Is Hosted Gmail the Answer?

Ken Yarmosh over at Technosight is excited about hosted Gmail, which he is currently beta testing. He notes that a real advantage it has is that even though he uses multiple computers, he always has the same view of his email. For some, this may indeed be a good solution.

But I prefer a hosted Microsoft Exchange solution. (In my case, I use Intermedia's service, but there are other good ones that friends of mine use.)

As Ken notes, he has to login to the Gmail service to have that common look and feel. And he says he prefers an email client but is willing to sacrifice it to get the benefits of Gmail.

In my case, I can't rely on something I must connect to. I spend too much time each week on airplanes where I need to be able to work offline with my email on my laptop. Fortunately, a hosted Exchange server solution enables me to use Outlook on any of my 3 computers plus my Treo 700w and be sure that I always have a consistent picture.

Better yet, my contacts and calendar are all synced across all of those platforms as well.

So Gmail may work for some, but many will prefer access to Exchange, especially since a number of good, affordable, hosted solutions are now available and you no longer have to set up and administer your own email server.

Tags: gmail, exchange, hosted email, technosight