Zimbra. Zimbra+Thunderbird. GoogleApps.
If yes, how can you say that they are 'similar' except for the very most basic point that users can send email with them, much like both a Lamborghini Murcielago and a Ford Model T are both 'cars'?
If no, why do you suggest them?
At least they'll know the authorities are requesting the data...
> Do they think they can secure their email servers better than Google can?
Just because someone secures their servers better than you can doesn't mean you automatically have to trust them with your data.
Let's assume for a moment that I have the safest vault in the world. According to your reasoning, the logical thing to do would be to put your valuables in my vault? Gosh ..
And even if you do trust Google with your sensitive data, do you also trust all their employees that might have access to it? http://gawker.com/5638874/david-barksdale-wasnt-googles-firs... And Google is a rather big corporation, if anything were to go wrong, they are notoriously hard to hold accountable.
> Are they going to refuse to hand over data if requested by authorities?
Well, they do not necessarily answer to the same authorities as Google does, so in some cases, yes, absolutely.
> Let's assume for a moment that I have the safest vault in the world. According to your reasoning, the logical thing to do would be to put your valuables in my vault? Gosh .. No it wouldnt, silly argument really. You have less than zero rep.
There aren't any enterprise alternatives even though there should be one.
For instance, if RIM had half a clue and a nickel for every bad idea they've executed on they'd have built a messaging platform to compete with Microsoft.
It's obviously too late for this now, but there aren't many companies that people would trust their email to.
Should I have taken a closer look at GA? Thunderbird isn't the easiest to use, but I like how it's easy to work with shared IMAP folders.
But don't waste your time with Zimbra, really