Hi Matt,

I could not agree more.... Our company, a small ISP in The Netherlands
is using Imail since version 3 and we are not at all interested in
ICS. Our current version is 8.15 HF1 and yes, we have problems with
Web Messaging as well.

The Ipswitch policy switch is a very disappointing one.

Kind regards,

Henk de Vree

Plaza Productions B.V.
Internet Services

Web : http://www.plaza.nl/
Tel : +31(0)184-670181
Fax : +31(0)184-670184
VoIP: henkdevree (via Skype, see http://www.skype.com)

You wrote:

M>  While 8.2 seems to finally start addressing some functional
M> improvements that are commonly sought after by IMail's users, I'm
M> far from accepting of the company's new direction.

M>  My last service agreement expired earlier this year.� For that
M> service agreement I got squat, in fact I got burned.� The only
M> releases that came out were minor version releases that are
M> generally available without the service agreement.� I never
M> contacted support during that year.� Then to top things off,
M> Ipswitch violated the terms of my service agreement by killing
M> IMail as a product, and introducing IMail as a part of a much, much
M> more expensive bundling of existing products that I never asked for
M> or desired.� While the company somewhat backtracked from this
M> decision to completely shelve IMail as a stand-alone product, they
M> still refuse to sell IMail to the public and one can't build a
M> business counting on them to deliver what is clearly within their
M> means.� So we were all faced with an increase in a service
M> agreement by some 40% over what it was previously increased to, and
M> a product that you couldn't count on buying or upgrading in the
M> future.� They even had the gall to state that they were not sure as
M> to whether or not a new Web messaging client would be provided to
M> us plebes that had service agreements but weren't using ICS.� It's
M> clear as day that Ipswitch is only selling service agreements
M> because they saw the opportunity to extract money from their
M> existing customer base, yet when those decisions were made, it was
M> also clear as day that they had no intention of abandoning their
M> desires to become a major player in the collaborative software
M> sector and migrating not just those of us that were willing, but
M> giving us a choice or being willing and staying by migrating to ICS
M> and the expenses that go along with it, or leaving.

M>  If Ipswitch wants to turn this boat around they need to do
M> four things from my perspective:
M> 1) Fire those that forced the abandonment of their IMail
M> customer base in favor of the pipe dream of becoming a major
M> collaborative player.� If not for the fact that these people are
M> creeps that have very little regard for their customers, then for
M> the fact that they are ruining the business.
  
M>  2) Sell IMail publically as a stand-alone, unbundled product as was the 
case before.
  
M>  3) Reorganize so that they can produce quality software for
M> less money, and therefore compete at the pricing points that the
M> rest of the industry is following ($695 for a service agreement is
M> absolutely ridiculous, and probably breaks the elasticity of demand
M> in addition to costing them a ton of goodwill).
  
M>  4) Continue improving the core product so that it can compete
M> more readily with other solutions on the market.� Following
M> multiple notable improvements in 8.2 this will include scrapping
M> their outdated and very problematic Web mail interface for a modern
M> solution that utilizes IIS.

M>  Others around here might be more diplomatic, but I'm quite
M> sure that at least in part, this is what the majority of us are
M> thinking.� Ipswitch might make some inroads by attempting some or
M> parts of these things, but they will never earn back the goodwill
M> that existed before the changes were made last year.

M>  Matt




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