Goodbye SpamHero!

A year ago, we said goodbye to Postini. Today, we are saying goodbye to SpamHero!

What should I say? The hard truth is that transiting from Postini to any other spam-filtering solution is never going to be easy. Postini has a high standard to begin with. Their spam filtering capability is next to none.

So what went wrong with SpamHero. Their spam filtering is not just up to my expectation. That's what I have to say.

So few weeks ago, we shopped around … again. This time round, we finalized on MailCleaner.

MailCleaner is a business anti spam gateway installed between your mail infrastructure and the Internet. It offers professional protection against viruses and eliminates up to 99% of spam.

MailCleaner offers 3 solutions - Cloud Anti-Spam, Cloud Appliance, Virtual Application.

For a start, we tried the Cloud Anti-Spam as this is the simplest integration. Good result. Happy customer, we are.

What's even better? MailCleaner has a Community/Open-Source Edition where the MailCleaner Virtual Appliance can be download. One can then install MailCleaner on-premise.

Very simple to install. Configuration can be a little difficult, but there's a great community to tap on. Most of my doubts can be found in the forum.


So fingers cross. I hope we'll stay with MailCleaner forever.


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Zimbra Collaboration Suite - Open Source Edition

Zimbra got a new lease of life after Telligent bought it over. I'm happy that development for Zimbra continues as our own mail server is Zimbra! :) We have been using it for years.

Recently, Zimbra releases Collaboration Server 8.0. We'll be looking forward to upgrading to this new and exciting version!

By the way, there are various deployment models to choose from when deploying Zimbra Collaboration Server.

Again, Cloud is a platform which software developers cannot choose not to support these days.


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Goodbye Postini

We have been using Postini Message Security way before Google bought Postini over. It has been a long ride.

Comes Jun 2013, it's time to say goodbye. We are not keen to transit over to Google Apps Platform, so are our customers.

Hello, SpamHero. We have been running trial for 2 months. So far, we are satisfied with the services provided. Well, except that it is not able to filter ADV messages that well. (Postini has this feature where it can aggressively filter off any message that contains advertisement. I like that feature! Just me.)

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Anti-Virus Comparatives

Since the day Google announced Postini is going "EOL" in the coming year (to be replaced by Google Apps, which is far more inferior by many reports), many AV vendors have been chasing existing Postini customers, including us and our customers.

The above is a pretty good chart comparing the various AV products out there. Good for evaluating before making a final decision in months to come.

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2012 Magic Quadrant for Unified Threat Management

We have been using SonicWall for a number of years and this is the brand we usually push to our customers.

Well done!

Yahoo Mail Filter is back!

I mentioned in my blog in February that I'm saying Goodbye to Yahoo Mail.

It has been a long while since I went into Yahoo Mail. I did that just. 

The Filter feature is available now!  Cool!

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One inbox for every citizen

My colleague brought me to attention a grand vision made by the Singapore Government:

ALL residents will have an online mailbox to which various Government agencies will send statements and bills from tax statements to TV license renewals and service and conservancy bills. Called OneInbox, this service will be launched by 2012.  

The Straits Times 14-Jun-2010

It is indeed very daring - imagine all the old uncles and aunties having to learn how to use computers to read emails, just in case they get penalized for late payments. :)


Joke aside, I am more curious on which software vendor will get chosen for this tender?


Will it be Microsoft for it's Exchange Server again? (Since the Singapore government is pretty pro with anything Microsoft)

Will it be IBM for it's Lotus Notes? (I doubt so as it is pretty costly)

Will it be Oracle/Sun for it's Sun Java System Messaging Server? ( SJS MS used to be relatively cheap under Sun. The pricing is slightly different now though :>  Technically wise, it is a ISP-grade software, thus making it very suitable for this deployment )

I personally do not think the Government will go for any cloud service like Goggle Gmail, Microsoft BPOS, or IBM LotusLive. I'll be surprised if one of these 3 wins the deal.

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How to counter Hotmail and Gmail free mail service?

It has been a very busy month. It's great to be busy! Ha.

Today, my colleague brought me to attention the new offering from Hotmail. Microsoft highlighted that this is the next generation of personal email.

The new release of Hotmail targets the following 4 core areas:

1. Take back your inbox. 
2. Get more done with the mail you receive. 
3. Share over email. 
4. Connect from your phone.

Some of the highlights are:

With Hotmail, we’ve combined the simplicity of sending photos through email with the power of Windows Live SkyDrive so that you can send up to 200 photos, each up to 50 MB in size, all in a single email.

