Scalix

About Scalix

Founded in 2002 by Julie Hanna during her time as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Mayfield Fund, Scalix emerged as a provider of Linux-based groupware designed to offer an alternative to Microsoft Exchange. The company's core technology was developed from the HP OpenMail product, licensed from Hewlett-Packard. From its inception, Scalix secured significant venture capital, raising $19.2M from notable firms including Mayfield Fund, Mohr Davidow Ventures, and New Enterprise Associates.

The company's primary offering is a groupware server that runs on Linux, providing e-mail, group calendaring, and other collaborative software functions. This product was positioned towards businesses, service providers, and email hosters seeking to lower their email-related expenditures while maintaining full support for Microsoft Outlook clients. The software can be accessed from a variety of clients, including Outlook and Novell Evolution, and features an AJAX-based web client called Scalix Web Access. The business model included both commercial enterprise editions and a free, though not initially open-source, community edition which omitted some collaborative features. In 2006, Scalix moved to make significant parts of its software open source under a variant of the Mozilla Public License.

Scalix's history includes several ownership changes. In July 2007, the company was acquired by Xandros, a developer of Linux solutions, and operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary. The firm was later sold to Sebring Software Inc. in July 2011. A management buy-out occurred on November 11, 2013, which coincided with the release of version 12.0 of its software, adding support for newer versions of Outlook.

The platform operates by providing messaging solutions that integrate with existing clients and infrastructure. Key features include shared calendaring, group folders, and open APIs for integration with systems like ERP and CRM. A server-side wireless implementation of Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync was also part of its offerings. By 2006, the company reported having thousands of customers, representing over a million mailboxes, with many migrating from systems like Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes. After a period of slow development, the latest stable release, version 12.7, was made available in February 2018.