Scalix 11.5 Roadmap question - caldav, cdo, activesync

[echelon]

We currently use NotifyCorp's NotifyLink Enterprise Server (NLES) 4.6 to provide secure Iphone access to our Scalix 11.4.6 server. NotifyLink uses Microsoft CDO API to sync calendar and contact data. I am guessing it is using an older version of the CDO API.

I received a notice from NotifyCorp that, with the upcoming versions of NLES 4.7 and Scalix 11.5, CDO support was going to be dropped. (I.e. the only way to keep CDO is to stick with Scalix 11.4.6 and NLES 4.7.) NLES can use CalDAV to sync calendar info but I will be loosing the ability to sync contacts.

I am also guessing the Scalix notified NLES that CDO support was going to be dropped (rather than vice versa.) Can some one confirm that this is the case, and maybe why it is the case? It would appear to me that since Scalix now offers an ActiveSync solution that it no longer has incentive to work with NotifyCorp. Or does Scalix plan to add CalDav support for contacts?

There are several bugs/feature requests in 11.4.6 that I am hoping will be addressed in 11.5 (freebusy compatibility with SWA and Thunderbird) so staring on 11.4.6 permanently is not a long term solution. I am also trying to figure out if I should not renew my contract for NotifyLink and instead start evaluating another Scalix-Iphone solution. With remote users in several branch offices switching to a new solution is not an easy task.

Thanks

[mxx]

Hi,

we're also (forced to) using notify for iphone access to scalix, because there are too many bugs that appear a few days/weeks later after setting up the phones like disappearing contacts and events.
Since starting using notify 2-3 months ago, we hadn't had any troubles any more. Scalix and mailboxes also stay clean and stable and there's hardly ever any work needed.

I also heard about CDO support being dropped, which makes me nervous.

So any info would really be very much appreciated.

Thanks,

Max

[mxx]

Okay no answer for the last 3 weeks.. great!

How do you expect your customers to sync their data over the air without actually losing their data on occasion if you knock them out using "full featured" access by using notify with CDO interface? This is a great workaround for me and others until Scalix ActiveAync is mature enough. Or are you planning a big surprise in supporting Tasks over CalDAV AND CardDAV? Although I don't even know if notify supports CardDAV.. I guess no.

[florian]

Given you have been notified about this by Notify ... why didn't you actually ask THEM in the first place?

We *cannot* drop support for CDO - CDO is a libary API on top of Outlook/MAPI, so "dropping support for it" from our side could only be done by dropping support for Outlook over MAPI. Pretty much nonsense I guess.

Notify is responsible for how they run their NotifyLink product with Scalix; a while ago they decided to move away from the CDO-based interfaces they've been using before.

This is their decision, nothing else.

Tx,
Florian.

[echelon]

Thanks for the update. It is helpful to have the part of the question answered.

I have asked Notify for clarification on this. Since the notification from notify indicated that EITHER upgrading to Scalix 11.5 OR Notifylink 4.7 would break CDO it was not clear on which side the change was occuring. Also, I would have guessed that Notify did not make this decision without some sort of communication with Scalix. Presumably there must be some change on the Scalix side since the 11.5 upgrade does apparently break the CDO compatibility. Is scalix 11.5 using a newer version of the API? My experience with Microsoft (and probably most software vendors) is that backwards compatibility with API's is not always guarenteed. Does Microsoft still develop with CDO?



Anyway, Notify tech support did respond but did not know the reason CDO was being dropped. Notify Sales has so far not responded. It would appear to me that moving from Notifylink to Scalix's activesync solution is the logical migration path, and that this is not a concern for Notify.

[florian]

No change on the technical side in 11.5 on our side.

It was Notify's decision to no longer test or support Scalix 11.5 with CDO. From our perspective, the MAPI connector for Scalix that is redistributed by Notify would work with 11.5 as well (as is true for basically all our MAPI connectors, older versions *always* work with newer versions of Scalix Server).

There is probably no technical reason behind this, it's a matter of testing and support.

Notify have informed us of their decisions, and we've assumed they have taken those based on intelligence about how many of their NotifyLink customers use this configuration of their product, so we haven't commented this in either direction. Knowing the efforts needed to support massive test and version matrices, I can well understand how such decisions come together, though.

Florian.

[echelon]

Thanks

This is very helpful. When 11.5 comes out I may setup a test machine to see if (a) if it is still compatible with notify and (b) fixes any of some outstanding SWA bugs. If both are true then I can upgrade.

[mxx]

Thanks Florian,

but that doesn't explain why it takes so long to fix errors like the random one that appears from time to time when changing folders in Outlook 2007 (when you use categories with colors). Especially not when there's a patch for that already... Gregor Hoener identified the issue and told me that.

[florian]

I am not sure that this statement was completely accurate....

Florian