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Lightning Tools Lightning Conductor vs. Zimbra by Synacor

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Lightning Tools Lightning Conductor

    Score9 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    The Lightning Conductor is a content aggregation tool for Microsoft SharePoint Online and Microsoft Teams. Users can build rich, modern content reports based upon SharePoint lists, SharePoint Search, Microsoft Graph or Microsoft 365 Groups. Content can be aggregated from lists and libraries, and other applications such as Planner, To Do, OneDrive, and Teams.

    $2,200

    per year per installation

    Zimbra

    Score6.9 out of 10
    N/AZimbra is an email and collaboration platform and productivity suite that includes contacts, calendar, tasks, chat and file sharing, plus videoconferencing, document editing, and file storage.N/A
    Pricing
    Lightning Tools Lightning ConductorZimbra
    Editions & Modules
    Lightning Conductor WSP
    From 1950
    per year One WFE
    Lightning Conductor Enterprise Edition
    POA
    per year Four or more WFE
    Lightning Conductor Online
    From 2200
    per year per installation
    Lightning Conductor Plus (Includes Data Viewer)
    From 2500
    per year per installation
    Lightning Conductor Online Enterprise Edition (>10,000 users)
    POA
    per year per installation
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Lightning Tools Lightning ConductorZimbra
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsPrices stated are minimum per installation for "stock" products. $2.20 per user/year on top of base price. Enterprise editions can be amended to suit business needs if deemed necessary, additional costs incurred and TBD. All packages include free technical support. Free upgrades available to latest versions of tool as they are released. (online version)—
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    Lightning Tools Lightning ConductorZimbra
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of Lightning Tools Lightning Conductor and Zimbra by Synacor
    Feature
    Lightning Tools Lightning Conductor
    8.6
    2 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Zimbra by Synacor
    9.0
    6 Ratings
    15% above category average
    Task Management8.82 Ratings9.86 Ratings
    Search8.42 Ratings9.86 Ratings
    Gantt Charts00 Ratings8.13 Ratings
    Scheduling00 Ratings9.85 Ratings
    Workflow Automation00 Ratings7.23 Ratings
    Mobile Access00 Ratings9.76 Ratings
    Visual planning tools00 Ratings8.53 Ratings
    Communication
    Comparison of Communication features of Lightning Tools Lightning Conductor and Zimbra by Synacor
    Feature
    Lightning Tools Lightning Conductor
    -
    Ratings
    Zimbra by Synacor
    6.6
    9 Ratings
    19% below category average
    Chat00 Ratings7.07 Ratings
    Notifications00 Ratings5.18 Ratings
    Discussions00 Ratings2.07 Ratings
    Surveys00 Ratings7.72 Ratings
    Internal knowledgebase00 Ratings7.73 Ratings
    Integrates with GoToMeeting00 Ratings7.63 Ratings
    Integrates with Gmail and Google Hangouts00 Ratings8.04 Ratings
    Integrates with Outlook00 Ratings7.53 Ratings
    File Sharing & Management
    Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Lightning Tools Lightning Conductor and Zimbra by Synacor
    Feature
    Lightning Tools Lightning Conductor
    -
    Ratings
    Zimbra by Synacor
    5.5
    10 Ratings
    38% below category average
    Versioning00 Ratings5.19 Ratings
    Video files00 Ratings1.29 Ratings
    Audio files00 Ratings1.29 Ratings
    Document collaboration00 Ratings5.19 Ratings
    Access control00 Ratings8.75 Ratings
    Advanced security features00 Ratings9.76 Ratings
    Integrates with Google Drive00 Ratings6.62 Ratings
    Device sync00 Ratings6.64 Ratings
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    Score9 out of 10
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    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Lightning Tools Lightning ConductorZimbra
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (4 ratings)
    8.0
    (10 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Lightning Tools Lightning ConductorZimbra
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Lightning Tools
    Having experience of SharePoint On Premise and also SharePoint Online, there isn't an out of the box app/webpart that enables you to 'roll up content' from a variety of source's (in my case SP Lists, but there are many other data sources it works with) across site collections with an easy to use and intuitive interface which is what Lightning tools excels at.
    Read full review
    Synacor
    Zimbra is great for an email system for a medium or large organization with appropriate IT staffing. The system is easy to use for end-users, and has a fantastic web interface. Unfortunately, it is overly complex, when considering staffing requirements and price, when compared with Office 365 or Google Apps for smaller organizations. For other education customers, it is hard to compete with Microsoft and Google providing their services for "Free" now though
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Lightning Tools
    • Aggregate documents across SharePoint site & libraries
    • Filtering for owner/person responsible & due dates
    • Ease of end-user filtering on columns
    • Color-coding & other formatting
    Read full review
    Synacor
    • Filter emails with specific information required.
    • Very good storage capacity.
    • Has a mobile version and another web.
    • It has a friendly and modern graphic interface.
    • It is compatible with all operating systems.
    Read full review
    Cons
    Lightning Tools
    • Mobile Friendly
    • Calendar/Gantt views
    • Complex/Custom Logic
    Read full review
    Synacor
    • Zimbra's mobile application leaves much to be desired; it is its weakest point.
    • This forces the use of third-party applications on smartphones, which only offer a more or less complete integration with the ActiveSync protocol.
    • Zimbra allows for an on-premise scenario, which is not for everyone, especially considering that the trend nowadays is to outsource email; in any case, it also offers this alternative.
    • The cost of Zimbra as a SaaS solution comes too close to that of more widely adopted competing options.
    • Zimbra lacks a robust integrated chat system, which its competitors offer.
    • It lacks AI integration.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Synacor
    The web usability of the solution is adequate, with all functions integrated into a single interface. However, it is important to note that in the desktop environment, it lacks its own application and relies on ActiveSync synchronization with reference solutions like Outlook or Thunderbird. Some features, such as the briefcase, will be excluded. The same happens on smartphones.It is also common for competing solutions to include integrated chat or video call tools, which Zimbra lacks. These shortcomings are among the most frequently requested by users.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Lightning Tools
    The Lightning Tools support team responds quickly, and team members are very friendly and helpful.
    Read full review
    Synacor
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Synacor
    Overall, we were satisfied with the implementation. We perhaps should have spent more time consulting with Zimbra or others regarding best practices but as we got to know the system better we were able to make changes relatively easily after the fact.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Lightning Tools
    I haven't found another product to compare this one to. Only in SharePoint Online which has a similar App 'Highlight Webpart' ... it's far too complicated to set up and requires learning yet another language and exporting and importing via PowerShell to get any real results that would be useful.
    Read full review
    Synacor
    Zimbra is a significantly cheaper option than one of the Microsoft solutions, such as Exchange. It is able to run in a free environment, as it is in the case of Linux. It offers the advantages of a powerful mail manager, such as indexed searches and the integration of contacts and notes, all in one platform. It is constantly updated and the operation of its connection in mobile equipment is remarkable and very efficient. Additionally, it is able to easily integrate with Outlook solutions with its connector, which brings all the benefits of Zimbra to the user under the interface known as "mail manager." So far, I have been using Zimbra for several years and I have not missed my previous work platforms.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Lightning Tools
    • Policies easier to portray
    Read full review
    Synacor
    • Zimbra is a cheaper email service than other similar platforms and in my point of view offers better features, that's why the company migrated services to this platform several years ago and without a doubt, it has been the best investment.
    • Zimbra has a more user-friendly interface for employees, this has improved response times to external customers of the company.
    • The implementation of Zimbra in the company motivated the IT engineering department to make improvements in open source to adapt it to the needs of the company.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Lightning Tools Lightning Conductor Screenshots