Just as you do with photos, you can send up 200 Office documents of up to 50 MB each. Send PowerPoint presentations embedded with videos, Word documents rich with images, and more.

Amazing! The storage vendors are earning big bucks from Microsoft. :)


Anyway, we have our own OpenMail.SG offering. What should we do? Go panic and offer the same as what Microsoft or Google offer?

How to? Being small, you do not confront your enemies with your weakness. This is from the famous Sun Tzu Art of War.

Our direction should be very clear: We do not react by lowering our price or offer features which we are not financially capable of offering.

The key to retaining our existing customers and winning more customers is: Customer Service.

If you treat your customers well, there is no reason for them to leave you. Cost is secondary.

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AXIGEN Mail Server - No import/export feature for calendar

I am a fan of Formula 1 Racing. The season has just started and I want to plan my schedule properly.

There are websites providing the Season Calendar in .ics format. What one has to do it to import the downloaded .ics into his calendar.

The import/export feature for calendar is fairly common in most calendaring solutions. 

Google Calendar

Sun Calendar (OpenMail.SG is our hosted solution based on Sun's technology)

However, AXIGEN does not have this feature yet.

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Oracle Beehive - Big Picture

Today, I tried to get the overall picture of what Oracle Beehive is all about.

I logged into Beehive Central - all collaboration activities start from here.

Welcome to Oracle Beehive, a product built for the communication and collaboration needs of today's workplace. Use Beehive's integrated tools -- including conferencing, instant messaging, e-mail, calendar, team workspaces and mobile access -- to efficiently exchange and share information.

Beehive Central is your entrance to the Beehive collaboration experience. Get started with Beehive client downloads and install desktop extensions designed to add Beehive functionality to Outlook, as well as a Web and voice conferencing tool.

If you are looking for just a simple communications/messaging (email & calendar) platform, forget about Oracle Beehive. It's far too costly and complicated.

However, if you are looking for a Collaboration Suite, then you should take a look at Oracle Beehive. I am pretty impressed with Conferencing and Team Collaboration features.


Collaboration is the super-set of Communications. It offers so much more than simple email and calendar features.


PS: I'll elaborate on these 2 features in my subsequent blogs...


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Oracle Beehive - Outlook Connector

My colleague just managed to get Oracle Beehive running in our labs, so I went ahead to play around with this Collaboration Suite.

I'm always curious how well is Outlook Connector being supported.

System Requirements
Operating System
•Microsoft Windows XP: Home or Professional
•Microsoft Windows Vista: Home, Business, or Ultimate
•Microsoft Windows 2003 Server
•Microsoft Windows 2000: Home or Professional

Microsoft Outlook
•Microsoft Outlook 2007 (with Service Pack 2)
•Microsoft Outlook 2003 (with Service Pack 3)
•Microsoft Outlook 2002 (with Service Pack 3)
•Microsoft Outlook 2000 (with Service Pack 3)

Much more comprehensive than what AXIGEN and SUN have to offer. See here.

However, it is still not the complete list. My favorite Windows 7 family is still not supported. It'll take time since Windows 7 has been out in the market for only a while.


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AXIGEN Mail Server - Upgrade

AXIGEN recently released version 7.3.3. 

I do not know why this release is so close to the previous. It was only released on 8th March 2010. Might have some really serious bug. Otherwise, no one will launch 2 releases within a month. :)

Anyway, it's OK. Since I am still fresh from the installation of 7.3.2, I might as well take this opportunity to evaluate the Upgrade Process.

If you have experience upgrading products for your customers before, you would agree with me the Upgrade Process for many products out there are not as pleasant.

Surprisingly, AXIGEN falls into the "Pleasant" category. It was a breeze upgrading from 7.3.2 to 7.3.3.

Stop AXIGEN server
[root@axigen ~]# /etc/init.d/axigenfilters stop
[root@axigen ~]# /etc/init.d/axigen stop

Backup (to play safe)
[root@axigen ~]# tar -cvf axigen.bk.26032010 /var/opt/axigen/*
[root@axigen ~]# gzip axigen.bk.26032010

Run Upgrade 
[root@axigen ~]# ./axigen-7.3.3.i386.rpm.run
:
Found an already installed package, axigen-7.3.2-1
Please select one of the options displayed below:
==== Main options
1. Upgrade to axigen-7.3.3-1
2. Uninstall axigen-7.3.2-1
9. Exit installer
Your choice: 1

Preparing... ########################################### [100%]
1:axigen ########################################### [100%]
Success unpacking Commtouch AntiSpam filter in /var/opt/axigen
New configuration file available: /var/opt/axigen/ctasd/ctasd.conf.dist
Installer finished.

