Email is free. We all know that. Or do we, and is it?

While a stamp is not necessary to send an email, technology is. Companies use Microsoft Exchange servers for the service to their staff, and the software is not free. Neither are the servers or their management. The only other option, at least for operating systems, is the Linux competition.

Linux operating systems are free – - at the server level it might be the Red Hat version, or the FreeBSD version, and each has been around for a long time.  While the software is not necessarily free, perhaps from Novell GroupWise, it is less expensive than Microsoft Exchange software, and requires less maintenance, and fewer updates.

A study done earlier in the year compared these overall costs, and found that companies could cut the total cost of email by up to 64% if they were to switch from Microsoft Exchange to Novell GroupWise.  The report was published by independent analyst house Osterman Research.

They based their findings on a global survey of 132 organizations, and compared the total cost of email systems.  An organization with 1,000 users, they found, spends an average of $29.67 per Exchange email account, while just $11.64 for Novell GroupWise accounts on a Linux server.

In the spirit of disclosure, KISS is an open source company, and our servers use FreeBSD as their operating systems.  Our work stations are powered by a Linux derivation system, also.  In at least one instance, Novell’s Evolution, a free email client similar in functionality and features to Microsoft’s Outlook, is used.  However, KISS is not affiliated with  either Osterman Research Group or Novell, and are not compensated for this blog post.

The Osterman report also indicated that the average person spends almost one-third of their workday on email, and sends/receives an average of 124 messages every work day.  With about three-quarters of all outgoing communications today done via email, it has become critical to a company’s everyday business activity.

At the very least, it is worth serious consideration in the corporate world how best to manage the costs of doing business.  Reviewing the cost of the single most important communication vehicle in the world today should be on the list.

While it is a mostly Microsoft world we live and work in, it is not the only technology world available to us.  Linux does offer a meaningful alternative, as this Osterman Research report, which you can access here, suggests.