https://www.channelfutures.com/wp-content/themes/channelfutures_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • Analytics
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud
    • Data Centers
    • Desktop
    • IoT
    • Mobility
    • Networking
    • Open Source
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Virtualization
    • Voice/Connectivity
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Best Practices
    • Business Models
    • Channel 101
    • Channel Programs
    • Channel Research
    • Digital Transformation
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Leadership
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Specialty Practices
  • MSSP Insider
    • Back
    • Business of Security
    • Cloud and Edge
    • Endpoint
    • Network
    • People and Careers
    • Training and Policies
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • 2020 MSP 501 Rankings
    • 2020 Hot 101 Rankings
    • 2020 MSP 501 Report
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Our Sponsors
    • From the Industry
    • Content Resources
    • COVID-19 Partner Help
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • Reports
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • EMEA
  • Awards
    • Back
    • Excellence in Digital Services
    • 2020 MSP 501
    • Top Gun 51
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • Channel Partners Evolution
    • Channel Evolution Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
  • Channel Mentor
    • Back
    • Channel Market Intelligence
    • Channel Educational Series
Channel Futures
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • Analytics
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud
    • Data Centers
    • Desktop
    • IoT
    • Mobility
    • Networking
    • Open Source
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Virtualization
    • Voice/Connectivity
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Best Practices
    • Business Models
    • Channel 101
    • Channel Programs
    • Channel Research
    • Digital Transformation
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Leadership
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Specialty Practices
  • MSSP Insider
    • Back
    • Business of Security
    • Cloud and Edge
    • Endpoint
    • Network
    • People and Careers
    • Training and Policies
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • 2020 MSP 501 Rankings
    • 2020 Hot 101 Rankings
    • 2020 MSP 501 Report
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Our Sponsors
    • From the Industry
    • Content Resources
    • COVID-19 Partner Help
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • Reports
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • EMEA
  • Awards
    • Back
    • Excellence in Digital Services
    • 2020 MSP 501
    • Top Gun 51
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • Channel Partners Evolution
    • Channel Evolution Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
  • Channel Mentor
    • Back
    • Channel Market Intelligence
    • Channel Educational Series
    • Newsletter
  • REGISTER
  • MSPs
  • VARs / SIs
  • Digital Service Providers
  • Cloud Service Providers
  • CHANNEL PARTNERS ONLINE
 Channel Futures

Open Source


Telligent CEO Patrick Brand will lead the new Zimbra

VMware Sells Zimbra, Microsoft Exchange Rival, to Telligent

  • Written by The VAR Guy 1
  • July 15, 2013
VMware (VMW), has sold Zimbra, its Microsoft Exchange alternative to Telligent. How does the new Zimbra plan to counter Microsoft Office 365 and Google Apps? Here are clues from The VAR Guy.

VMware (VMW) has sold Zimbra, its Microsoft (MSFT) Exchange alternative, to Telligent. The VAR Guy isn’t shocked, considering VMware has been selling off non-core assets and Zimbra’s website had barely been updated this year. But what exactly does Zimbra’s sale mean to VMware and its channel partners? Here’s the analysis.

First, a history lesson. VMware acquired Zimbra, an open source email platform, from Yahoo in January 2010. VMware’s original goal was to promote Zimbra on-premises and through cloud services providers — especially heads-up vs. Microsoft Exchange. In some ways the strategy worked. By January 2013, Zimbra was considered a surprise alternative to Microsoft Office 365 and Google Apps in government markets.

Recent Silence

But the wins didn’t come often enough. By February 2013, The VAR Guy openly speculated about whether VMware would keep or sell Zimbra. By May 2013, The VAR Guy wondered if Zimbra would surface in VMware’s vCloud Hybrid Service. But nothing ever came of it. Clearly, VMware was shopping Zimbra.

And now Telligent — which focuses on enterprise social software — has acquired Zimbra. And going forward, Telligent will be known as Zimbra. Telligent CEO Patrick Brandt will lead the combined company. It sounds like Intel Capital, NXT Capital Venture Finance, BDCA, Hall Financial Group and VMware will each invest in the new Zimbra — which offers a “unified social collaboration suite built for the post-PC era.”

In a prepared statement, Brandt said: “Zimbra enables traditional collaboration through features such as email, calendar sharing and address books, while Telligent supports real-time collaboration via chat, social networking, online communities and more. The combination of the two will enable companies to easily share documents and ideas instantly, providing true unified collaboration.” 

Big Questions

The VAR Guy’s key questions going forward:

1. Partners and Customers: Zimbra says the combined company will have a global base of more than 5,000 customers and 400 partners. But The VAR Guy has been hearing that 400 partner figure for several years. Has there been any partner growth?

