Hosted Exchange 101: What Is It and Do You Need It?

[Jerry Raia]

http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/2007/07/hosted-exchange.html

"Thanks to an e-mail question from TaxMan, I wanted to give a little "Hosted Exchange 101" for a few reasons. First off TaxMan wanted to know what's the real benefit of this e-mail solution and who it's for. Secondly, the lack of native Exchange support is one of the few reasons I held off on an iPhone purchase and this gives me an opportunity to re evaluate my needs. My intention here isn't to provide an in-depth, technical overview of a hosted Exchange approach, but I'd like to give a quick high-level overview that might help readers understand if this choice is needed and viable for them."

I have been in both places on this one. I ran my own Exchange server and now use a hosted service. The main reason I stopped running my own is I didn't have the time to keep up with all the security issues. Ranging from free to $20-$30/month you can have your own Exchange service. With Push Email (and HTML email on WM6), I think it is well worth looking into.

[Jerry Raia]

http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/2007/07/hosted-exchange.html

"Thanks to an e-mail question from TaxMan, I wanted to give a little "Hosted Exchange 101" for a few reasons. First off TaxMan wanted to know what's the real benefit of this e-mail solution and who it's for. Secondly, the lack of native Exchange support is one of the few reasons I held off on an iPhone purchase and this gives me an opportunity to re evaluate my needs. My intention here isn't to provide an in-depth, technical overview of a hosted Exchange approach, but I'd like to give a quick high-level overview that might help readers understand if this choice is needed and viable for them."

I have been in both places on this one. I ran my own Exchange server and now use a hosted service. The main reason I stopped running my own is I didn't have the time to keep up with all the security issues. Ranging from free to $20-$30/month you can have your own Exchange service. With Push Email (and HTML email on WM6), I think it is well worth looking into.

[LiveToServer]

I would not recommend any free or personal hosting options, due to the security reasons you mentioned. Even if it is only for individual use, it is still too risky (assuming your personal info needs to stay personal). I would suggest a service like www.123together.com, which is an affordable option but also tailors to large enterprises with incredible need. They have a 100% uptime guarantee too, which is nice. Just my thoughts, though.