I did look at the Oracle Collab suite, and I have heard good things about it.... but it's WAY WAY overkill for us. To get the calendar you have to get either the Unified Messaging package or the full Collaboration Suite, both of which include other stuff we just don't need.
Even as a complete solution, either package is too much for our 35 person org. Maybe if we were 10x that, and more tech-oriented, it'd be up our alley.
FirstClass is a great option, and one that I forgot to mention in my post below. I looked at it for us, but the main problem was I found the client to be somewhat non-intuitive and non-OS X-like. (when creating a new email, the first line is "subject", not "to:"? huh?)
Plus, it does way more that we need (which is just email/contacts/calendar).
Still, it's a worthy option, just not for us (nor for this guy, from the sound of it).
I went through a similar process recently for our all-OS X org (35 people/3 offices).
After LOTS of searching, I gave up on the all-in-one groupware solution and decided to pick individual apps that just do what we need, nothing more. There is no good groupware solution w/ a full client for OS X outside of Exchange/E'rage and Notes; this is a big hole someone should fill.
I chose Communigate Pro for email, because it's solid, and I don't want to spend precious time fooling w/ a cranky email server. Exchange was out, it's expensive, and I have zero experience (or desire) adminning it or windows server. It was either CGP or Kerio, and Kerio has more groupware features, but when I looked, Kerio was having some pretty serious bug/stability issues--this was pre 6.1 I think. The support forums were a bloodbath, and I didn't need that headache.
For calendaring, we're currently testing Meeting Maker. Native OS X client, web interface too, it does calendaring and little else. People like it so far.
Even w/ individual programs, the administrative burden can be lessened by support for LDAP authentication. Both CGP and Meeting Maker support this (MM w/ an extra bundle).
If I were you, I'd drop the requirement for Entourage integration, and find standalone solutions that best fit your need. Even just using Meeting Maker would be a huge improvement over what you have now.
I second that emotion. Has anybody besides the big boys paid much attention to how address books and shared contacts work? In making them seamless when accessed via the web or a client? It sure doesn't seem like it.
I'm the sole IT guy at a medium-sized nonprofit. We're currently using a POP3 provider for email and need a better solution, which is a bit harder because we're all-OS X. Outlook isn't an option, Entourage support for exchange isn't 100% there, exchange is overkill for us anyways, and I have zero Windows Server/Exchange admin experience. (*NIX all the way here...)
I've been seriously researching and demoing MANY solutions for the better part of a year and I've pretty much settled on:
--Communigate Pro for Email, with either Apple Mail (most likely) or Entourage as an IMAP client. (Currently using Entourage for POP3.)
--Meeting Maker for calendaring and to-do. It has a native OS X client and good web access.
--A hand-built web interface to the shared files on our OS X server.
We just need the basics--calendar, shared contacts, email, remote access to shared files--and they need to be rock-solid stable.
Basically, Hula Server is *exactly* what I need, and I think it's what a LOT of SMB's need too. And indeed, there are rumors that it'll be rolled into future OS X server releases.
Unfortunately I need a solution now, and while Hula is just not ready for serious production use. I can see moving to Hula down the road when it's proven and even more kickass.
For the record, an apple 1-button USB mouse will work in windows, from at least 2000 on up to XP. Try ir sometime. Of course, there's no reason to WANT to do this, bu in a pinch...
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I did look at the Oracle Collab suite, and I have heard good things about it.... but it's WAY WAY overkill for us. To get the calendar you have to get either the Unified Messaging package or the full Collaboration Suite, both of which include other stuff we just don't need.
Even as a complete solution, either package is too much for our 35 person org. Maybe if we were 10x that, and more tech-oriented, it'd be up our alley.
FirstClass is a great option, and one that I forgot to mention in my post below. I looked at it for us, but the main problem was I found the client to be somewhat non-intuitive and non-OS X-like. (when creating a new email, the first line is "subject", not "to:"? huh?) Plus, it does way more that we need (which is just email/contacts/calendar). Still, it's a worthy option, just not for us (nor for this guy, from the sound of it).
I went through a similar process recently for our all-OS X org (35 people/3 offices).
After LOTS of searching, I gave up on the all-in-one groupware solution and decided to pick individual apps that just do what we need, nothing more. There is no good groupware solution w/ a full client for OS X outside of Exchange/E'rage and Notes; this is a big hole someone should fill.
I chose Communigate Pro for email, because it's solid, and I don't want to spend precious time fooling w/ a cranky email server. Exchange was out, it's expensive, and I have zero experience (or desire) adminning it or windows server. It was either CGP or Kerio, and Kerio has more groupware features, but when I looked, Kerio was having some pretty serious bug/stability issues--this was pre 6.1 I think. The support forums were a bloodbath, and I didn't need that headache.
For calendaring, we're currently testing Meeting Maker. Native OS X client, web interface too, it does calendaring and little else. People like it so far.
Even w/ individual programs, the administrative burden can be lessened by support for LDAP authentication. Both CGP and Meeting Maker support this (MM w/ an extra bundle).
If I were you, I'd drop the requirement for Entourage integration, and find standalone solutions that best fit your need. Even just using Meeting Maker would be a huge improvement over what you have now.
I second that emotion. Has anybody besides the big boys paid much attention to how address books and shared contacts work? In making them seamless when accessed via the web or a client? It sure doesn't seem like it.
I'm the sole IT guy at a medium-sized nonprofit. We're currently using a POP3 provider for email and need a better solution, which is a bit harder because we're all-OS X. Outlook isn't an option, Entourage support for exchange isn't 100% there, exchange is overkill for us anyways, and I have zero Windows Server/Exchange admin experience. (*NIX all the way here...)
I've been seriously researching and demoing MANY solutions for the better part of a year and I've pretty much settled on:
--Communigate Pro for Email, with either Apple Mail (most likely) or Entourage as an IMAP client. (Currently using Entourage for POP3.)
--Meeting Maker for calendaring and to-do. It has a native OS X client and good web access.
--A hand-built web interface to the shared files on our OS X server.
We just need the basics--calendar, shared contacts, email, remote access to shared files--and they need to be rock-solid stable.
Basically, Hula Server is *exactly* what I need, and I think it's what a LOT of SMB's need too. And indeed, there are rumors that it'll be rolled into future OS X server releases.
Unfortunately I need a solution now, and while Hula is just not ready for serious production use. I can see moving to Hula down the road when it's proven and even more kickass.
For the record, an apple 1-button USB mouse will work in windows, from at least 2000 on up to XP. Try ir sometime. Of course, there's no reason to WANT to do this, bu in a pinch...