Google launches new service for enterprise email

So, your company uses Microsoft Exchange, and you are looking hard at implementing their Exchange Hosted Services, but realize it's going to cost an arm and a leg to get it up and running. Thankfully, you may have a better option starting today.

A while back, Google acquired a company called Postini -- a service that can be thought of as a firewall for your mail server. Postini looks at all incoming and outgoing messages and then acts on them as is appropriate. This system works seamlessly with all mail servers, including Microsoft Exchange. Before today, only subscribers of Google Apps were able to take advantage of Postini.

Now any business, regardless if they subscribe to Google Apps, can take advantage of these powerful features. How much does it cost though? It's a lot cheaper than the equivalent Microsoft service. For the most basic package (simple message filtering), Microsoft is charging $21/user/year. Google's equivalent package is $3/user/year. The most expensive package from Microsoft (that includes only 3.6GB/user archiving) costs $103/user/year, and only $25 from Google.

This move makes a lot of sense -- mostly because this solution infinitely easier for businesses to swallow than jumping right into a completely new mail system. It's definitely a great way for businesses to ease into Google Apps.