[imp] "big three" webmail providers courting campus

[Liam Hoekenga]

Our institution is being courted by Hotmail and GMail (and I wouldn't be 
surprised to see Yahoo to throw it's hat in the ring) - encouraging us 
to stop providing email service to our students, instead allowing 
provider /X/ to host all of our student email.

One of my coworkers pointed out today that Google had placed an ad in 
our student newspaper asking people to take a survey, rating their 
satisfaction with our current email service (which, as far as students 
are concerned is IMP), and comparing it to how much more they like GMail 
(the survey's a little slanted).

Anyhoo... some of the results could be changed by offering different 
Horde modules ("No IM or calendar functionaliy", "Can't get my mail from 
my mobile phone."), but the big one was a cry that the UI for IMP was 
too complicated.  These are early results, specific to our school...

    What would you like to change about your school's current email system?
     - Complicated Interface (24%)

    What's the primary way that Gmail, Google Talk, and Google Calendar 
could be better than your school's current systems?
     - User Interace (50%)

I just don't see the UI for IMP becoming more streamlined as time goes 
on.. unless there are major plans for the Horde 4 / IMP 5 release.

We don't have Kronolith or MIMP installed.  We're eagerly awaiting DIMP, 
but I fear that google's goal here is to organize a grass roots movement 
to get students to demand that we switch to GMail institutionally.

I guess this is just a cautionary tale.  With the big three webmail 
providers offering free or massively subsidized hosting for entire 
student populations,  Horde is going to have to work real hard to stay 
attractive and / or relevant.

What are other colleges and universities seeing?

Liam