Why Small & Mid Sized Companies Need an Exchange Alternative

The Need for an Exchange Alternativehosted on the service provider’s servers, and
provided to customers as a service over the internet.
Companies have overcome their initial skepticism, and
EVERYONE LOVES GOOD OLE' EMAILmore and more companies are embracing these
The thought of modern business without email is,solutions. This holds true not just for the messaging
well, absurd. Email is axiomatic for today’smarket, but for just about any software technology,
companies, a necessary, (although not sufficientwith web based office suites, video editors,
anymore) condition for corporate success. One oftelephony solutions, operating systems and what
the first things a company has to do when gettinghave you. Early SAAS companies like SalesForce &
off the ground, is to set up custom email.HyperOffice have no little contribution in popularizing
There are certain parameters within which this emailthis approach. There’s talk of “death of the
has to operate, which can be described as thedesktop” and behemoths like Microsoft lagging in
standard setup at most companies, especially smallerthe race.
ones (though not all). These are a WindowsEXCHANGE SAAS - BETTERING EXCHANGE VICES
Operating System, Outlook/Outlook Express forThe SAAS model is known to offer some benefits
desktop mail access, MS Office for file managementwhich are especially suitable to smaller companies.
etc.Exchange SAAS, more commonly called “hosted
Besides this, the current need for dynamism andExchange”, has particularly been a big hit with
flexibility has put certain new demands on companysmall companies.
email. These are – the ability to access companyA “hosted Exchange” service provider has
mail over the internet (webmail), mobile deviceExchange implemented on his servers, and sublets
access, and basic integrated collaboration functionalityExchange services to customers. In addition to
like shared address books, calendars, shared foldersproviding Exchange features, the “host” has
for information sharing etc.done extensive development at his end, often
integrating additional technologies & features into the
The number of wireless email users was 14 M inbasic solution, and provides a prepackaged, ready to
2006, & expected to reach 228 M in 2010 - Theuse solution to customers. Some advantages of this
Raicati Groupare summarize as follows:-
MS EXCHANGE - THE "CLASSICAL" SOLUTIONZero Setup - Firstly, the solution provider takes the
bother of hosting Exchange, saving the customer the
effort of purchasing, configuring and maintaining
Microsoft, the behemoth of software, recognized thisservers, and hiring specialized support staff.  
universal need of companies during early days, &Ready to Use - With all the hard work done,
created Exchange, an email messaging and basiccompanies can get a ready made solution with all the
collaboration software, which has since gone throughfeatures of Exchange fitted to their needs, plus a
many revisions, the most recent avatars beingwhole lot of extra features. These solutions are
Exchange 2003 & 2007.ready to use from day one, requiring little more than
MS Exchange is basically email server software, i.e., athe user getting on an internet browser and signing
system through which you can set up and receiveup.
email for your company, and relay it to yourSecurity - The hosted model also scores from a
employees’ computers.security point of view. These solution providers often
The basic functionalities provided by Exchange are:-have security expertise and technologies not available
Business Email – Administrators can setup ato smallish firms.
dedicated email address for their companyLow Cost Commitment - Almost no upfront
(@yourcompany.com), which users can receive andmonetary investment is needed. The cost structure
send from their local email client, mostly Outlook.is usually a low monthly user based subscription fee.
Protection – Considering the 90 million spamThis ensures that companies pay only for what they
messages that go around the world every day, theuse, and there is no obligation of carrying on with a
widespread concern about spam is understandable.bad solution to recover initial investment. Companies
Exchange has inbuilt security which protects yourhave the flexibility of opting out whenever they
systems from infiltration by viruses and spam.please.
