Why Users Migrate From GroupWise to Outlook

Despite Exchange’s popularity, there are a number of organizations that are still using Novell GroupWise and even justify its use strongly. Prominent reasons behind the continued usage of this emailing platform (although an old one) include its reliability, uptime, ease of administration, and security. Add to that the inconvenience associated with shifting an entire organization’s mailboxes to a new platform and getting them used to the new look, feel and usage and one thinks, who needs the switch anyway!

While that is a very genuine scenario that prompts companies still using GroupWise to continue using it, some have already taken the leap and made the switch to Exchange and Outlook.

If GroupWise is indeed so great and switching an inconvenience, what are the reasons bringing more and more people to Outlook?

Reasons that provoke users to migrate from GroupWise to Outlook

You’ll find the plus points of Outlook lingering on the same lines as GroupWise but with a little higher appeal. This is probably because both being competing platforms, Microsoft keeps launching improved versions of Outlook with features GroupWise already has. Agreed GroupWise already has them, Outlook still manages to revamp them and add in a little extra.

Check out how:

1. Flexibility

GroupWise is tightly coupled with its environment. That means you can’t access it on just any computer. This is in stark comparison with Outlook that is so versatile that it comes within the Microsoft Office suite of Applications as well as a separate application. Just install it and a simple configuration later, you’re good to go.

2. Easier to use

GroupWise is not very user-friendly. Well of course once you start using it and keep doing so for a number of years, you get so used to it that it seems child’s play, a novice needs to have complete technical knowledge about it before he can start working with it. Outlook on the other hand is so user friendly that anyone can get used to working with it within a few hours. Plus it’s super easy to install.

3. Cost

It all boils down to the money. This is probably the biggest reason pushing dedicated GroupWise users over the edge and option for Outlook. Installing and maintaining GroupWise can cost you dearly. However, since Outlook comes bundled within the Microsoft Office suite, you don’t need to pay anything extra for it. If you use MS Word documents and presentations in your organization, you already have Outlook. All you need is a simple installation and you can let go of all additional costs.

While all the above holds true, we would like to again state that both GroupWise and Outlook have their own pros and cons. So before making the migration, weigh all aspects carefully and then make an informed choice.

Points to take note of before migrating

Regardless of what your decision is, here are a few things you should know about migrations in general:

• Migrations are costly. They involve procuring equipment and supporting documentation to understand the process. Plus, you might need to rope in field experts to perform the migration and set up the new environment.
• Migrations typically take time depending upon the number of mailboxes and also their sizes. They’re not blink-and-you’re-done tasks.
• Manual migrations often suffer from technical glitches resulting in failure to migrate all mailboxes or large ones. You thus need to resort to ways like batch-migration, dummy migrations and the like.