Howto combine exchange with google

Filed in archive Consultancy on April 11, 2007

If you are working for a client that uses something else than you do, you have to find a way to combine the two. Here's how. one of my clients is a big service provider. They, unfortunately, use microsoft's exchange for mail and calendering, making planning and communication less efficient. I use google's mail, calendar, rss reader and others. Fortunately, google is an inventive company. I still base my day on google. How ? Here it goes.

• A 'rule' inside my exchange account the client provided forwards invitations and such to my google mail.


• Google mail knows it and converts it to it's own format - the calendar items show up perfectly in my google calendar.
  


• I use Goosync to sync my google calendar to my Nokia E61 to prevent forgetting about items.


• Finally, I have setup the xml link to my google calendar in iCal on my macbook so I even have everything there too.

Unfortunately, mail is another issue. I could forward everything to a dedicated google mailbox, but there are two major problems :

• 1. The sender's name will always be mine


• 2. I don't think the customer likes me to forward sensitive data to an internetbased mail account

Although the latter is crap since microsoft's products are poorly designed and protected, I still believe I cant do this business wise. But hey, that's life.