Amazon WorkMail – Review 2021

Yet one other part within the large ecosystem that’s Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon WorkMail is a reasonably aggressive email hosting resolution, although it nonetheless has room for enchancment. It gives 50GB of storage per electronic mail field and an internet shopper that is a lot improved because the final time we examined it. However, you will nonetheless miss a number of of the niceties you will get with the leaders on this area, reminiscent of our two Editors’ Choice award winners Google Workspace Business Standard and Microsoft 365 Business Premium.

Amazon WorkMail Pricing and Plans

While Microsoft appears intent on making its pricing as advanced as doable, Amazon does higher as a result of it goes the opposite approach. WorkMail prices $4 per consumer per thirty days, together with 50GB of mailbox storage per consumer. That’s it—a flat charge with no different choices apart from consumer rely. Strangely, Amazon’s WorkMail net web page has a hyperlink to a pricing calculator, however in the event you click on it you will see calculators for a really lengthy checklist of AWS merchandise, not simply WorkMail.

Taking the $4 base worth, nevertheless, we are able to nonetheless examine WorkMail to our most inexpensive rivals, particularly IceWarp Cloud. That platform begins at $2.50 per consumer per thirty days, although that tier gives solely 5GB of electronic mail storage per consumer. Step as much as its subsequent degree and IceWarp delivers 100GB per consumer and 1TB of file storage, together with collaboration and productiveness instruments for $3.90 per consumer per thirty days. Measured towards that yardstick, Amazon has a strategy to go earlier than it might probably compete on a worth foundation. But if you wish to take a look at WorkMail for your self, there is a free 30-day trial.

Getting Started

To get began, you will have to create a brand new group in Amazon WorkMail. This group can have a number of domains related to it, however you will get a short lived default subdomain off awsapps.com. Once you are prepared, you possibly can click on into the group and add a website. You’ll be offered with a guidelines of issues that have to be achieved as a way to verify that you just personal the area and that its MX and CNAME data are arrange correctly. After that, you possibly can add some customers.

Adding customers is an easy operation—click on Create User and supply a reputation, the area you wish to affiliate it with, and an preliminary password. While the interface lacks a great way to import a listing of customers, the guide methodology is painless sufficient to maintain this from being a serious criticism until you have received a very large checklist. Also useful is that Amazon put the Reset Password button entrance and middle on the consumer checklist. That’s a typical sufficient request that it is good to not should hunt for it.

You can even set up teams just like Microsoft 365’s. These are primarily distribution lists that may go to a number of addresses. Groups are tremendous-useful for assist-model addresses the place you do not wish to pay for a selected field but it surely’s inadvisable handy out a selected particular person’s contact information. While that could be commonplace fare, certainly one of Amazon’s extra oddball options is a sources checklist that is utilized in conferences. While this solely is sensible within the context of WorkMail, you possibly can guide particular rooms or gear crucial for a gathering.

Other settings embody entry management guidelines which let you outline, with some vital element, what’s and is not allowed inside WorkMail. For occasion, you possibly can arrange permit or deny guidelines for particular protocols, IP addresses, or origins. While it takes a minute or two to wrap your thoughts across the idea, it is a highly effective function that allows you to make sure you’re solely exposing WorkMail to particular sorts of entry.

Retention insurance policies are the alternative. They lack correct granularity: You can select to delete or completely delete objects within the Inbox, Deleted Items, Sent Items, Drafts, and Junk Email after a set interval of days. But you solely get one coverage with no strategy to outline retention for particular teams (totally different guidelines for the accounting division than the IT division, for instance). It would make sense for this to be fleshed out sooner or later.

When you prepare to start out utilizing electronic mail, you will have the flexibility to make use of third-celebration shoppers reminiscent of Outlook or your cellular units. WorkMail gives directions for setting these up, and you may seemingly wish to use them: While the WorkMail net app works nicely sufficient, it lacks many options present in choices like Gmail or Fastmail. 

One of those is electronic mail labels, that are virtually obligatory for good electronic mail group nowadays. Also lacking is the flexibility to ship an encrypted electronic mail, which ProtonMail Professional, Microsoft 365, Google, and Zoho Mail have had for a very long time. Fortunately, WorkMail does assist the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocol and you may absolutely sync your mail, contacts, and calendars. So in the event you keep on with your favourite cellular system or third-celebration electronic mail shopper you will hardly discover something is lacking. One oddity I did spot is that the Drafts folder does not sync, so which may catch some of us abruptly.

That stated, there are some acquainted options. Email guidelines are current, in addition to computerized responses for if you’re out of the workplace. There can also be a calendar app that works nicely sufficient however lacks the flexibility to outline a segmented workday like Microsoft 365, so it is going to have restricted profit for work-at-house of us who battle to maintain a balanced schedule. Contacts are additionally acquainted and straightforward to handle.

Amazon WorkMail Security and Integration

This is one space the place the platform is powerful. WorkMail falls below the identical enterprise cloud safety that the remainder of AWS is understood for. Third-party regulators steadily take a look at and confirm their safety as a part of AWS compliance applications. SOC studies can be found for AWS and WorkMail. 

The platform helps multifactor authentication, encryption in transit, encryption at relaxation, and quite a lot of different mechanisms for safeguarding your group’s information. With the entire auditing and regulation concerned, it is easy to really feel secure storing your information right here. That stated, if it is advisable to go a step additional or outdoors of U.S. authorized jurisdiction, you may want to check out ProtonMail.

On the combination facet, Amazon does very nicely with its personal merchandise, together with Amazon WorkDocs and CloudPath. It additionally communicates properly with Microsoft, together with Active Directory in addition to Outlook electronic mail and calendaring. If your wants lengthen past that, Amazon definitely gives a wealth of developer instruments in the event you’re snug rolling your individual. But smaller companies on the lookout for a better integration path ought to begin by looking via Amazon’s in depth checklist of worth-add companions.

A Nice Price, But a Bit Bare-Bones

Amazon WorkMail is an effective primary electronic mail service, but it surely lacks the options of equally priced options until you pay additional for WorkDocs. Moreover, its consumer expertise is way from seamless and lags significantly behind Zoho and Google. Ultimately, WorkMail is a strong and safe service that does not fairly justify its price ticket, although it is positively nicely on the way in which.