IBM offers email for less than Google Apps
By Dave Jeyes
IBM has announced the launch of LotusLive iNotes Web-based email for businesses aimed at competing directly with Google’s low-cost business solution. And the kicker is that it’s cheaper to go with Big Blue.
In general IBM is known for its high-end computing or for consulting with huge international companies. However, this solution was built primarily for small business owners looking to skip the hassle of administering their own email servers.
Google Apps offers a similar Web-based solution that bundles Gmail with Google Docs and Spreadsheets. Google Apps offers 25 GB of email storage along with the rudimentary word processing and spreadsheet applications for $50 per user for a year.
LotusLive iNotes counters with a price point of just $36 per user for 1 GB of email storage. IBM doesn’t have Web-based word processing or spreadsheet applications to bundle, but wants to take care of small company messaging.
Despite the awful name, LotusLive iNotes is a viable competitor to Gmail. It has a clean simple interface and could appeal to users that aren’t fans of Gmail’s threaded email display.
That makes it even easier for companies to switch from standard business messaging tools like Outlook to LotusLive iNotes. The question is whether small business owners will identify with IBM as much as Google.
Both companies are international technology powerhouses, but Google was a startup in recent memory. IBM has been a power player in computing for decades.
Some users may choose Google Apps for the other applications, but Google Docs and more especially Spreadsheets just aren’t up to the task of business computing. There are open source alternatives such as OpenOffice that offer much more capability than Google’s Web-based solution.
It’s interesting that IBM would start targeting the long tail of small business after focusing on the Enterprise solutions market for so long. Now if only someone could help IBM translate LotusLive iNotes from consulting-speak into plain English.
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