2. Cloud Computing: Generally speaking, Zimbra has not hosted its own software and instead deferred to telcos, Internet service providers and cloud services providers to host the software. Will that approach continue?

3. Rivalries: Does Zimbra still see an opportunity to disrupt Exchange (on premises) and Office 365 and Google Apps (in the cloud)? If so, what are the opportunities for partners?

4. Marketing: How will Zimbra build a stronger brand while battling cloud and enterprise software giants?

5. Open Source: Zimbra is an open source platform. What steps will Zimbra take to engage and excite that open source community?

That’s all for now. The VAR Guy will check in with his Zimbra sources for more insights.

Tags: Cloud Service Providers Digital Service Providers MSPs VARs/SIs Channel Programs Open Source

Related


  • Executive replacement
    VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger Replacing Bob Swan as Intel CEO
    Intel's new CEO began his career with and spent 30 years with the company.
  • cloud data
    Your Cloud Data Is Protected, But Is It Portable?
    Why flexibility and containerization are the new must-haves for cloud data.
  • Akamai Technologies Partners Migrating to New Channel Program
    Akamai partners will migrate to the new program over a six-month transition period.
  • Ready, Set, Go
    New, Changing Partner Programs: AWS, Tech Data, Avaya, Verizon
    Vendors and distributors thanked partners for their efforts in 2020 and geared up for 2021.

8 comments

  1. Avatar Nelson Huygen July 17, 2013 @ 7:40 pm
    Reply

    Zimbra was an albatross
    Zimbra was an albatross around Yahoo’s neck, and it was an albatross around VMware’s neck. At the end of the day, Zimbra delivers nothing of value that cannot be delivered by a pure open source solution such as Citadel or Kolab. If people truly want to overpay for a messaging and collaboration system, they’re generally going to go with Exchange.

    Kudos to VMware for unloading the albatross.

    • Joe Panettieri Joe Panettieri August 2, 2013 @ 9:12 pm
      Reply

      Albatross? I respectfully
      Albatross? I respectfully disagree. I think Yahoo and then VMware simply underestimated the power of Microsoft Exchange’s installed base, and the marketing dollars/disruptive power needed to replace it. Google seems to be the only company giving Exchange a run for its money in business email these days…
      -jp

  2. Avatar IGnatius T Foobar July 18, 2013 @ 6:08 pm
    Reply

    First a startup, then owned
    First a startup, then owned by Yahoo, then owned by VMware, now being sold off again, likely at a fire sale price. I saw a commenter on another site refer to Zimbra as an albatross hanging on the neck of whoever owns it, and that’s a pretty good description.

    Zimbra helped themselves to the open source underpinnings that make their product actually work, but if you want it to do anything useful you have to buy the expensive proprietary version. Much has been written about the “open core” model and how it neatly combines the worst of both open source and proprietary software. So it’s no surprise that Zimbra is struggling.

    Let’s face it, anyone who wants to spend too much money on email and collaboration is still buying Exchange. Smart deployers of open source are going with pure open source solutions such as Citadel and Kolab. And everyone else is simply dropping anchor in the cloud. There’s no room for worst-of-all-worlds solutions such as Zimbra.

    • Joe Panettieri Joe Panettieri August 2, 2013 @ 9:14 pm
      Reply

      IGnatius: While I don’t agree
      IGnatius: While I don’t agree with your description of Zimbra, I do agree that everyone is now dropping anchor in the cloud — and VMware never did quite help Zimbra to master that reality.
      -jp

  3. Avatar john801 July 31, 2013 @ 1:50 pm
    Reply

    Zimbra is a great fit for the
    Zimbra is a great fit for the market and will only continue to grow.

    VMware added to the professional services layer and now the Telligent team will bring more focus and advancement to the new Zimbra product. This is great news for the market and for the well established Zimbra customer base.

    We have been hosting customers on Zimbra since 2007, before anyone called hosting ‘the cloud’, and here is why it works:

    * Scaleable
    Support anywhere from 1 to 100,000 accounts easily

    * Supported
    Based on open standards the application is easy to support and integrate with other applications. All the major cloud providers are creating walled gardens around their platform which hinders growth and the customer’s ability to easily transition between service providers.

    * Affordable
    Frequently less than half the price for a fully supported Zimbra hosted solution than for Exchange/365. Money talks.

    Tue open source solutions can be great but the truth is that 95% of companies do not have the staff or resources to deploy and support services such as Kolab or Citadel. Total operational costs tend to shy businesses away from rolling their own.

    There are great days ahead with Zimbra!

