Do You Know New Features of Hosted Exchange Servers?

You need Exchange 2010 servers, but you don't want to go through the time, trouble, and hassle of running your own email servers. Instead of figuring out how to make your IT department do more work than they already have on their plates, consider a Hosted Exchange solution. With a hosted server, you go through a third party company that runs and maintains the servers for you. Advantages The biggest advantage is the fact that you are cutting down on your IT overhead. You don't have to purchase new servers, security equipment, network switches, or train employees for Exchange maintenance. Instead, the only thing that you have to worry about is getting everyone up to speed on the particular control panel that the Hosted Exchange solution uses. You don't have to worry about keeping the servers up to date or patching the Exchange software. If hardware issues occur, the company gets you back up and running as soon as possible. In short, it sounds like the perfect solution to your mail server dilemma and gives you all of the Hosted Exchanged features you could desire. Many companies offer Hosted Exchange 2010 servers, so you'll need to compare each service to see whether they will give you exactly what you need. Ideally, you want to have a company that offers you the flexibility that you need, so you won't have to move companies if you end up experiencing great business growth. Always keep your budget in mind when you're looking into services as well. Many companies will price match competitors if you ask for a deal. 24/7 support is also very important, since you don't want to be left without your email in the middle of the night. Disadvantages One of the biggest disadvantages in having a third party host your hosted exchange solution is that you don't have direct access or control. You can mitigate this to a point with co-location services, but then you'll have to pay the upfront cost for servers as well as other items that add to overhead. Your emails may contain sensitive information that you don't want other people to see, and since the email servers are off-site it's possible that data security is not as high as you might expect it to be. You also don't have flexibility in the operating systems and server hardware used in many cases. This won't affect your hosted Exchange features, but you won't be able to tweak the server yourself. You're stuck with what the third party company uses, and it can be costly and time consuming to change over to new hardware if you want a change. If you're looking for a hosted Exchange solution to cut down on your upfront and overhead costs, as well as avoiding the maintenance burden, it's a great option for you. However, if you're dealing with sensitive data or you are concerned about data security, you may want to consider hosting your own Exchange servers. The choice depends on your business structure and mail needs, as well as your comfort level with the companies that you find. Either way, Exchange 2010 offers a powerful mail server platform that is great for businesses large and small.