Oracle email has lowest TCO

Oracle's Collaboration Suite offers better total cost of ownership (TCO) savings compared to similar systems from Microsoft and IBM, according to new research.

The study, by analyst company Radicati Group, looked at TCO savings and system reliability in Oracle Collaboration Suite, Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus ND6 and Sun One Communications.

The analyst evaluated downtime, acquisition, maintenance, administration, migration and training costs to determine the overall TCO of email. Oracle's offering providing the lowest three-year average.

Overall, Oracle Collaboration Suite cost just $64.88 per user, less than half the cost of IBM ($150.55) and less than a third the cost of Microsoft ($221.42).

System downtime was deemed a critical aspect in Radicati's evaluation, which analysed both scheduled and unscheduled downtime costs across each product.

Oracle reported the lowest downtime cost at $11.30 per user, compared to IBM ($98) and Microsoft ($132.34).

"Reliable, secure collaboration has evolved into a critical need for today's enterprise," said Sara Radicati, president and chief executive of the Radicati Group, in a statement.