The Zimbra Collaboration's most valuable feature is web access.
Manager assistant at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Includes web access features but needs improvement in multi-cloud
Pros and Cons
- "The Zimbra Collaboration's most valuable feature is web access."
- "The tool should improve its multi-cloud feature."
What is most valuable?
What needs improvement?
The tool should improve its multi-cloud feature.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with the solution for more than ten years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the tool's scalability a nine out of ten.
Buyer's Guide
Zimbra Collaboration
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about Zimbra Collaboration. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.
How are customer service and support?
We need to develop our internal capabilities to support Zimbra Collaboration. We take support from the community.
How was the initial setup?
Zimbra Collaboration's installation was easy. The difficult part was to obtain experience with Linux OS.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I use Zimbra Collaboration's community version. We may move to the enterprise version since prices are affordable.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the product an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Head of Studies with 11-50 employees
Easy to use, implement, and expand
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is easy to implement."
- "We have had an issue with security."
What is our primary use case?
I primarily use the solution for sending and receiving emails and meeting requests.
What is most valuable?
It is very easy to use.
The solution is easy to implement.
The solution can scale.
What needs improvement?
We have had an issue with security. We had attacks in the summer, which is why we didn't buy the latest update. The security is bad. I'm not sure if it was on Zimbra's end or the firewall's or human error.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We have had issues with stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have about 200 people on the solution right now. The scalability of the solution is fine.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not complex. It is very easy to deploy.
I'm not sure how many people were involved in the deployment process.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I'm not sure of the exact cost of the solution. However, my understanding is that it is not too expensive. I'm not sure if there are any extra fees.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We have been evaluating Zimbra and MS Exchange. We wanted to know if MS Exchange was better than Zimbra.
What other advice do I have?
While I'm not sure of the exact version we're using, it is not the latest version.
We may be switching to MS Exchange. Our department head would like to switch. However, our IT team doesn't want another project at this time.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten overall.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Zimbra Collaboration
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about Zimbra Collaboration. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Infrastructure & System Administrator at a tech company with 1-10 employees
An affordable and easy-to-deploy product that provides valuable modules
Pros and Cons
- "Network NG Modules are valuable to us."
- "The antispam and antivirus features are hard to understand on mobile devices."
What is our primary use case?
I use the product for the main server.
What is most valuable?
Network NG Modules are valuable to us. They are very high modules. The solution has features that can help administrators and users to manage the server. It is the best tool.
What needs improvement?
The only problem I face with the product is spam. I do not have any other big problems. The antispam and antivirus features are hard to understand on mobile devices. The solution should improve the features to provide more clarity to the users.
For how long have I used the solution?
I am using the solution currently.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable. I rate the stability an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the solution’s scalability a nine out of ten. It is very scalable.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy for system administrators.
What about the implementation team?
The deployment took one hour.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is not expensive compared to other products. It is cheap.
What other advice do I have?
I know others who use the solution in their organization. I would recommend the tool to others. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT Manager at a energy/utilities company with 51-200 employees
Excellent sharing features
Pros and Cons
- "Zimbra Collaboration's sharing features are most valuable."
- "Zimbra Collaboration's video conferencing could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
Zimbra Collaboration is mainly used for messaging, emails, calendars, video conferencing, and document sharing.
What is most valuable?
Zimbra Collaboration's sharing features are most valuable.
What needs improvement?
Zimbra Collaboration's video conferencing could be improved. Their documentation is also mainly in English, and it would be useful to have it available in other languages. There's also a problem with the new Admin NG module, which makes it possible for the administrator to access users' mail on their system, which is particularly problematic for organizations with confidentiality requirements. This feature cannot be removed, though you can choose whether or not to activate it. In the next release, Zimbra Collaboration should make all the features from their previous web interface available on their new one.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Zimbra Collaboration since 2011.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Zimbra Collaboration's stability is generally ok, but it depends on the version number, especially if you're early in that version. For example, there were some issues with high numbers of sessions and infrastructure requirements in the early days of version eight.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Zimbra Collaboration's architecture is ok for scalability if you do the multi-node deployment. However, there's a problem with the high availability of mailbox servers, which isn't very good.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup isn't very complex.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Zimbra Collaboration is expensive, and there is no perpetual license option. Also, their licensing model is unclear, making it difficult to evaluate the value of the solution before buying.
