How Much is a Mailbox Worth?
Need a new mailbox? At HomeDepot.com, they start under six dollars. For the next generation of Microsoft Exchange, prepare to spend between $150 to $250 per mailbox for the upgrade. Who said the real world is more expensive than the virtual world?
These jaw-dropping numbers come from Ferris Research a firm specializing in messaging and collaboration analysis. David Ferris, the head guy (and a nice guy), works with a team who dives deep into technical details for their analysis rather than letting the vendors fund the research and claim "not to touch" the results. Ferris Research includes a fair amount of free research material and articles for perusal, so you don't have to be a paying client to learn something.
If your vice presidents haven't put a budget together for Exchange 12, perhaps they should. Typically, VPs agree that "everyone has to have a mailbox" and approve the upgrades no matter the cost. That often means your pet project gets delayed so Microsoft can get their money, so you may want to prepare some options before the VPs sign the upgrade contract.
Cost drivers include new or upgraded servers, so figure out what your Exchange server is worth today and see how much you'll have to add to upgrade or replace that box. Microsoft hasn't released prices yet, but history says the new licenses will cost as much or more than the ones you now have. How many mailboxes do you support? Multiply that by maybe $70 for licenses.
Do you think the spiffiest new Exchange features will work on your Windows 2000 desktops? I don't. They'll require at least Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3. SP3 isn't out, but you know it's coming, and you know you'll have to upgrade every client that wants to run the new Exchange software. Microsoft well knows the classic rock (shiny new software) and hard place (upgrade the OS whether you want to or not) marketing squeeze.
On the other hand, grafting your wish list for upgrades onto a "mandatory" Microsoft upgrade will sneak some things through the budget process you can't get "honestly" or without the bundling. So prepare the VPs, and prepare your extra shopping list before Exchange 12 rolls out. If Congress can attach riders to important budget items, why can't you?
ITworld.com, Enterprise Networking
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