Amazon has just announced that it will launch its own corporate email and calendar service called WorkMail. It will be based on Amazon Web Services and it will be compatible with other business software, like Outlook, for instance.
Amazon’s WorkMail is scheduled to be released in the second quarter of 2015. It is designed to be a direct rival to other corporate email services, like Microsoft’s Office 365 and Google’s Gmail for Work. As such, it will follow the well-known corporate email platform strategy. This means that companies will be able to choose the best subscription plan for them and pay on the per-month per-user basis. Also, the service will include bigger inbox limit and it supports a cloud-based storage service.
Nevertheless, WorkMail is not entirely identical to its competition. According to Amazon, for example, two of the service’s main advantages include strong security and easy-to-use nature. But how does it match up to Office 365 and Gmail for Work?
WorkMail’s Advantages
The main advantage that WorkMail has over Google’s Gmail for Work and Microsoft’s Office 365 is its price. Amazon’s corporate email service starts at $4 per month per user. In comparison, the most affordable subscription Gmail for Work plan starts t $5 per month per user. Similar is the case with Microsoft’s Office 365 Business Essentials subscription plan. It also starts at $5 per month per user. However, that price is valid only with an annual commitment. Otherwise, it is $6 per month per user.
In addition, Amazon’s WorkMail is accessible through any platform. While it is true that most such services are also compatible with different platforms, WorkMail will not require special software for the purpose. It will be an entirely web-based service. This is actually yet another plus for the service. WorkMail will be based on Amazon Web Services that is already used by many startups.
Last, but not least, users will be able to access the service with their existing Microsoft Active Directory. That will make a company’s migration from one service to another very easy.
WorkMail’s Disadvantages
WorkMail also has a few setbacks. For instance, it does not seem to shine with any additional features as of now. For instance, unlike Microsoft and Google, it does not give access to software for office documents production. Even though businesses can get access to WorkDocs, they will need to pay extra for that. WorkDocs monthly subscription costs $4 per user. Amazon will enable WorkMail user to subscribe to WorkDocc for just $2. That will increase their storage limit by 200GB. Still, with Office 365 and Gmail for Work, this functionality is included in the main corporate email service.
Speaking of storage space, WorkMail does not impress with its 50GB of inbox storage. Although Gmail for Work supports only 30GB, the most basic business plan for Office 365, Business Essentials, also offers 50GB, plus a massive cloud storage of 1TB… per user.
Nevertheless, WorkMail is a project in progress. Amazon is yet to improve and update it, which means that it has plenty of space to grow and develop. Even though the service will be launched in Q2 2015, companies can already check out its preview. To do that, they just need to sign up on WorkMail’s website. That will grant them 30 days of free trial for 25 users.
