Serena Software migrates from Google Apps to Microsoft Online Services #BPOS #msonline

In November 2008 it was all over the press : Serena Software is moving from Microsoft Exchange to Google Apps. The motivation for this move was TCO so the articles said. November 16, 2008 I wrote a blogpost on this :

eWeek featured an article with the title : “Serena to Dump Microsoft Exchange for Google Gmail, the Cloud”.

The article ofcourse got my interest and when I started reading I thought this can’t be true. The article is one big confusing apples and oranges overview. I am quite sure that nor Mr Bister of Serena, nor the journalist has used Microsoft Excel to do their calculations …

And my (arrogant ?) recommendation back then :

My recomendation to Serena Software would be to do some homework, look into Microsoft Online Services and reconsider their options …

read the whole blogpost : here

No more than a year later Serena Software has made the choice to migrate from Google Apps to Microsoft Online Services, and here is some of their motivation to do so :

… One of Serena’s core values is a deep, organization-wide commitment to customer success.  We work closely with our 15,000 worldwide customers to deliver solutions that help them be more successful.  As a result, we rely heavily on collaboration tools for our employees to share information and work together with customers and partners. 

This is one of the chief reasons we’ve chosen to adopt Exchange Online and SharePoint Online together with Office 2010.  They deliver trustworthy, enterprise-class solutions – with the performance, security, privacy, reliability and support we require. We know that Microsoft is a leader in the providing these kinds of solutions, and in our discussions with them, it became clear that they are 100% committed to Serena’s success and delivering solutions that drive the future of collaboration.

Using Office, SharePoint and Exchange will allow us to collaborate more effectively internally and with customers and partners, many of whom use the same technologies, and we can do so without having to deal with content loss or clients being unable to open or edit a document. In particular, Exchange is unchallenged in its calendaring and contact management abilities, mission critical functions for a global company such as Serena.

There are alternatives on the market that promise lower costs, but in our experience, this is a fallacy.  When looking at alternatives, CIOs should really evaluate the total cost of ownership as well as the impact on user productivity and satisfaction, as there can be hidden costs and higher TCO.  For instance, slow performance and/or lack of enterprise-class features (e.g., with calendaring and contact management) will torpedo the value of such a backbone system, and may get the CIO fired. …

Source : Microsoft Online Services Team Blog

Google’s prime argument for ‘switchers’ often is TCO (or plain cost is a better choice of words) and most often always comparing older versions of on-premise email systems to their online offering. Apples and oranges as I have explained more often.

Serena Software’s motivation for migrating from Google Apps to Microsoft Online Services is one of value. The sheer value the Microsoft collaboration platform can bring to an organisation compared to just a cheap solution proves to be more valuable in the long run.

And Serena Software is not the only organisation switching from Google Apps :