Start AXIGEN server
[root@axigen ~]# /etc/init.d/axigenfilters start
[root@axigen ~]# /etc/init.d/axigen start
Starting AXIGEN Mail Server... [ OK ]

Done. Very simple.


PS: The rather bad experience was in trying to find proper endorsed documentation from AXIGEN on this upgrade process. In fact, there isn't any. 


Yes, I do understand upgrading is so simple. However, in a Product environment, which administrator will dare to try executing "axigen-7.3.3.i386.rpm.run". He would most probably need to read up on Release Note and Upgrade Instruction before requesting the green light from his superior to go ahead.


All this is part and parcel of performing due diligence just-in-case thing goes wrong.




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AXIGEN Mail Server - Outlook Connector

I'm a Mac and Windows 7 user. So no luck with AXIGEN Outlook Connector.

My experience with Sun Java System Connector for Microsoft Outlook tells me that it's fairly tedious to develop and maintain Outlook Connectors. (See my previous post)

It's a 2-dimensional business:

• Firstly, you need to develop a Connector for each possible Windows OS (XP, Vista, Wins 7)

• Secondly, you need to develop a Connector for each possible Outlook application (2003 or 2007 and the upcoming 2010)

Saw it? Sun is also not ready for Wins 7

It's a constant catching-up game. And you are at the mercy of Microsoft. Whenever there is a new patch or release, the Connector has to be re-tested just in case it does not break.

If it does not break, great! Be happy and grab a Starbucks to enjoy!

If it breaks ... well, then you have to update the Connector ... then you have to arrange for a new Connector patch/release ... then you have to inform and arrange with your customers a date for whole round of trial testing in their Staging environment ... then you finally need to update the Connector in each and every PCs in your customers' premise .... That's really painful!

AXIGEN Mail Server - Mobile Integration

What I like about AXIGEN is that it already has Mobility Access built-in. No additional mobile gateway required.

What is required from the Administrator is to turn on the feature.

By enabling Mobile User Interface, the WebMail service will attempt to detect if the connecting browser is a mobile phone browser and, if so, will serve the light XHTML version instead.

I tried accessing Axigen WebMail via a iPhone browser, it works perfectly. It is able to render light XHTML version - similar to what you'll get when you access Gmail on your mobile phone.

On my BlackBerry browser, no luck though.

Mobile Synchronization with AXIGEN is easy with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync.

See here for detailed instruction on how to configure your iPhone, Nokia or any Windows Mobile device.

Again, I tested with a iPhone. The setup was a breeze.

For BlackBerry device, you'll need AstraSync. See here for detailed setup instruction.

Note: AstraSync has a yearly renewal model. Each year costs US$49.

Anyway, I downloaded a trial version of AstraSync. My BlackBerry's calendar was sync-ed in less than 5 mins.

So far so good, installation and configuration was easy. Mobile integration was surprisingly easy as well.

What I learnt from Axigen so far:

• Ease of installation is important
• An intuitive administrative interface is very important
• An architecture that can seamlessly integrate with external interfaces (mobile access in this case) is equally important

My observation is many administrators are not as technically inclined these days. Thus, products of tomorrow need to be fairly easy to manage and maintain. If integration is required, then it better be seamless.

PS: AstraSync was super stingy though. 6-days free trial only.

AXIGEN Mail Server - WebMail First Impression

Once installation and basic configuration are done, I went ahead to test Axigen WebMail.

There are 2 WebMail interfaces to choose from - AJAX or Standard.

AJAX Interface

Standard Interface

Did you notice the logo in the AJAX interface?

Yes - "Technology Preview", it is still being developed. Currently, the Calendar and PIM features are not integrated yet. :)

If you choose to use this interface and click on Calendar, a pop-up window will redirect you to the Standard interface. I hate pop-up!

Integrated Email & Calendar in Standard Interface

For the moment, I'll stick to the Standard interface. Good enough for me.

