Review: GMS Protected WebMail

For: Fully functional web-based mail software with AV protection. Includes instant messaging and SMS messaging
Against: Difficult to configure, little policy management, ambiguous documentation
Verdict: Some nice features, but a bit hard to work with.

This product was a quick install with a single executable that used a simple setup wizard. But that is where the simplicity ended. Once installed, we found the program to be difficult to work with due to ambiguous areas in documentation and a clunky, cluttered Java-based web interface for management.

We judge this product to be an average performer in terms of the protection it offers. Although it has its own onboard anti-virus system, the anti-spam engine is only about halfway there.

The engine includes the abilities to filter based on words or phrases in its blacklist, attachment types, maximum recipients, message size and a few others including connection or IP-specific rules. However, rules and policies are difficult to configure and rather simple in nature.

The documentation comprised several PDF guides aimed at administrators, MML programmers and users. We found these files to be less than helpful in certain areas.

The administrator guide starts off at a beginner level, with a large amount of explanation about how webmail works. However, once it moved into the actual deployment, it was vague and ambiguous on certain topics such as software prerequisites.

While telephone support from Gordano is available through contract only, there are other ways for users to get help. Email support is offered as well as a large support area on the website, which includes manuals, the knowledge base, bug reports, user group email and the latest security reports.

Based on 25 users, the package costs £225 (A$549). While that seems pretty good value if you are in the market for webmail and built-in SMS/IM, it feels fairly average if gauged on the level of protection offered.

gmspackagesecuritywebmail