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IBM Lotus Domino vs Microsoft Exchange-Part I

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PCQ Bureau
New Update

Email servers have evolved considerably over the years. From being basic

solutions that send/receive emails, they've become full-fledged platforms that

enable unified communication in an enterprise, allow social networking, and even

enable workflow automation. What this obviously means is that an enterprise

doesn't choose a simple mail server anymore. It chooses the platform and then

selects components that cater to its specific business requirements.

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IBM Domino/Notes and Microsoft Exchange are the two dominant players in this

space, which are now in their 2010 and 8.5 versions respectively. If you're

already using one of them, then you need to decide whether or not to upgrade to

its newer version or migrate to the other one.

Neither is an easy decision, so to help you, we're starting an online series

of articles to take you through the key aspects of each platform. Let's start

with a brief overview of the new features that each platform has to offer in its

latest release.

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IBM Lotus Notes and Domino 8.5



There are three significant changes in the new releases of Notes and Domino.

First is that the Domino Designer can be freely downloaded from IBM's

Developerworks website, allowing even more developers to build applications for

the Domino platform.

Key Highlights
IBM Lotus Domino/Notes 8.5
  • Domino Designer freely downloadble from IBM's Developerworks website
  • An Enterprise CAL and a Messaging CAL
  • Anywhere client access from desktop/laptop, web, and mobile devices
  • Green features

Microsoft Exchange/Outlook 2010

  • Features to enhance the flexibility and reliability
  • Provide anywhere access to users from desktop/laptop, web, and mobile

    devices
  • Better protection and compliance features
  • Standard and Enterprise licenses for server and client access;

    external connector license for unlimited CALs

The second significant change is in client licensing. There's an enterprise

Client Access License and a Messaging License. The first offers full access to

the Domino platform, while the second restricts access to messaging, calendaring

& scheduling, etc. The third significant change is that users can access the

platform from anywhere, be it from a Notes client using the desktop, from the

web using iNotes, or from mobile devices using the Lotus Notes Traveler.

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Another significant change being touted in the Notes and Domino platform is

better collaboration capabilities. The platform can integrate well with other

Lotus offerings like Connections for Social Networking, SameTime for real time

communication with audio/video/instant messaging, etc.

Lastly, there are specific features built into Domino for helping you with

your green IT initiatives, and reduce storage space.

MS Exchange Server 2010



The three key focus areas for Exchange 2010 are to enhance flexibility and

reliability, provide anywhere access, and enable better protection and

compliance. Here, more flexibility and reliability are provided through better

high-availability features, role based access control for better compliance and

user self-service, improved routing to enhance performance, etc. Anywhere access

incorporates unified messaging capabilities with better voice mail management, a

much better Outlook Web Access, POP3 and IMAP4 cross-site connectivity. Lastly,

several compliance features have been added to retain and archive emails,

provide compliance officers access to multiple mailboxes, store all email,

appointments, etc for a specific period of time even if they're deleted for

ensuring compliance, and much more.

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There are three types of licenses in Exchange 2010-server, client access, and

external connector licenses. The server license is split into standard and

enterprise editions. The former is meant for SMEs, while the latter is aimed at

large enterprises. Client Access Licenses or CALs are also split into standard

and enterprise. Here, the standard license provides access to users from any

device, be it desktop, laptop, web, or mobile device. Plus, other Exchange 2010

server features for easier administration, enhanced email management are also

included. The enterprise CAL has everything from the Standard CAL, plus

archiving and information protection capabilities. The Enterprise CAL is an

add-on to Standard CAL. Lastly, the external connectors license is useful where

the number of CALs is uncertain, e.g. where you need to provide access to your

partners, suppliers, customers, etc.

Both platforms pack quite a punch with so many features. In our next series,

we'll dive deeper into the specific features we talked about in this article for

each platform. Please do feel free to add a comment in case you have any

specific questions related to these two platforms.

Next-Lotus

Domino/Notes Vs. Exchange/Outlook: Features Overview

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