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Zimbra Collaboration pros and cons

Vendor: Zimbra
4.0 out of 5

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Zimbra Collaboration allows full control over data within IT infrastructure, offering superior security and management due to its operation on Linux.
The cost-effectiveness of Zimbra Collaboration is highly appreciated, along with the ease of migration to other email solutions.
Integrated security tools, despite being basic, effectively combat malware, adding to its value.
Efficient handling of email communication significantly boosts productivity.
Zimbra Collaboration's automatic backup feature simplifies data management without requiring additional software.

CONS

File sharing permissions with Nextcloud integration require improvement.
Zimbra must enhance email application integration for easier webmail access.
There is a need for improved storage management akin to Microsoft Exchange.
More back-office tools are required for mailbox and document management.
Installation is complex and can take up to two days for full implementation.
 

Zimbra Collaboration Pros review quotes

it_user1128 - PeerSpot reviewer
Infrastructure Expert at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Jul 14, 2012
VMware Zimbra is an enterprise-class E-mail, calendar, and collaboration solution, built for both public and private clouds.
it_user522870 - PeerSpot reviewer
Lecturer at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Oct 23, 2016
Despite sticking with Gmail for over a decade in terms of business, Zimbra have impressed me with some other aspects as well; if the time comes, I would prefer Zimbra to my current solution.
it_user535362 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Technician & Senior System Administrator at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Oct 19, 2016
Premium features, such as auto discovery and archiving, mobile management and HSM, make life much easier.
Learn what your peers think about Zimbra Collaboration. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user531021 - PeerSpot reviewer
System Administrator at a media company with 51-200 employees
Oct 19, 2016
Most valuable to us is the fact that it's open source, so it's possible to do a lot of customization.
it_user827424 - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Feb 27, 2018
We can control all the data in my IT infrastructure.
reviewer1142772 - PeerSpot reviewer
Control Department Head of Information Security at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Sep 6, 2020
Zimbra Collaboration is light to manage. It works on the Linux operating system, which is far better to manage than Microsoft Windows. Microsoft Exchange works only on the Windows server. We prefer working on the Linux server for security reasons and ease of management. Zimbra Collaboration also has some integrated tools for security. It some modules to fight malware. These modules are not very powerful but are still doing a great job. Microsoft Exchange doesn't have a basic module. You have to purchase a security solution and add it to the solution. The cost of Zimbra Collaboration is one more reason for liking it. It is also very simple to migrate from Zimbra Collaboration to another email solution.
reviewer1453407 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Developer at a media company with 51-200 employees
Jan 13, 2021
The web interface is powerful and easy to use.
reviewer1500762 - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Manager at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Apr 27, 2021
Good email solution and it's open-source.
MT
System and Network Engineer at ADEX TECHNOLOGY
Apr 14, 2021
The stability is good and keeps getting better with each new update.
reviewer1681530 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager Infrastructure at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Sep 29, 2021
Zimbra Collaboration has integrated a lot of their party tools and they have good documentation available.
 

Zimbra Collaboration Cons review quotes

it_user1128 - PeerSpot reviewer
Infrastructure Expert at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Jul 14, 2012
There can be difficulties resolving problems on the server side when problems arise.
it_user522870 - PeerSpot reviewer
Lecturer at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Oct 23, 2016
Server deployment and the GUI for emails should be better.
it_user535362 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Technician & Senior System Administrator at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Oct 19, 2016
We had a couple of issues with stability, but nothing that I couldn't work around or fix myself. Zimbra is a powerful product, but since VMware bought it, changes and bug fixes have been very slow in coming.
Learn what your peers think about Zimbra Collaboration. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user531021 - PeerSpot reviewer
System Administrator at a media company with 51-200 employees
Oct 19, 2016
There are some bugs we found that could be fixed.
it_user827424 - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Feb 27, 2018
File sharing permissions with Nextcloud integration need improvement.
reviewer1142772 - PeerSpot reviewer
Control Department Head of Information Security at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Sep 6, 2020
Zimbra must improve its solution to make it easy so that the users don't have to use webmail to connect to their accounts and log in to webmail every time. This is something that is lacking in Zimbra Collaboration. They should provide a better way to easily connect email applications on the desktop to the Zimbra server. They should also try to have more functionality for storage management, like Microsoft Exchange. Currently, the management of the email data must be done manually in Zimbra Collaboration, which we are finding very difficult. They should provide a way to save emails so that you can have more space on the server and storage. Because of the lack of this functionality, we are planning to migrate to Microsoft Exchange. Microsoft Exchange provides a better way to manage storage than Zimbra Collaboration. You cannot have a mail solution without storage management because emails will always increase. Zimbra Collaboration also needs tools for management. More back-office tools are required to manage the whole mailbox and space. You don't only manage emails but also the documents attached to the emails. Therefore, you require tools to select and decide what do you want to save or how do you want to free up space in your infrastructure.
reviewer1453407 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Developer at a media company with 51-200 employees
Jan 13, 2021
The support was lacking in my experience. However, recently the support I received was good. Perhaps they have improved.
reviewer1500762 - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Manager at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Apr 27, 2021
There are some security issues.
MT
System and Network Engineer at ADEX TECHNOLOGY
Apr 14, 2021
The solution could use more integration with third-party tools.
reviewer1681530 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager Infrastructure at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Sep 29, 2021
The solution could improve by making it easier to use.