Amazon.com Inc introduced on Wednesday a cloud-based corporate e-mail and scheduling service as a rival for Googles Gmail and Mirosofts Exchange.
The service, dubbed WorkMail, is aimed at the corporate clients segment, which is mostly controlled by Microsoft. The move also outlines another step for Amazon in transitioning from an e-commerce giant to a provider of corporate technology and services.
WorkMail was created by the companys could computing business, Amazon Web Services, and is expected to launch during the second quarter. The service would not require any extra hardware or licensing expensive and complex email server software, Amazon said.
Despite the enterprise market being overpopulated with all kinds of email services, Amazon believe it has a strong edge over its rivals because “they either don’t offer the security features businesses require”, including strong encryption, “don’t integrate with existing corporate directories, or don’t support popular Outlook features like shared calendaring,” the company said in a statement.
According to Amazon, WorkMail can deliver all those features while also providing simple and user-friendly interface. The service will be priced at $4 per inbox, close to what Microsoft and Google charge. However, businesses can tryout WorkMail for a period without a charge.
Amazon bets on security to push its product at a time when businesses are highly concerned about the safety of their information, following last years hacker attack on Sony Corp, which resulted in a vast amounts of employees personal information among other sensitive data being stolen.
Additionally, according to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, which is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and National White Collar Crime Center, US businesses have lost around $215 million during the past 14 months due to email scams.
“Customers have repeatedly asked us for a business email and calendaring service that is more cost-effective and simpler to manage than their on-premises solution, more secure than the cloud-based offerings available today,” said Peter De Santis, Vice President of AWS.
Amazon.com Inc lost 0.93% on Wednesday and closed at $303.91 on the NASDAQ, marking a one-year decrease of 22.95%. The company is valued at $142.03 billion. On Thursday the stock edged up 0.35% during after-hours trading.
According to the Financial Times, the 36 analysts offering 12-month price targets for Amazon. have a median target of $350.00, with a high estimate of $450.00 and a low estimate of $296.00. The median estimate represents a 15.17% increase from the last close price.
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