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Kerio Connect 7 -- A new name and powerful new features
Kerio, developers of Kerio Mail Server, announced today that a new version of their powerful enterprise-class collaboration product is now available. Kerio Connect 7, as the product is now called, is a re-branding of the venerable server application that illustrates that the package has gone well beyond just being a mail server. John Jones of Kerio explained the details of the new release in a recent phone interview with TUAW. Kerio Connect 7 now allows distributed servers to work with one another, making it possible for large enterprises with widely-dispersed facilities to place servers at locations local to each office. The multiple servers can behave as a single, large server, sharing calendars and global address lists, and users can be easily moved between servers for load balancing. The new release also provides web-based administration tools. The minimum size group license for Kerio Connect 7 is 5 users, making it possible for small organizations to start out with a power collaboration server, and then scale up as they gain employees. Kerio Connect 7 also supports CardDAV and CalDAV, providing a way for organizations to share address books and calendars. The server is, of course, cross-platform (Mac OS X, Windows, Linux) and works well with all clients including iPhone and Android phones. In addition to running natively, Kerio Connect 7 can be run on a virtual machine under either VMWare or Parallels. The upgrade is free to customers who have purchased support and maintenance from Kerio, and other pricing for the product can be found on the Kerio website.
Kerio MailServer 6.6 takes another swing at Exchange
Kerio has released version 6.6 of Kerio MailServer, another push forward in their campaign to take a bite out of the Microsoft Exchange market. We mentioned the ActiveSync capabilities of Kerio MailServer in July, and have noted the expanding capabilities of the 6.x releases as an increasingly viable alternative to Exchange. Version 6.6 encompasses a variety of improvements, including expanded features for mobile and iPhone users. Two items which stand out prominently are the addition of resource scheduling and the Exchange Migration Tool. Resource scheduling allows shared company resources -- anything from conference rooms and projectors to company cars -- to be scheduled and reserved using MailServer's shared calendars. Access controls can be specified by administrators for each resource, and a "Reservation Manager" can be assigned with add/edit/delete priveleges. Mac users can access the resource schedules through Entourage or iCal (although Kerio is less thrilled with the inelegance of the iCal solution and its LDAP dependencies). PC users have access through Outlook, and everyone can schedule resources through Kerio Webmail, which is fully compatible with Safari, Firefox and Internet Explorer. The Kerio Exchange Migration Tool is provided free of charge to Kerio 6.6 users, and is designed to take a lot of the fear out of making a transition from Exchange to Kerio. It runs on a Windows box (works fine with virtualization) between the Exchange and Kerio servers and, in about 4 clicks, transfers all of the existing Exchange data, users, etc. to Kerio MailServer. Additional features in 6.6 include improved iPhone support (with HTML email and attachment viewing), and an iCal auto-configuration script which is generated by the server for each Mac user. The auto-configuration sets up CalDAV and LDAP to work with Kerio, handling all of the details without requiring the user to know anything more than their own machine's administrative password and their Kerio MailServer login information. The new version maintains the same prices, starting at $499 for 10 users ($599 with McAfee Anti-Virus) and add-on packages for additional users starting at $120 (+5 users). Current users with a subscription can, as far as I can tell, upgrade for free.
Kerio MailServer is getting pushy
We've mentioned Kerio MailServer before, pointing it out as an Exchange alternative. Well, just two days after the release of the 3G iPhone, Kerio announced version 6.5.2 with full iPhone compatibility, complete with push email, contacts and calendar thanks to ActiveSync. Kerio MailServer has technically supported the iPhone for about a year, using a sync agent that was only capable of synchronization through IMAP, and calendar and contact syncing was handled through iTunes. With newly available technologies, MailServer users have a much more efficient means of keeping everything flowing. It's also been pointed out that, unlike some other email servers, it allows full access to all of your folders, not just the Inbox. According to Kerio, it's real "push," and it really works. I'm not currently running Kerio MailServer, so I can't attest to its effectiveness, but the 3G update is free for currently active subscribers. Using it on a previous generation iPhone, however, does require a paid upgrade*. Check Kerio's site for more information on pricing and features. *Correction: it's a flat out free upgrade for all current subscribers.
