Mail in the cloud...Are you asking the right questions?

Over the last year, I have seen many blogs and articles about E-mail as the best application to live in the cloud.  That is a fair statement, but sometimes the options on email can become cloudy and require in depth investigation.  In fact, just recently, even Hotmail has made the news.  In navigating the clouds, do not lose sight of the core functionality of email and the ingrained culture of your organization.

As we sift through all the noise and hype about "cloud computing", I think it is important to revisit some basic fundamentals regarding moving email to the cloud.  There are several articles that compare and contrast Hosted Exchange, Gmail...and yes... even Hotmail.  I find these comparisons to be short-sighted.  My problem is not that I do not understand the importance of features and cost, but why are we not placing more value on those that rely on email to do their jobs?  I think it is fair to say that most implementations are only successful when a company includes the end user in the decision making process.

I have been using Microsoft Outlook in the workplace for years, and in the mid 90's I was even guilty of believing Outlook was synonymous with email.  Over time I have come to rely on Outlook's power and capabilities.  I believe Microsoft Outlook is in a class by itself: the way it integrates word processing, mail merges and forms.  It has become second nature for me to drop an email messages into appointments, tasks, or public folders.  Viewing calendars is great -- as it allows me to drop others' calendars on top of mine for an instant view of availability! This is a great time saver when bringing several people together for a meeting.  I think about the pain I go through when learning a new application!  I will never let the cost in retraining, productivity loss, and user frustration go unnoticed again.

I am not suggesting that other applications don't have similar features, but what I am suggesting is, there is great comfort in knowing Microsoft Outlook has a proven track record.

Asking thought provoking questions about migration, performance, reliability, data recovery, cost and back-up are relevant.  And when considering moving email to the cloud they are important questions to ask as part of the decision making process.

In my experience don't under estimate the value of your email culture. If you want a successful migration into the cloud, do yourself a favor, ask the right questions and include your users.  Their response can easily make or break a project.