Kerio Technologies recently released Kerio MailServer 6.6, an effective alternative to Microsoft Exchange Server, particularly for small-to-midsized businesses (SMBs). In a recent conversation, Dusan Vitek, vice president of worldwide marketing for Kerio Technologies, said that ease of use was a primary reason why customers choose Kerio MailServer. As many admins know, the increasing complexity of Exchange adds great protection and functionality, but can be a significant resource drain to administer, particularly in smaller shops.
In addition to the ease of use of Kerio MailServer, Vitek described the product as something you could install and forget. It’s an all-in-one package, including integrated mobile email support and built-in antispam protection, antivirus protection, and email archiving. Another factor that simplifies implementation of Kerio MailServer is that it doesn’t require Active Directory.
The Kerio MailServer 6.6 release introduces resource scheduling, which lets users reserve resources such as conference rooms, audio-visual equipment—even company cars. You can see real-time availability of resources in the scheduling process, and the system sends an automated response from the resource to acknowledge the reservation. You can apply restrictions to individual resources so that only certain users can schedule them. You can view the calendars of each resource in Microsoft Office Outlook, Microsoft Entourage, Apple iCal, and Kerio WebMail.
Kerio MailServer 6.6 also introduces Kerio Exchange Migration Tool (KEMT) to help companies migrate email, calendars, contacts, and tasks from Exchange. Vitek mentioned that this migration tool had been the feature customers requested the most. KEMT is designed to complete migrations overnight or over a weekend, when impact on end users should be minimal. It can be used for Exchange 2007/2003/2000/5.5, and can also perform cross-platform migrations—for instance, migrating from PCs to Macs.
Kerio MailServer runs on a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. For more information, visit Kerio Technologies' website. Below, you can see a short video featuring some screenshots from Kerio MailServer 6.6.
And here are some additional articles that cover Kerio MailServer if you’re interested in getting a bigger picture of the product:
“Who Says You Need Microsoft Exchange Server?”
“What's Hot: Kerio Mail Server 6”
“Groupware Alternatives to Microsoft Exchange”
“Kerio MailServer 6.1”