Open-Xchange, a provider of business-class open source collaboration software, announced the availability of data migration tools for users of Microsoft Outlook to easily move e-mails, contacts, appointments and tasks to Open-Xchange Server.

The cost savings can be substantial by migrating to Open-Xchange. As one example, for a 50-person company the difference between Microsoft Exchange and Open-Xchange is estimated to be $1,200 lower per year. More examples for various size enterprises are shown here, www.open-xchange.com/en/node/952.

Whether users have used Outlook as a stand-alone e-mail client or in combination with Exchange Server, the "Open-Xchange Microsoft Outlook Uploader" enables all users to easily move their data -- stored as PST files (Personal Storage Table) to Open-Xchange Server. A PST file contains copies of e-mail messages, calendar events, and other items on the local computer. Due to PST file size limitations, PST files can be distributed amongst several workstations without a proper back-up strategy. Having all data centralized on the Open-Xchange Server enables administrators to integrate that data into their server-side backup environment and security policies.

"We are significantly minimizing the hassle and cost for migrations to our open source collaboration software," said Rafael Laguna, CEO of Open-Xchange. "We made the tool as intuitive and easy as possible to ensure that every user can install and use the tool without support."

The "Uploader" supports the following two customer scenarios:

- The tool enables users to move from Microsoft Outlook to the Open-Xchange web client to help organizations significantly reduce costs for Outlook licenses. The migration process is completely transparent -- the "Uploader" keeps familiar folder and data structures in place to make it easy for the user to instantly access all e-mails, contacts, calendars and tasks using Open-Xchange.

- For organizations moving from Microsoft Exchange Server to Open-Xchange, while keeping Microsoft Outlook for some or all users, the tool supports an easy-to-use user-centric migration process. Users who would like to clean-up their Outlook data will benefit from the "Uploader´s" manageability and flexibility.

The software is licensed under GNU General Public License v2 and is available for free download at http://oxpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=OX_Outlook_Uploader. Development of Open-Xchange Microsoft Outlook Uploader was supported by Shinsei Bank, Japan.