Hosted Exchange: Can it Work for You?

[Rocco Augusto]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://mcpmag.com/features/article.asp?EditorialsID=426' target='_blank'>http://mcpmag.com/features/article.asp?EditorialsID=426</a><br /><br /></div>"<i>Can hosted Exchange be cheaper? Can it lower your total cost of ownership? For Walter Pinson III of Pinson3 Systems, the answer is yes. He says that 'the barrier to entry is totally removed. We would have had to commit thousands of dollars to internally roll out the capabilities that we enjoy and now depend on.' Can hosted Exchange be better than going it alone? Can it enable you to focus on your core business? 'The answer here is simple,' explains Walter. 'We started out trying to bring up our own Exchange 2003 and VPN environment, and it became apparent very quickly that it was taking our focus away from where it needed to be. We are a small business and our time is better spent serving our current customers and acquiring new ones.'</i>"<br /><br /><img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/augusto-2006.06.27-exchange.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/><br /><br />This is just a small snippet from a very intriguing article that covers everything from Gold Gym memberships to the pros and cons of using a Hosted Exchange Server. If you have been on the fence as of late and are unsure whether or not you want to take the leap to utilizing this type of service, this might be the article for you. Personally, I am a <i>huge</i> fan of <a href="http://www.4smartphone.net/affiliates.aspx?go=referal%26ref=JD10726/">4smartphone.net's</a> Hosted Exchange services and I highly recommend trying out their free trail if you haven't done so already. :)

[jimmymacv]

I used 4smartphone.net for a year and let my subscription run out this month because the service wasn't robust -- my desktop often times had difficulty connecting to their server and their outlook web access program ran too slow. I tried out www.1and1.com's service though and it is a million times better. The OWA is fast, never drags, and my desktop outlook has no problem keeping / restoring the connection. 1and1.com allows you to pay quarterly or monthly whereas 4smartphone.net wanted a year up front after the free trial. If you're going this route, I would advise you to try both before you make your own decision. Maybe my proximity to 4smartphone's servers caused the delay but I'm in NYC and if it's difficult to use here, then I wouldn't take a chance on it anywhere.

[ctmagnus]

4SmartPhone rocks! Period.

[Rocco Augusto]

4SmartPhone rocks! Period.

my thoughts exactly. i have never had any sort of connection problems with 4smartphone ever and i receive anywhere from 50-200 emails a day. the service is incredibly fast and reliable. on top of all of that, their customer support is helpful and extremely friendly as well. the one time i did have a problem, which was my fault and not theirs, they were quick to help me out and the customer service rep even told me a joke. now if that isnt good service i dont know what it. :)

[Mike Temporale]

I used 4smartphone.net for a year and let my subscription run out this month because the service wasn't robust

Interesting. I haven't heard anyone say anything bad about 4Smarpthone before. (Not that I don't believe you - just that you don't see it) Did you bring these issues to their attention?

[ctmagnus]

fwiw, while it rocks, there are times when Outlook complains about not being able to connect to the server. But that may be due to where I'm physically located and the number of hops between here and the server via my isp. Anytime I've had a gprs/edge signal on the phone, I could connect to the server from it no problemo.

[Pete Paxton]

I haven't had any problems with 4smartphone.net. I had a mail2web account but the 4smartphone account is so much better.

[ricksfiona]

One problem I had with 4smartphone is that I CAN'T CALL ANYONE! It' all done by eMail. That stinks. Once you ARE a customer, then you can call someone. That's not cool.

I checked out 1&amp;1 Internet and they have a phone number and I thought there disk space was quite generous of 1GB per mailbox, up to 25GB for the MS Enterprise level account. Only problem: At times I would be contacting the Philipines for Technical Support. I try to stay away from companies that outsource their Tech. Staff outside the USA. That job can be handled by people within our country... I will try not to work with a company that will sacrifice a little bit in customer service so they can save a buck.

I've been using mailstreet.com and have been very happy with their service. I'm not too happy with the disk space allotments we get and will try to work something out with them to increase that space.

But to the point of this thread... Exchange Hosting rocks! It allows so many small businesses to get tools that are usually available only to big businesses with a dedicated staff. I recommend this service to ALL my clients. It's so superior to POP/SMTP accounts. $10/month? Heck, what cost $10/month these days?[/b]

[The One Eyed Man]

The real argument is the age-old one of outsourcing.