Shared Contacts – Store and organize companyGET ALL THAT IS GOOD ABOUT EXCHANGE
contacts, create dedicated address books forSince the core offering of these companies is
individuals or teams which can be shared.“hosted Exchange”, all of Exchange’s
Shared Calendars – This is a tool which helpsfeatures are available to customers. That said, there
manage personal & group schedules. Calendars canis still a lot of variation in the offerings out there,
be created for individuals, teams and departments,since  a lot of functionalities are built around this
which can be shared.basic offering. Some score from a user friendliness
Shared Tasks – This helps people managepoint of view, some in terms of features, while
projects and activities. People can maintain to-do listsothers in terms of costs. A sample set of features
of assigned tasks, personal tasks, and tasks furtherof a “hosted Exchange” provider are as
assigned to others.follows:-
Shared Folders – These are file folders which canDedicated business email setup, Access mail on
be share across the company. This helps inOutlook, Mobile and Web email access , Outlook web
centralized storage and distribution of companyaccess, Shared contacts and tasks, Shared individual
information.& group calendars, Spam and virus protection,
Outlook Mobile & Web Access – Recognizing theWireless synchronization, Private and shared
greater need for flexibility and mobility, this feature iscalendars, Centralized control, Disaster management
part of the more recent Exchange editions. This& backups
allows users to access their Outlook account andBEYOND MS EXCHANGE
most of its features from the internet using aAs mentioned before, many of these solutions go
browser, and also from mobile devices.much beyond Exchange functionality, and offer a
MS EXCHANGE - A BIG NO NO FOR SMBs?whole tool box of features for almost the entire
What’s the catch, you would ask. Unfortunatelyrange of small business needs. For example, one
there is one - especially for smaller businesses.provider has SharePoint features built into the solution
Exchange was crafted primarily for the juicierand allows users to publish dedicated intranets &
segment – big businesses, and consequentlyextranets, and allows advanced document
requires major implementation and ongoingmanagement and sharing. Extra features like polling
maintenance, and comes with a price tag that wouldand forums are thrown into the mix. This saves
be back breaking for small businesses. A MScompanies the need to purchase solutions piecemeal
Exchange implementation entails for 15 users aroundfor different needs.
$10,000 annually.FLEXIBILITY
In House Servers – Exchange requires you toCross Platform Use - Flexibility is another hallmark of
setup in-house servers, & all the associated hassleshosted Exchange solutions. Since the internet is the
– physical space, uptime, redundancy, security,mode of deployment of these solutions, they are
backup, power et al.built to work in diverse environments. All you need to
Software Licenses – Exchange requires users toaccess them is a web browser, & you can use the
purchase licenses on a per user basis. For example,entire feature set from any internet enabled device
the cost of Microsoft Small Business Server 2003– mac, windows, desktop, laptop or handheld.
Standard Edition with 15 Client Access Licenses isThis makes for a better internal as well as
approx $1500 annually.“outside facing” solution. Traveling teams,
Deployment & Maintenance – Configuring MSpartners, vendors, clients just need an internet
Exchange entails a sea of concepts & jargon muchconnection to be on the “network”.
beyond a non techie. In addition the system needsCommunicate With other Software - Moreover,
dedicated administration & maintenance. This meansthese solutions are built to communicate seamlessly
additional costs in terms of IT time.with other software. These solutions can be used in
Incomplete Solution – Moreover, Exchange offerstandem with popular software which are a part of
only a partial deal, lacking collaboration componentsevery company, for example Outlook.
– document management, intranet and extranetNo Need for Updates - The hosted model also
portals – that have become intrinsic torenders unnecessary the need to download and install
today’s corporate survival, requiring customersupdates & bug fixes regularly. The provider simply
to purchase their communications and collaborationskeeps adding upgrades, patches and new features at
tools piecemeal, at precious lost time and expense.his own end and these are instantly available to the
Support & Training Issues – Given its clout,users of the software.
Microsoft is able to demand a price for its supportCONCLUSION - DECISION CRITERIA
services, which is otherwise unheard of. As if this isA wide range of solutions is on offer in the market.
already not a major disincentive for smaller firms,Some important criteria that need to be considered
there have been reports of Microsoft being unable towhile making the selection are:-
cope with the quantum of service requests it gets- ·         Do they provide the basic Exchange
for some of its solutions. feature set?
THE SAAS MODEL - WIN WIN FOR GROWING- ·         What kind of initial investment is
BUSINESSESinvolved in terms of effort and costs?
Although it would have been true 8-10 years ago- ·         What are the total costs?
that growing companies did not have many- ·         Is the solution scalable as the
alternatives to Exchange, the landscape is muchorganization grows?
changed now.    - ·         What kind of security do they
Recent times have seen a discernible movementprovide?
towards the hosted, software-as-a-service (SAAS)- ·         Are there additional features?
model. Briefly, SAAS means that the solution is