What's next do I usually look for in WebMail?

Almost without fail, I'll look out for Filters (see Say goodbye to Yahoo Mail) and Auto-Responder.

I found an interesting feature - Temporary Email.

Users can request a one or more random temporary aliases for use when subscribing to public sites, in order to avoid spam; temporary email addresses expire after the time period defined by the administrator.

Technically, this is nothing but aliases.

But from end-users' perspective, this "user-self-service" feature is intuitive. And it saves them the hassle to apply temporary email addresses via Administrators, which takes days at times.

This proves again great feature does not have to be complex.

AXIGEN Mail Server - Installation & Configuration

Installation of AXIGEN Mail Server for standalone deployment is fairly simple. It took 12 steps!

Yes, that's it. As simple as that.

(If you need screenshots of the installation steps, email me at cheechong @ azlabs.sg)

After installation, the next most important step is to configure Security & Filtering. This is almost a must these days.

The default installation of AXIGEN comes with a number of built-in AntiVirus and AntiSpam softwares, including a free 1-month trial of Commtouch Real-Time Antispam Protection.

The beauty of the AntiVirus and AntiSpam feature is the ability to dictate the order in which you want each component to be executed.

Now, what if you want to integrate commercial products like TrendMicro InterScan™ Messaging Security Suite (IMSS) with AXIGEN?

Not too difficult. You can always create a detour (Axigen calls it the Sandwich Architecture).

Basically, when emails arrive at the SMTP-Incoming:

• A detour is made to deliver the emails to the AntiVirus/AntiSpam server (it can resides on the same machine or a remote machine)
• The AntiVirus/AntiSpam server will scan the emails and perform actions based on predefined rules
• A detour is again made to deliver the "safe" emails back to the Message Store

See here for detailed implementation.

AXIGEN Mail Server

I just downloaded a copy of Mobile Office Edition 7.3.2 from AXIGEN and managed to get license key for the software.

FYI, the Mobile Office Edition offers Push Email and PIM Synchronization.

As per my normal practice, I usually begin with the Architectural Diagram of any product which I intend to evaluate.

To me, selling is about convincing buyers with a diagram. It's best to illustrate visually and the story has to be simple. If it takes time to explain what your product is capable of, then it's difficult for buyers to make decision.

Mobility support is crucial these days with dynamic workforce. The list of supported mobile devices is pretty comprehensive. See here.

Do note the following:

• Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync® - compatible handsets such as Nokia Symbian / Apple iPhone / all Windows Mobile devices (Smartphone, PocketPC, HTC etc)
  
  
• BlackBerry® handsets (through the AstraSync™ or the NotifySync™ client)

I think most vendors are pretty good in providing ActiveSync® solution. I'm a BlackBerry user though, so I'll be testing AstraSync™ instead.

For a detailed features listing, you should read the PDF file from here.

Mobile Sync with Sun Calendar Server - Part III

Few days back, I came across an Open-Source Java program (GCALDaemon) that offers two-way synchronization between Google Calendar and various iCalendar compatible calendar applications.

Suddenly, an idea struck my mind!

There is now a cheaper way to implement mobile sync to Sun Calendar Server 6.

GCALDaemon is an OS-independent Java program that offers two-way synchronization between Google Calendar and various iCalendar compatible calendar applications. GCALDaemon is primarily designed as a calendar synchronizer but it can also be used as a Gmail notifier, Address Book importer, Gmail terminal and RSS feed converter.

What we need is to use the file-based synchronizer feature in GCALDaemon.

Bingo!

Slightly troublesome. However, it saves cost and is elegant enough. Personally, I'm using this architecture to sync my BlackBerry calendar with my Sun Calendar Server in the backend.

Mobile Sync with Sun Calendar Server - Part II

If you have followed my previous posting, you'll realize that Sun Calendar Server 7 is seldom used in the real world.

Why?

Simple reason: No one will use a Calendar Server that cannot integrate with WebMail.

Efficiency has become the norm today. Everyone wants a integrated, tightly-coupled office productivity tool to work with.

At present moment, most Sun Java Communications Suite 7 deployment will still be using Sun Calendar Server 6, until Sun Calendar Server 7 is developed to interface with Sun Convergence Server (WebMail).

Because of the same reason, if customers require mobile sync feature, they'll need to deploy Sun Java Mobile Communications Server - an additional component with separate licensing model.

This is costly. :)