What other advice do I have?
Zimbra's community is very helpful when you need information. I would rate Zimbra Collaboration nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner/integrator
General Manager Sales BFSI at Kyndryl
Useful email functionality, reliable, and straightforward implementation
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of Zimbra Collaboration is email functionality."
- "Zimbra Collaboration does not have a solution roadmap as aggressive as the new collaboration mail solutions. Additionally, they can have a better interface and integration with single sign-on."
What is our primary use case?
Zimbra Collaboration is a plain mailing solution across our organization and with our partners.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Zimbra Collaboration is email functionality.
What needs improvement?
Zimbra Collaboration does not have a solution roadmap as aggressive as the new collaboration mail solutions. Additionally, they can have a better interface and integration with single sign-on.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Zimbra Collaboration for approximately seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Zimbra Collaboration is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
There were 5,000 users using Zimbra Collaboration.
The scalability of Zimbra Collaboration is good.
How are customer service and support?
I have contacted support for some incidents.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have not used another similar solution to Zimbra Collaboration.
How was the initial setup?
The initial installation of Zimbra Collaboration was straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
The deployment of Zimbra Collaboration was done in-house. The solution does not require any maintenance.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is an annual standard licensing fee to use Zimbra Collaboration and there is no other cost.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Zimbra Collaboration an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Control Department Head of Information Security at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
It is light to manage and low-cost, but lacks storage management
Pros and Cons
- "Zimbra Collaboration is light to manage. It works on the Linux operating system, which is far better to manage than Microsoft Windows. Microsoft Exchange works only on the Windows server. We prefer working on the Linux server for security reasons and ease of management. Zimbra Collaboration also has some integrated tools for security. It some modules to fight malware. These modules are not very powerful but are still doing a great job. Microsoft Exchange doesn't have a basic module. You have to purchase a security solution and add it to the solution. The cost of Zimbra Collaboration is one more reason for liking it. It is also very simple to migrate from Zimbra Collaboration to another email solution."
- "Zimbra must improve its solution to make it easy so that the users don't have to use webmail to connect to their accounts and log in to webmail every time. This is something that is lacking in Zimbra Collaboration. They should provide a better way to easily connect email applications on the desktop to the Zimbra server. They should also try to have more functionality for storage management, like Microsoft Exchange. Currently, the management of the email data must be done manually in Zimbra Collaboration, which we are finding very difficult. They should provide a way to save emails so that you can have more space on the server and storage. Because of the lack of this functionality, we are planning to migrate to Microsoft Exchange. Microsoft Exchange provides a better way to manage storage than Zimbra Collaboration. You cannot have a mail solution without storage management because emails will always increase. Zimbra Collaboration also needs tools for management. More back-office tools are required to manage the whole mailbox and space. You don't only manage emails but also the documents attached to the emails. Therefore, you require tools to select and decide what do you want to save or how do you want to free up space in your infrastructure."
What is our primary use case?
We are mostly using Zimbra Collaboration for email purposes. It is also a collaborative tool. We also use it for sharing some documents and for meetings.
What is most valuable?
Zimbra Collaboration is light to manage. It works on the Linux operating system, which is far better to manage than Microsoft Windows. Microsoft Exchange works only on the Windows server. We prefer working on the Linux server for security reasons and ease of management.
Zimbra Collaboration also has some integrated tools for security. It some modules to fight malware. These modules are not very powerful but are still doing a great job. Microsoft Exchange doesn't have a basic module. You have to purchase a security solution and add it to the solution.