The main factor to consider is this:

Change = Cost

For larger organizations, there are economies of scale which practically dictate that organizations over a certain size must have an internally-hosted e-mail system, because outsourcing is too expensive per-capita as compared to the cost of an internally-hosted implementation.

For smaller organizations, hosted solutions may be attractive because the internal solution is viewed to have a high TCO, which can be deferred or mitigated by outsourcing the migration, upgrade, or implementation of an e-mail system.

However, in both cases, a major factor that must be considered is the cost associated with any kind of change. If a company experiences numerous topology changes due to M-A activity, or perhaps the existing solution is unstable, then looking at a hosted solution is attractive. Conversely if the company and the e-mail system is very stable, it may be more attractive to manage it internally, and supplement the IT skill set with consulting dollars.

In most organizations of 250 users or more, there is enough in-house expertise to install and deploy exchange. In organizations smaller than this, there is probably insufficient expertise. In either case, the in-house expertise can be supplemented with consulting resources (throuh Microsoft or through an integrator) in order to gain efficiencies and bypass the hurdles of implementation and associated wasted effort.

In a hosted solution, you pay a "start up" cost. Whether this is an up-front cost, or an ammortized amount added to your service cost, your hosting provider knows they have to make money, and they build this in to their fee structure. Using the 80/20 rule, in 80% of all cases, it's cheaper to maintain an in-house system than it is to host or outsource, due to the fact that there is very little change (assuming the system is maintained properly -- consulting resources can be used to ensure this as well).

Most hosting providers sell the concept based on economies of scale: They can hire non-dedicated resources, and in some cases they can share hardware.

Here is what this means to you:

- You have no control over security. There may be regulatory or customer requirements, and you have to answer for the security architecture of your provider.
- You have no flexibility. For changes, you have to go through your provider. There may be limits on size, type, routing, etc... that may be outside the paramaters of what your provider offers.
- Depending upon the hosting provider, you may lose integration with Active Directory (Single Identity), meaning your users may have to use a separate logon for e-mail.
- Your hosting provider will contractually agree to service level agreements. However, it is in their best interest to stay just inside the time limit defined by the SLA -- in other words, you should not expect to receive service that drastically exceeds the established SLAs. For in-house, priority requests can be processed immediately without incurring additional cost.

In addition to the above, there are direct business costs associated with hosting / outsourcing: SOMEONE has to manage the vendor, and attend regular meetings or view weekly reports to ensure that the contracted service levels are being delivered. There are delays and increased costs for change management, because this must now involve communication and synchronization with the vendor.

So... hosted Exchange appears attractive, only until you understand the true business cost.

Conversely, if you know your organization is about to undergo a lot of change, or if you have poor service levels from your in-house IT staff, hosting / outsourcing may be a good short to medium-term solution that allows the company to re-tool and / or re-task its in-house IT, with the long-term goal of bringing it back inside.

[JrFoxMN]

I used 4smartphone.net for a year and let my subscription run out this month because the service wasn't robust -- my desktop often times had difficulty connecting to their server and their outlook web access program ran too slow. I tried out www.1and1.com's service though and it is a million times better. The OWA is fast, never drags, and my desktop outlook has no problem keeping / restoring the connection.

Does 1&amp;1 support push e-mail w/ Windows Mobile? I can't find support or mention of it on their website.

(Which is one of the reasons why I was leaning towards 4smartphone - great mobile support. But I agree - I thought OWA was "sluggish" when I was on my trial period.)

[Perry Reed]

Were I a business user, I'd be somewhat skeptical about outsourcing something as business-critical as email to an external host. However, as a consumer I absolutely love hosted Exchange service. I've using eNomia (http://www.enomia.com)for some time now and used eOutlook (http://www.eoutlook.com)previously. Both services have been excellent and I'll NEVER go back to POP3!

[exjd]

Like a lot of services you have to weigh cost/service tradeoffs and come up with what works for you. One additional issue for 1and1.com. They are a German owned company and their Exchange server has a .de extension (not .com). This has caused me problems as some recipients will not accept mail believed to be not sourced in the US. So even though 1and1.com plays up their NY presence (they say that is where the servers are located), they can do nothing (or won't do anything) about the .de extension.
Alan