One customer that's made the leap (to hosted e-mail) is Ingersoll Rand, a $13 billion industrial company with 60,000 employees that makes everything from golf carts (Club Car) to air conditioners (Trane). According to John Kalka, Ingersoll Rand's VP of technology deployment, the opportunity to move to a cloud-based e-mail arose in 2007, when the company was deciding whether or not to renew its contract with IBM for Lotus Notes.

Ingersoll Rand was running the e-mail system in-house. It had also developed many custom apps on the Lotus Domino server, but the cost was taking its toll, Kalka says. After looking at the on-premise, traditional version of Exchange, Kalka says "the numbers didn't look much better."

Then Microsoft approached him about online version of Exchange. Kalka saw the cheap per user price. Coupled with the fact he didn't need to manage hardware, he decided to sign up.

"That big e-mail cost went away," he says. "We had e-mail servers all around the world. 95 percent are shut down or re-allocated for something else."

At 11:56 am on June 22, 1969, an oil slick caught fire on the Cuyahoga River just southeast of downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland's image is still scarred as people recall how "the river caught fire."  The 1969 fire is the most famous fire on the Cuyahoga River, even though a previous fire in 1952 on the Cuyahoga caused nearly thirty times the amount of damage. No press photo exists of the 1969 fire - news agencies used photos from the 1952 blaze. Yet the day after the 1969 river fire, the two major Cleveland papers both ran front page pictures showing the aftermath of the fire.  Only The Plain Dealer ran a short story on the fire. 

Not until a Time Magazine article on August 1, 1969 did the river fire begin to get national attention.  Eventually the river fire, with its seemingly implausibility, became a rallying point for the environmentalists in their fight for cleaner water.  President Richard Nixon signed the Environmental Protection Act into law in January, 1970.  The Clean Water Act passed three years later in 1972. 

Consider a 100-user shop. To deploy the Enterprise Edition of Exchange 2010, you will need to purchase the software for $3,999. CALs will be another $3,500. That's about $7,500.

To deploy Domino Enterprise Server in the same-size organization would be $137 per user. That's a total cost of $13,700. But wait, as they say, there's more.

It would seem that IBM's pricing far exceeds Exchange. Yet, considering Domino is a platform upon which Notes and virtually limitless applications can run, it is economically reasonable. Also, the fact that Domino and Notes can run in an open-source environment can really reduce the amount an organization would otherwise have to spend on operating systems and other proprietary software licenses.

By the time an enterprise has purchased Exchange and the CALs for it, plus the Windows Server license and CALs for Windows Server, costs begin to snowball.

The edge in pricing, when all is factored in, goes to Lotus. You simply get more bang for your buck.

• Water is precious. Our house used rainwater, which filled several tanks in the lower level, to fill the toilets, pool, for consumption, and washing. Rain would flow off the roof, into PVC gutters, which was then directed through three filters and a ultraviolet system for purification, into one of the three tanks. When we turned on a tap or shower, the water came from one of the tanks. Needless to say, we were very conservative when it came to water. Showers were fast, toilets only were flushed once a day, the dishwasher ran only when full, and we didn't run the water when brushing teeth. Also, there was a sign in every bathroom, in our house and in the restaurants: "In the land of fun and sun, we don't flush for number one." Water is precious here.
• Coffee is expensive. If we go again, we will bring our own.
• Thankfully, there are still some places where WalMart, Best Buy, and other "big box" stores cannot or will not go. Shopping is done in little, locally owned stores. They may not have everything you want, but they seemed to have everything you need.
• FedEx and UPS made deliveries on the island. Although, I can't imagine how much it costs or how long it would take.
• That, according to a bartender, "you could be naked, on fire, and holding a bottle of Jack Daniel's in each hand, but if you don't have your seatbelt on, you will get pulled over."
• I will never again laugh at Francie's run-ins with goats, snakes, chickens, donkeys, or any other animal. I now understand that part of island life. Once, while visiting Waterlemon Cay, we had wild donkeys sit on our towels and sniff through our food. Waking up to the sound of goats was different. As was keeping an eye out for goats, donkeys, chickens, and deer while driving.
• Electricity is not a given. We experienced several outages, the longest lasting five hours.
• While the island has several ATM's, there is no guarantee that they will be working 24/7. And an outage may last for more than a day.
• Figure out when the cruise ships get to St. Thomas, as that is where they dock, then plan to go to a lesser known beach that day. Unless you like crowds.
• Vie's Snack Shack is worth the trip to the East End, alone. For us, it was just down the road, so we were there a few times. The food is excellent and Vie is well known on the island. She also has a private beach ($2.50/person to gain access), across the street from her snack shack, with really good snorkeling. It is, quite possibly, the perfect destination. Snorkel, read, play, whatever. When you need a break, Vie will fix you up with great food and cold beer or soft drinks. Then, head back to the beach. Perfect.
• Take the time to talk to the locals. Each has an interesting story to tell.
• If it is alcohol or cigarettes, it is cheap.
• If you make it out to the East End, you have to stop and see Sloop Jones.Wearable art, funky signs, and just a fun little gallery.