Google makes an Outlook plugin to replace Exchange

So your organization uses Exchange currently? Your users are used to using Outlook to manage their mail, calendar and contacts, and they really like it. It's simply not an option to tell your users to stop using a desktop client and embrace the web.

Yesterday, Google announced a new plugin for Outlook that seamlessly integrates it with your Google Apps account. Everything you would normally get with Exchange through Outlook can now be served up from a Google Apps back-end.

Google's Enterprise strategy so far hasn't produced much traction -- and I'm pretty sure this new plugin isn't a silver bullet either. If businesses find out about it, this new plugin may be enough to get some companies to switch from Exchange to Google Apps, but there are several larger issues that need to be addressed before there is any kind of mass adoption.

The main issue with using Google as a replacement for Microsoft Exchange is that you are at the mercy of Google's uptime, and when it goes down, you have no control, and nobody to talk to -- unacceptable when you have users calling to ask why their email isn't working.

What do you think of the new plugin? Let's hear what you have to say in the TalkBack!