Mail system for medium sized companies

When a new company is being setup, the first thing to be setup is a mail system infrastructure. There are numerous options available in the market. Some companies will go for setting up their own mail system using mail servers like microsoft exchange etc. Some companies will use mail service available with the hosting provider. In the current era of cloud computing, there is another option now which is cloud based email system. Now a days the market is moving towards cloud ..every where we can hear cloud business, cloud hosting, Infrastrcuture as a service, Software as a service, Communication as a service and so on.

For one of my recent proposal, there was a requirement for setting up communication and messaging services. One of the pre-requisite was it should be on the cloud and should come cost effective.

We have researched many solutions in the market and proposed a solution based on the zoho system.

The first impression from customer was negative with this solution and asked us to propose some other solution. We continued our research and came across many cloud based systems like Google Apps, Zimbra mail, Microsoft exchange online.

Finally we proposed a solution based on Microsoft exchange online which is part of the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite.

This is a very promising solution and cost effective. This costs around 4 USD per month per user. There are other solutions too available online like Sharepoint online, Live meeting, office communications online. All this together will cost around 10 USD per user per month.

What are the main difference between an in house solution and an online solution

 

In-House servers

In House solution will need server hardware, operating system, software license, user licenses, data backup, management and maintenance of hardware/software, IT infrastructure, software upgrades etc.

Microsoft Online Services (http://www.microsoft.com/online/)

You dont need servers or upfront investment for setting up infrastructure. In addition we dont need dedicated skilled IT engineers to maintain the system. 

Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite is a set of messaging and collaboration tools, delivered as a subscription service, that gives your business rich capabilities without the need to deploy and maintain software and hardware on-premise. These online services are designed to help meet your needs for robust security, all-day every-day

Microsoft Business Productivity Office Suite (BPOS) includes:

1. Exchange Online - 25GB Mailbox, email security, central administration
2. Sharepoint online - For user collaboration, etc., 250MB user storage
3. Office Live meeting - Video and audio web conference and presentation
4. Office communications online - Messaging client