    • Joe Panettieri Joe Panettieri August 2, 2013 @ 9:15 pm
      Reply

      John: I agree that there are
      John: I agree that there are successful Zimbra hosting providers. I just wish Yahoo and then VMware spent more time promoting those hosting providers to end customers.
      -jp

  4. Avatar Anonymous December 27, 2013 @ 9:44 pm
    Reply

    I worked at VMware when
    I worked at VMware when Zimbra was in the process of being aquired. Honestly without going into details I have to agree with Joe’s position. The problem was VMware was looking to compete with Microsoft but underestimated the market power MS wielded at the time. This actually might be a better situation now with for zimbra. Being a company now with its own direction again might actually be a better fit. Under VMware very little happened with Zimbra. Yahoo largely used it for its own email service to great effect (but poor commercial sales effect) again going back to they didn’t use it well when they had it.

    • Joe Panettieri Joe Panettieri January 1, 2014 @ 10:15 pm
      Reply

      Hi Anonymous: Thanks for the
      Hi Anonymous: Thanks for the comment. Going forward, I think Zimbra has to somehow change the rules of the game. “Competing” against Exchange at this stage of the game seems futile. Curious to see if Zimbra can somehow move into a blue ocean opportunity that we’re all overlooking… -jp

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your Channel Futures account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Top Gun 51 Profile: Josh Lewis on Alteryx's Analytic Process Automation Opportunity
  • New LogicMonitor Partners to Fuel Southern EMEA Growth
  • AWS Still Chasing JEDI, Blasts Trump Administration Again
  • Top Channel Exec Departs Samsung for Avaya Channel

Galleries

View all

New, Changing Partner Programs: AWS, Tech Data, Avaya, Verizon

January 11, 2021

Industry Perspectives

View all

Cyberattacks: Threat Hunters Conquer Unpredictability with 3 Measures

January 21, 2021

The Right Data Migration Tool Helps Schools Move to Cloud During COVID Crisis

January 19, 2021

Cloud-Based CRM: What SMBs Need to Know about Backup and Recovery

January 19, 2021

Webinars

View all

Who’s Behind the Mask? Hacker Personas Explained

January 26, 2021

Your Network Perimeter Has Changed

February 18, 2021

How Managed Hosting Providers Thrive with the Alternative Cloud

February 24, 2021

White Papers

View all

Why Subscription Business Model

January 15, 2021

The Ultimate MSP Guide to Sales Efficiency

January 14, 2021

Eight Reasons Why MSPs Need IT Industry-Specific Sales Tools

January 14, 2021

Upcoming Events

View all

Channel Partners Virtual

March 2, 2021 - March 4, 2021

Channel Partners Conference & Expo

November 1, 2021 - November 4, 2021

Videos and Fastchats

View all

FASTCHAT: How SOAR Eliminates Security Challenges and Elevates Service Provider Revenues

January 6, 2021

Happy Holidays from Channel Partners & Channel Futures!

December 21, 2020

FASTCHAT: How Old, Unpatched Technologies Are Creating New Security Threats for MSPs and Their Customers

December 3, 2020

Twitter

ChannelFutures

Legal experts say @VMware's #lawsuit against @nutanix's new CEO holds little weight. dlvr.it/Rr48FJ https://t.co/oLxPhgvgAt

January 21, 2021
ChannelFutures

bit.ly/2Y0kFZh twitter.com/Craig_Galbrait…

January 21, 2021
ChannelFutures

Our latest #Cybersecurity Roundup features @BitSight and @kovrrIns, @Vectra_AI and @AppOmniSecurity,… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

January 20, 2021
ChannelFutures

.@solarwinds hackers target @Malwarebytes, impacting internal emails. #cybersecurity dlvr.it/RqzkZp https://t.co/aWqLjCCW9y

January 20, 2021
ChannelFutures

.@citrix $2.25 deal to acquire @wrike expands @CitrixPartners network into collaborative work management.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

January 20, 2021
ChannelFutures

.@Carbonite Migrate uses real-time replication to move workloads to #cloud with minimal risk and near-zero downtime… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

January 20, 2021
ChannelFutures

Backup and recovery is essential for #cloud-based CRMs @ConnectWise #SaaS #dataprotection #cloudbackup #databackup… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

January 19, 2021
ChannelFutures

You an #MSSP looking to avoid a #SolarWinds-type breach? @Asigra, @Barracuda, @CynetSystems give advice. Don’t blam… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

January 19, 2021

MSSP Insider

Newsletters and Updates

Sign up for The Channel Report, Channel Futures Update, MSP 501 Newsletter and more.

Live Channel Events

Get the latest information on the next industry-leading Channel Partners event.

Channel Partners Online

Want more? Find more channel news and analysis on our sister site, Channel Partners.

Media Kit And Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • Channel Partners Online
  • Channel Partners Events
  • MSP 501
  • MSSP Insider
  • IoT World Today
  • Webhostingtalk

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter

FOLLOW Channel Futures ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2021 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X