Life after MS Exchange - advice needed, please

[DeonH]

Hi there.

I please need your help & suggestions. We have a small family business of 5 people.

OLD Scenario
1. We have our own server.
2. We hosted our own mail with MS Exchange server.
3. All of us have iPhones.
4. We set up Exchange accounts on our iPhones to fetch and send mail.
5. Contacts and Calendar entries were in sync between every PC/Laptop and phones.

NEW Scenario
1. Because of unreliable internet connection we decided to not host our own mail anymore.
2. We moved (almost 70% finished) our mail to the same company which hosts our web site. We are happy with security and everything.
3. New e-mail accounts on PC/Laptop were created as IMAP accounts.

Dilemma
1. Calendar entries are not synced between Outlook 2010 & iPhones.
2. Address Book entries are not synced between Outlook 2010 & iPhones.
3. Both numbers 1 and 2 are very important to us.

I have heard, and have no confirmation of this, that with the help of GMAIL we can solve this.
Can someone please tell me if this is at all possible and if yes, how do I make it happen for all of us?

All accounts on the iPhones are set up as IMAP accounts. I have for instance, before finally deleting everything on my PC, deleted the Exchange account on my iPhone. Needless to say, all my contacts were missing.

Your help & suggestions will be very helpful.
Regards, Deon

 

[terencevs]

Hi there.

I please need your help & suggestions. We have a small family business of 5 people.

OLD Scenario
1. We have our own server.
2. We hosted our own mail with MS Exchange server.
3. All of us have iPhones.
4. We set up Exchange accounts on our iPhones to fetch and send mail.
5. Contacts and Calendar entries were in sync between every PC/Laptop and phones.

NEW Scenario
1. Because of unreliable internet connection we decided to not host our own mail anymore.
2. We moved (almost 70% finished) our mail to the same company which hosts our web site. We are happy with security and everything.
3. New e-mail accounts on PC/Laptop were created as IMAP accounts.

Dilemma
1. Calendar entries are not synced between Outlook 2010 & iPhones.
2. Address Book entries are not synced between Outlook 2010 & iPhones.
3. Both numbers 1 and 2 are very important to us.

I have heard, and have no confirmation of this, that with the help of GMAIL we can solve this.
Can someone please tell me if this is at all possible and if yes, how do I make it happen for all of us?

All accounts on the iPhones are set up as IMAP accounts. I have for instance, before finally deleting everything on my PC, deleted the Exchange account on my iPhone. Needless to say, all my contacts were missing.

Your help & suggestions will be very helpful.
Regards, Deon

I know you have made the switch but you should look at this perfect for a small business:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/online-software.aspx

 

[Elimentals]

I would have gone http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/index.html

That is exactly what it is made for. Would sort out all your issues.

 

[OMB]

I know you have made the switch but you should look at this perfect for a small business:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/online-software.aspx

still not commercially available in SA although expected soon http://www.microsoft.com/southafrica/office365/

although if the need is just for email the gmail route may be better

 

[w1z4rd]

Hi there.

I please need your help & suggestions. We have a small family business of 5 people.

OLD Scenario
1. We have our own server.
2. We hosted our own mail with MS Exchange server.
3. All of us have iPhones.
4. We set up Exchange accounts on our iPhones to fetch and send mail.
5. Contacts and Calendar entries were in sync between every PC/Laptop and phones.

NEW Scenario
1. Because of unreliable internet connection we decided to not host our own mail anymore.
2. We moved (almost 70% finished) our mail to the same company which hosts our web site. We are happy with security and everything.
3. New e-mail accounts on PC/Laptop were created as IMAP accounts.

Dilemma
1. Calendar entries are not synced between Outlook 2010 & iPhones.
2. Address Book entries are not synced between Outlook 2010 & iPhones.
3. Both numbers 1 and 2 are very important to us.

I have heard, and have no confirmation of this, that with the help of GMAIL we can solve this.
Can someone please tell me if this is at all possible and if yes, how do I make it happen for all of us?

All accounts on the iPhones are set up as IMAP accounts. I have for instance, before finally deleting everything on my PC, deleted the Exchange account on my iPhone. Needless to say, all my contacts were missing.

Your help & suggestions will be very helpful.
Regards, Deon

I believe Google has all your answers http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/

Our office went something along the lines of MS Exchange to Zimbra to Google Apps. Its very good value for money. Affordable and about the best enterprise level solution we have used so far.

 

[DeonH]

Thanx ghoti for the link. Are you using some apps and if so, which ones can you suggest. To work with cloud is not an option as I have seen many of Google's stuff is for cloud.
We have:
1. Localised server to host our documents and is accessable from office and home.
2. IMAP e-mail which is hosted by ISP.
3. Outlook on all machines.

How do I sync:
1. Calendar entries between phone and Outlook.
2. Address book between phone and Outlook.

Thank you.