The cost of Zimbra Collaboration is one more reason for liking it. It is also very simple to migrate from Zimbra Collaboration to another email solution.
What needs improvement?
Zimbra must improve its solution to make it easy so that the users don't have to use webmail to connect to their accounts and log in to webmail every time. This is something that is lacking in Zimbra Collaboration. They should provide a better way to easily connect email applications on the desktop to the Zimbra server.
They should also try to have more functionality for storage management, like Microsoft Exchange. Currently, the management of the email data must be done manually in Zimbra Collaboration, which we are finding very difficult. They should provide a way to save emails so that you can have more space on the server and storage. Because of the lack of this functionality, we are planning to migrate to Microsoft Exchange. Microsoft Exchange provides a better way to manage storage than Zimbra Collaboration. You cannot have a mail solution without storage management because emails will always increase.
Zimbra Collaboration also needs tools for management. More back-office tools are required to manage the whole mailbox and space. You don't only manage emails but also the documents attached to the emails. Therefore, you require tools to select and decide what do you want to save or how do you want to free up space in your infrastructure.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Zimbra Collaboration for almost six years.
How are customer service and technical support?
Zimbra doesn't have good technical support. They are not always available for help, so we have to troubleshoot as much possible by ourselves. It is not easy to find help when we have any incidents.
We have a local partner who is an expert in Zimbra. They really help us by trying their best and doing what they can do. Zimbra support is not always available, so we work only with local support.
How was the initial setup?
Because Zimbra doesn't provide good support, it was difficult for our administration team to handle this solution in the beginning. They had to learn it on their own. The initial setup, however, wasn't really difficult. It was simple.
What about the implementation team?
The teams in charge installed it in a short time with the help of a partner.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Zimbra Collaboration is less expensive than Microsoft Exchange. Zimbra works for small companies because it is not expensive.
Zimbra Collaboration has more security tools than Microsoft Exchange. If you are choosing between Zimbra Collaboration and Microsoft Exchange, you have to take into account the cost of security tools with Microsoft Exchange. When you purchase Microsoft Exchange, you will also have to purchase tools for security, which adds to the cost.
The migration from Zimbra Collaboration to another email solution is very simple and easy. Migration from Microsoft Exchange to another email solution is very difficult. Microsoft doesn't allow migration that easily. In fact, you have to pay for tools to do that. You have to buy some expensive tools to migrate.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution, but it depends on the size of the company and the cost. The number of emails that you use impacts the cost of the solution.
For a small company, Zimbra Collaboration is good because it is simple, inexpensive, and not very difficult to deploy. For a big company, Microsoft Exchange is good because you have to manage the data, storage, and user emails, and you need a tool that can easily do it for you. Microsoft Exchange provides tools to manage the space and the server. You can create your own policy for emails. For example, you can save emails that are two years old somewhere else. Zimbra Collaboration currently does not have such functionality, and it is something very inconvenient because the emails keep on increasing, and the storage is not unlimited. Therefore, you have to find a way to manage the storage to save all emails and have free space for the new ones. This functionality is really powerful in Microsoft Exchange. That's why for a big company with 1,000 or more users, it's good to have Microsoft Exchange. It, however, also depends on your budget.
I would rate Zimbra Collaboration a seven out of ten. In spite of the lower cost of Zimbra Collaboration as compared to Microsoft Exchange, our management is planning to migrate to Microsoft Exchange because of the issue with storage management.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT Technician & Senior System Administrator at a tech company with 51-200 employees
I can manage all accounts from the console. Premium features don't break when you perform OS updates.
What is most valuable?
I like that I can easily manage all accounts from the management console. This allows real time control of each account. With the CLI, I can also control and manage all server functions or any mailbox, for free.
Premium features, such as auto discovery and archiving, mobile management and HSM, make life much easier. Once implemented, they don't break when you perform OS updates.
How has it helped my organization?
When my clients moved from POP3 to IMAP and ActiveSync, they were able to port the complete mailbox. Additionally, Zimbra allows them to centrally manage and store all their emails.
