<p>Quick Take Market size of hosted email is $7 billion for 2012-2013In 2012 Google, Microsoft and Zimbra won 23, 10 and 9 government contracts respectively for email servicesZimbra was acquired by VMware in 2010 from Yahoo!</p><p>Surprisingly, VMware (NYSE:VMW) has become a top contender in the cloud-based email market space with its product Zimbra. VMware acquired the cloud-based email company from Yahoo! in 2010, and is becoming a strong player in the cloud-based space, especially when it comes to government contracts. []</p><p>Traditional hosted email has historically been a two-horse race between International Business Machines' (NYSE:IBM) Lotus Notes and Microsoft's Outlook. For organizations with 500 email seats and above, Microsoft had a mammoth market share of close to 75% as of 2011, while Lotus notes had less than 10%, according to Microsoft. The market shares were comparable in smaller sized organizations, but all of this changed with the entry of Google's Gmail, hosted on the cloud. It was easier and cheaper for smaller organizations to implement Gmail, and the market quickly went for the enterprise version of the successful email service.</p><p>Google also successfully acquired market share because of its collaboration tools and a web-based office-like suite with Google Docs. Microsoft was quick to adapt to the changing trend and introduced Microsoft Office 365, and the market is now again a two-horse race, with Google and Microsoft contending for the top spot. However, IBM is gearing up to launch its own web-based documentation suite with IBM Docs as part of its smart cloud initiative. The service is currently available in the beta phase.</p><p><a href="http://www.trefis.com/stock/vmw/articles/161519/vmware-becomes-a-force-to-reckon-with-in-cloud-based-email/2013-01-07">Keep reading...</a></p>