PSINet Selects HP's OpenMail for Hosted Messaging
PSINet has unveiled new hosted, business-class messaging and collaboration services based on HP's OpenMail. Support and additional e-services will be provided by European security vendor Articon-Integralis, HP Consulting, and other OpenMail partners.
PSINet's new Global Enterprise Messaging Service (GEMS) is a response to users' demands for messaging solutions that offer guaranteed service levels, complex desktop functionality, reliable security, and large capacity, according to Moss Bulder, vice president of applications and Web services at PSINet Europe. "The provision of in-house e-mail, messaging, and collaboration has become an expensive and complex job for company IT departments," Bulder explained.
The deal with PSINet is a big win for HP's UNIX- and Linux-based messaging and collaboration system. OpenMail, a highly scalable system, has an installed base of 15 million seats and has penetrated the large and mid-size markets. It is represented in 60 percent of Fortune 1000 companies and is the third most popular business messaging system in Fortune 500 firms, according to industry consultants Creative Networks. Now OpenMail will penetrate the small business market as well.
PSINet's selection of OpenMail for the GEMS solution was made after the ASP evaluated several systems, Bulder said. In PSINet's view, none offered the high reliability and low operating costs of OpenMail. The messaging system's functionality, especially its extensive support for Microsoft Outlook, was also a factor. OpenMail not only supports calendaring, wide-area scheduling, public folders, and delegation but also allows users to select simpler desktops, such as Internet mail, using POP3 or IMAP4.
GEMS is scheduled for availability at the end of March from all of PSINet's major European offices. It will become available throughout the world later this year. The service will be offered for a fixed monthly charge.