Thunderbird, MailCo, Exchange Killer
Many of the comments I have seen floating around on the blogs, consistently reference Exchange integration or make an “Exchange killer”. My gut reaction is MailCo should not focus on creating another email or calendar server.
The server side of email is “almost done”. I don’t see a lot of gain, for a MailCo, trying to create yet another email/calendar service. While the last 10% is the hardest, it seems that Google Apps, Yahoo, Zimbra, and other email/calendar services are close to having that integration problem solved for the majority of those customers who are looking to leave Exchange for another email/calendaring service. Once one or two of these apps grows out of the “techy” only audience, those customers looking to leave Exchange will have options. The rest of the customers would require selling them on why they should leave Exchange, not sell them on a new destination. This is a much different conversation.
Many of those that are going to stay on Exchange want to for a whole litany of reasons. Not the least of which is their current tool sets for standards compliance. When you start looking at SOX, FINRA, and the other regulations corporations are trying to chase, staying on Exchange is currently a good solution. I know other areas of the world also have many regulatory hurdles to jump. There are many service providers out there that are using Exchange integration to provide the services that solve this compliance problem. If you want to write an Exchange killer, you not only have to convince the corporations that they should leave Exchange. You now have to show them, or provide for them, these compliance tools or a path to another service provider. This does not seem to be a game for MailCo or Mozilla to participate in.
MailCo should instead enhance it’s integration Exchange to the best of it’s ability. Integrate Lighting/Sunbird to try and work with the calendaring interface. Use the 2003 web interface like Windows Mobile and Evolution use to have another option instead of IMAP for the communication pipeline. I have not personally looked at what calendar info comes down the IMAP pipe from Exchange, but it would seem that the web information may be a better, “easier” point to have a two way conversation with Exchange.
If this path is not desired by the community and MailCo (cost vs gain?) then at a minimum the MailCo/Thunderbird site should be the source of information on how to get that integration to be the best possible with the current application. Lately it seems, that the best information on how to do these various things with Thunderbird is found somewhere other than a Mozilla domain. While it shows great community, it gives the feeling of a product with little support from Mozilla or the Thunderbird team.
I come down on the side that Thunderbird should evolve to be the central communication point. A solid, stable base platform that through the use of extensions can be extended to be a common intersection for various communication pipes. Exchange and email in general is just one of them. MailCo should not concentrate so heavily on one type of communication (email) with one type of server (Exchange) that it loses the opportunity to jump out front of the communication aggregation opportunities. After all, there is one tool with awesome integration with Exchange, that is Outlook. If that is the only requirement for a communication tool, then Thunderbird is not the solution you are looking for.
