Apple @ Work: How Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 have led to a boom in email app innovation in the workplace

In 2009, I used to be beginning my profession in IT, and even at the time, the concept of managing a native email server appeared like a colossal waste of sources. I started investigating what was then often known as Google Apps to your Domain in its place to Microsoft Exchange.

About Apple @ Work: Bradley Chambers has been managing an enterprise IT community since 2009. Through his expertise deploying and managing firewalls, switches, a cellular machine administration system, enterprise-grade Wi-Fi, 100s of Macs, and 100s of iPads, Bradley will spotlight methods in which Apple IT managers deploy Apple units, construct networks to assist them, practice customers, tales from the trenches of IT administration, and methods Apple may enhance its merchandise for IT departments.


In at present’s setting, operating your mail server is the exception to the rule. Most organizations that begin up at present will both join Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. Both merchandise are excellent, and it’ll rely on which productiveness apps you want to use (Google Docs vs. Word) as the one you possible find yourself selecting. I’ve used and managed each of them, and they’re each first-class merchandise.

It’s been practically 11 years to the day that I modified my group’s MX data over to Google and away from my self-managed Exchange server. I lately contemplated its implications for the Apple-focused enterprise.

Why hosted email issues

When the iPhone was launched, it lacked ActivSync assist, that means that IT had to allow IMAP assist to entry your work email. Because C-level workers had been utilizing the iPhone, IT ended up having to do it begrudgingly. With iPhone OS 2.0, Apple licensed ActivSync from Microsoft so the iPhone may natively discuss to Exchange 2008 and up. If you weren’t in the workplace at the time, you in all probability don’t understand how difficult it used to be to arrange company email on a smartphone. My first smartphone was a Treo 700, and it required me to take the cellphone to IT to join it.

Today, not solely is it easy to add your work email to all your units, however it’s additionally simple to use any app that you really want! The flexibility that hosted email has introduced to customers is, in my opinion, the most necessary results of this transition.

Email innovation

Email is a tried-and-true know-how primarily utilizing open protocols. Google makes use of its open API for apps to join to it, however email remains to be the workplace’s common identifier. Despite efforts by Slack to kill email, it’s nonetheless alive and effectively.

We’ve seen a lot of innovation in the app choices for email as effectively, and this offers finish customers a alternative of what sort of expertise they need. Spark permits you to chat about an email amongst your staff earlier than you ship it, making it helpful for inbound customer support emails. Spike turns your email into a fast chat interface and strips away headers and signatures. Twobird supplies a streamlined Gmail interface with notes. Airmail presents a multitude of customization choices. Canary places safety at the forefront. There are numerous different choices, so try my information to the best email apps for macOS and iOS if you’d like to discover some nice options to Apple Mail.

Wrap-up on why hosted email issues

The great thing about the scenario that we’re in for enterprise prospects is workers have alternative whereas nonetheless getting to discuss to all of their colleagues and prospects. When a corporation chooses to use Slack or Teams, everybody else has to use that app. Regardless of which email platform a corporation makes use of, workers can decide the app that works greatest. Someone in one division would possibly use Spike’s online notes to monitor conferences, whereas another person would possibly use Spark’s third-party app integrations to ship emails into an app like Todist. Employees can experiment and discover the apps that work greatest for his or her workflows whereas nonetheless getting to discuss to everybody else. Because email is constructed on open know-how with a few important gamers, apps can deal with integrating with a few distributors and construct nice know-how on high of it. All of this may occur with out IT needing to configure every app manually.

Of course, app alternative is simply a small motive why hosted email is smart in the enterprise. Running a mail server is a difficult and resource-heavy position, and security-wise, it’s a lot better to belief Google and Microsoft to deal with it.

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