Once relegated to the tech scrap heap by Hewlett-Packard Co., the OpenMail e-mail platform began its comeback Monday when Samsung SDS launched its Samsung Contact 7.1 e-mail platform, which is based on OpenMail technology.
Mondays release is the first phase in Samsungs efforts to build a unified communications platform, encompassing phone, e-mail, fax, wireless devices and the Web, company officials said.
Officials said Samsung will more than double research and development spending on the OpenMail technology from what HP was providing. HP discontinued development of OpenMail after the 7.0 release last March, acknowledging that the product, which debuted in 1989, was outdated.
“Our focus is very much on developing the product to ensure maximum efficiency and cost effectiveness for business,” said Stuart Barry, general manager of unified communications at Samsung SDS, in a statement.
“We have carried the cream of the OpenMail engineers across to Samsung with us. These are the people who helped to grow the product into a multimillion-dollar business at HP. They know this technology inside out and, as part of our newly formed unified communications unit, they are completely dedicated to the vision of Samsung Contact,” said Barry, in Reading, England, where Samsung Contact development is based.
Samsung obtained the licensing rights to OpenMail last November from HP. The e-mail server software is compatible with the Microsoft Outlook client, including shared calendars, delegation and offline folders.
Samsung is expected to add unified messaging capabilities to Contact later this year. J2EE and XML support is also planned, officials said.