What needs improvement?
The following areas could be improved:
- Backup
- Autodiscover
- Antispam
- Mobile
I think being able to purchase individual packages would be better than having all the features included in one big package.
For how long have I used the solution?
I’ve been using Zimbra for more than 4 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We had a couple of issues with stability, but nothing that I couldn't work around or fix myself. Zimbra is a powerful product, but since VMware bought it, changes and bug fixes have been very slow in coming.
How are customer service and technical support?
The main format for technical support is forum-based with tickets. This is not appropriate for big enterprises.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used Microsoft Exchange and PostFix. The main reason for switching to a Zimbra deployment is the cost in time.
How was the initial setup?
The first time I performed a setup it was harder than expected. I only had basic Linux skills and Zimbra installation wasn't as straightforward as it is now.
As I mentioned before regarding free products, we expect the end user to figure out how to make it work. When we pay, then we can complain.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend Zimbra for small and medium-sized businesses. Even larger enterprises could benefit from it. If they have a good system administrator and are willing to learn, they could reduce costs and improve performance, while increasing productivity as well.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Automatic backup with good web client features for an easily scalable, stable, installable and manageable solution
Pros and Cons
- "One of the most valuable features involves the solution's automatic backup, which I find to be pretty simple and straightforward, and obviates the need for additional software."
- "It would be great if a group chat feature were created to allow for a team environment."
What is our primary use case?
While I believe that Zimbra nine is the latest update, I am working with eight.
The solution employs open source software.
I implement the solution so that our end user customers may have mailing features, one-on-one chat facilities and unified communication. Within one's email are contained his calendaring facilities.
What is most valuable?
One of the most valuable features involves the solution's automatic backup, which I find to be pretty simple and straightforward, and obviates the need for additional software. The web client features have good graphics and are pretty useful.
What needs improvement?
It would be great if a group chat feature were created to allow for a team environment. The current chatting facility only allows for one-to-one chats.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Zimbra Collaboration for nearly two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is very stable. One need only implement it, at which point it does not require further contemplation. Only basic maintenance is required.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is easy to scale. It boasts scalability features such as those allowing an additional server to be added for horizontal scaling.We have encountered no issues in this regard.
How are customer service and support?
We have not required much technical support, as the implementation we do primarily concerns the community edition with which we started. We feel the technical support to be good. They supply good email support. We do not require this at the moment.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Nearly two years back, I was working with Microsoft Exchange.
The advantage of Microsoft Exchange over Zimbra Collaboration is that it is very heavy and has much more features, but its management requires a person to have a greater level of skill. Microsoft is also a more mature solution.
When it comes to the licensing of Zimbra Collaboration, my license covers the servers and I find its terms to be much simpler than those of Microsoft Exchange. Microsoft has multiple requirements, such as one concerning the need for the best OS licenses. There are multiple products needed to get Microsoft Exchange to work, but there is also a standalone option available. The licensing of Zimbra Collaboration is better than that of Microsoft Exchange and it's more affordable.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is simple. As the implementation is pretty simple, a small organization can initially make use of the community edition and move on from there.
What about the implementation team?
The management of the solution is simple. Save for mailbox related issues, the maintenance of the solution is minimal. Issues are limited to comparatively minor ones and mainly would arise at the SMTP end.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
When it comes to the licensing of Zimbra Collaboration, my license covers the servers and I find its terms to be much simpler than those of Microsoft Exchange. Microsoft has multiple requirements, such as one concerning the need for the best OS licenses. There are multiple products needed to get Microsoft Exchange to work, but there is also a standalone option available. The licensing of Zimbra Collaboration is better than that of Microsoft Exchange and it's more affordable.
What other advice do I have?
The product is on the client side, so our company provides implementation and support services.
The solution is best suited for medium enterprises, although my organization supports mainly government organizations which range from medium to large.
I rate Zimbra Collaboration as an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Zimbra Collaboration Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: October 2024
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