Many Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, and OCS customers are at a planning crossroads, facing such questions as:

• Whether to migrate to Exchange 2010 and, if so, when
• Whether to migrate to Microsoft’s cloud-based offering or to that of Google
• How and when to implement tightly integrated telephony/unified messaging

Charting the course is difficult. It is also hard to find impartial advice because vendors and their business partners clearly have axes to grind.

The Ferris Microsoft Messaging and Collaboration Strategy Service

Ferris Research helps you make sense of what’s happening and make the right decisions. And because we don’t sell products or integration services, we don’t have an axe to grind. Our Microsoft Messaging and Collaboration Strategy Service includes:

• A custom presentation on our assessment of Microsoft Exchange/SharePoint/OCS and its future, alternative offerings, and migration issues
• A daily news feed (also available in weekly and monthly digests) covering messaging and collaboration strategy-related news
• Regular commentaries on messaging strategy developments
• Networking with other organizations of similar size that are considering the same issues
• Up to two days of custom consulting from Ferris Research on relevant topics, such as:
  • When to upgrade, and to which version
  • Whether to migrate to Microsoft Online or to a third-party offering, such as Google Gmail/Apps
  • Total cost of ownership; total costs of migration
  • Microsoft price negotiability
  • Unified communications capabilities and deployment issues
  • Whether to use Microsoft’s spam and malware control services, or those of a third party

This service is suitable for IT professionals and costs $15,500 annually. We also offer a formal messaging and collaboration strategy review, including on-site meetings and written reports and recommendations. Prices start at $60,000.

Vendor Option

A version of this service is also available for vendors of archiving products and services. Topics include NDA-based discussion of:

• Product planning and marketing
• Product architectures and key technical decisions
• Competitive strengths and weaknesses
• Customer satisfaction levels compared with competitors’
• Investment levels (e.g., number of developers, QC, tech comm, and sales specialists) relative to the rest of the market and key competitors
• Who is targeting what niche markets and doing well

Unlimited briefings, press quotes, and reviews of outbound sales and marketing materials are also provided. The annual subscription cost is as follows:

• Up to 100 staff, includes up to three days of custom consulting: $19,500
• 101 to 500 staff, includes up to four days of custom consulting: $24,500
• More than 500 staff, includes up to five days of custom consulting: $29,500 per business unit

Consulting Team

Members of the Ferris team include:

• Nick Shelness, former Lotus CTO and Lotus and IBM fellow, who provides a deep understanding of Microsoft, Google, and IBM technologies and directions.
• David Ferris, who has assessed email systems since he published his first book on the subject in 1991.
• David Sengupta, a Microsoft Exchange Server MVP since 1998. His expertise includes archiving, regulatory compliance, legal discovery, and enterprise content management.
• Richi Jennings, who has headed several Notes-centric competitive surveys and consulting projects and has conducted a series of TCO and messaging support headcount surveys. He’s also our spam and malware control expert.

For Further Information

For more information, contact David Ferris at +1 415 367 3436, or david.ferris@ferris.com.