I think that at $199 MAPI licensing is higher than I would have liked but not unrealistic if you look at the bigger picture. The kicker on a small scale if you are supporting the Enterprise market is that the typical user will have at least a desktop and a smartphone. If the desktop is Apple we need to license up EWS, if Windows we will need to license up MAPI so really if you have chosen SM Enterprise, whether it is built in and added to the cost or licensed separately, you are likely to need both of them. Then there are the smartphones. It would be nice if ST would elaborate a bit on how they see this unfolding in SM17. Recent Microsoft Technet documentation seems to suggest that Outlook for Android and Outlook for iOS will attempt first to use what seems to be MAPI although they don't describe it that way and then as a second choice if that connection is not successful, EAS which seems to be reaching a point that it won't be supported as a second choice, at least not on their platform.. Does ST expect that the MAPI implemenation in SM17 will elimiante the need for EAS licensing assuming current versions of Android and iOS? If so, the simplified blanket licensing without the need for EAS may make the numbers look OK at all but the smallest scale. SM17 needs to work, that goes without saying, it also needs to come in fully functional as an Exchange Alternative at a cost that does not surpass the cost of Exchange unless and until the Value Add's have a preceived value and wide enough adoption that it woudl command a price premium. If this poses some revenue line challenges for ST I think a competitively priced fully functional Exchange Alternative really needs to be the main focus and some of the neat additions that have been developed as an alternative to, or in lieu of, real Exchange compatibility might need to be licensed as the paid add-ons. That way the base can be mantained; hopefully expanded, and there is a tommor into which we can sell the additional feature or license them up as needed fi the server is used in-house. I've been an advocate of MAPI for several years. This is still all looking like it is going in the right direction to me. I'd appreciate a little clarification from ST on how they expect the SmartPhone connectivity to unfold.
SmarterMail(tm)
MAPI over HTTP - Let's flesh it out for Outlook with a full set of Exchange like features!