There are more than 250 million users of Microsoft Outlook around the world that use the application to manage their email, calendars, contacts and tasks. However, only about 20% of all Microsoft Outlook users are connected to a Microsoft Exchange Server mail box. Thus, more than 200 million users around the world use Microsoft Outlook without Microsoft Exchange Server.
A common problem non-Exchange users encounter is the inability to share Outlook calendars and other folders with their co-workers because Outlook, by itself, has no built-in function for sharing calendars and other items without being connected to an Exchange Server. Outlook users that aren't connected to Exchange typically work in smaller organizations, and thus don't have the budget and/or resources to maintain an Exchange Server, which can be quite expensive to purchase, install and maintain.
While Microsoft does not offer a solution for sharing Outlook calendar and other folders beyond Exchange Server, there are several 3rd party software vendors that do offer highly affordable and very effective solutions that allow you to share Microsoft Outlook calendar and much more. A great example of these solutions is the excellent Outlook addin for sharing Microsoft Outlook called OfficeCalendar by Lookout Software. OfficeCalendar can be installed on practically any Windows-based network, costs a fraction of implementing Exchange Server, and not only allows you share Outlook calendars, but also contacts, tasks, and email.
There are quite a few other solutions out there for sharing Outlook calendars without Exchange Server, which vary in price and feature sets. The most comprehensive resource on the web that lists all of these solutions can be found at Share Outlook calendar and contacts by Outlookipedia.
