Gateways usually have low prices, but there's still a cost. Most of the major E-mail systems, such as those from Lotus Development Corp. and Microsoft Corp., provide gateways between their own systems and others. But you may be better off with another product. When picking gateways, spend most of the time looking at how well done the management procedures are for doingdirectory synchronization. This connects E-mail systems to the central switch instead of to each other.
Switches remain the leading choice for complex environments.
The city of New York brought together its divergent E-mail systems using Lotus Messaging Switch. Among other advantages, switches are easy to monitor and provide better directory synchronization. Finding a message switch capable of supporting many gateways can be difficult. The cost of integration can be high as well, though costs are declining with the emergence of less expensive, NT-based message switches. The NT-based switches also reflect the growing market for message switching for midsized companies, says Hurwicz.