    Screenshot of MODERN SHAREPOINT LIST ROLLUP
The Lightning Conductor is a SharePoint Content Aggregator that can be configured quickly by business users. The Lightning Conductor can be used to aggregate content from SharePoint Lists such as Tasks, Document Libraries, Contact Lists, and Custom Lists making it easy to view content in one place even if it is distributed across many sites and site collections. Key data can be highlighted using conditional formatting and data-bars as shown. Content from Search and Microsoft Graph can also be aggregated with the Lightning Conductor.Screenshot of CONTENT AGGREGATION WITHIN MICROSOFT TEAMS
The Lightning Conductor Web Part can be used within Microsoft SharePoint or Microsoft Teams. Even if content is stored within SharePoint sites, it is useful to have aggregated Documents, Tasks, Announcements, Calendars or Custom Lists from multiple sites displayed in a single handy view in Microsoft Teams. The Lightning Conductor can be added as a Teams Tab in any Microsoft Teams Channel.Screenshot of BUILDING REPORTS ON MICROSOFT GRAPH
The Lightning Conductor can be used (without code) to aggregate content from Microsoft Graph as well as Search and SharePoint Lists. This example displays Microsoft Planner Plans and Microsoft Planner Tasks where users can Add new Tasks, Assign Users to Planner Tasks, Delete Tasks, and Complete Tasks. The same can be performed on Microsoft To Do items and displayed within Modern SharePoint pages or Microsoft Teams Tabs. The Lighting Conductor can also contain multiple views of content, making it ideal to display all of your tasks from SharePoint Task lists, Microsoft To Do and Microsoft Planner in a single web part or Teams Tab.

*Microsoft Graph Reports are only available for SharePoint Online and not SharePoint 2019.Screenshot of BUILDING REPORTS ON MICROSOFT 365 GROUPS
Powered by Microsoft Graph, the Microsoft 365 Group Rollup Provider enables users to aggregate content by browsing and selecting Microsoft 365 Groups. Within Microsoft 365 Groups, you’ll be able to select entities such as Drive Items, Owners, Members, Planner Plans, Planner Tasks, Events, Posts,  Sites, Lists, and Calendars.

*Microsoft Graph Reports are only available for SharePoint Online and not SharePoint 2019.Screenshot of AGGREGATING USING SEARCH
When performance is critical, search can be used for rollups. The Lightning Conductor offers three data source configurations to get to content. Object Model (Real Time Aggregation from SharePoint Lists), Microsoft Graph (Aggregation from Graph Entities such as Planner, OneDrive, Outlook), and Search. The Search Data Source enables the aggregation of content from large SharePoint lists and libraries when performance is critical. Thousands of documents can be displayed in under a second using Search.Screenshot of HIGHLIGHTING KEY BUSINESS DATA WITHIN VIEWS
End users and Site Owners can highlight the data that is important to them, the data that they need to prioritize. Using conditional formatting, data bars, and icons, conditions can be configured to highlight the data that is most important. Icons and Data Bars can be any color or size desired. Examples include highlighting High Priority tasks, Showing data bars for the completion progress of Tasks, or indicating which tasks are assigned to any particular user.

    Zimbra Screenshots

    Product screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshot