This means an executive can now give calendar access to his or her assistant, who can then make changes or add appointments. You can even grant different levels of access to different people, so while they can all see your calendar, they won't see the same things.

Other new features in version 3 include synchronization that works in the background and can sync either all data or just data that has changed, the introduction of an online cache folder to decrease work sent to the server, and support for dial-up connections. Other improvements include alerts or reminders that will display no matter what client the user is on, SSL support for all supported clients, and more.

Pricing

There are several levels of pricing for GMS, because users have the option of buying only the components that they need. Purchase prices are one-time fees, not yearly subscriptions. The prices we give here aren't an exhaustive list (for that, go to the Gordano Web site. This is only meant to give you an idea of the prices.

The lowest price plan is for GMS Mail and the Collaboration server: 250 users costs $6963 and 1,000 users is $20,358. Users can upgrade from there, adding WebMail, calendaring, and finally IM functionality and a mobile gateway. That top level, which includes all the listed modules costs $11,760 for 250 users and $30,789 for 1,000 users.

Spam protection and anti-virus service are available as extras for 12-month subscriptions. Gordano's telephone and e-mail support is also an extra charge. Support during business hours costs 25 percent of the cost of your Gordano products; for 24/7 support, it's 60 percent of the cost of your products.

The Easy Way

Listen to the experiences of people who have installed or upgraded GMS and you'll hear over and over again that it's a tremendously simple product to set up. One client told a Gordano rep that he set aside an entire weekend for a large upgrade, but finished before all his co-workers left the parking lot on Friday night.

The suite is popular with people considering a move to Linux in the future. GMS runs on Linux as well, so it makes a full-scale platform switch that much easier. Considering that Gordano now offers no-compromise Exchange support, there's no reason not to use it.

All of GMS's collaboration tools are available through a Web browser, including the calendar shown here.