Google Forces Postini Customers to Accept Google Apps or Nothing

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Paula

The recent announcement by Google that they plan to shut down Postini services and force customers to switch to Google Apps, comes as no surprise to most industry watchers. Ever since Google purchased Postini in 2007, this move has been anticipated. And as some have pointed out, it should be noted that this announcement does not indicated a merge of Postini services into Google – it means an end to Postini completely.

If you are a Postini customer here are some important facts you should know:

You can’t stay on Google/Postini with your current setup – migration is a must. In fact, if your current contract with them is up for renewal as early as November, 2012 – you will be forced to switch to Google Apps.

Current Google Postini Customers are affected if you are using any of these Google services: Message Security, Message Discovery, Encryption, Message Filtering, and Postini’s Small Business and Service Provider Editions.

Google warns you that the new features in Google Apps are different from those in Postini. These differences include:

You can’t migrate your white and black lists

No centralized email quarantine

Limited DLP capability

No detailed reporting

Limited search capabilities

Privacy concerns because Google’s Terms of Service state that they may transfer, store and process customer data in the US or any other country in which Google or its agents maintain facilities.

NO Message Encryption is currently available on the Google Apps platform.

There are minimal DLP capabilities on the current Google Apps Platform.

Google has no Email Continuity – For customers worried about email downtime, whether planned or unplanned – Google Apps offers no solution.

Google Customer Support is Notoriously Poor – You will be forced to accept customer support from Google which has been shown range for poor to-non-existent.

Google Pricing is Unsure – While Google has told Postini customers their pricing will remain the same – you can be assured you will be forced to accept their pricing model – i.e. higher prices -over time….

(Source: blog.edgewave.com)