Exchange in the Cloud

People have long been afraid to virtualize Exchange. I guess it's something about losing the entire corporate mail system or taking that phone call from an irate CEO (well, he can't e-mail you now, can he?) when he can't get his mail.

The cloud is a different story. If you lose the entire corporate mail system in the cloud, it's someone else's fault. And even Microsoft, through Office 360, now offers cloud e-mail.

There are some decent recent reasons to look at clouding Exchange, my reporting shows, not the least of which is the fact that no fewer than two readers, Dennis Barr and Bob Collins, had good experiences.

Dennis six years ago was looking at upgrading a physical Exchange install and looked at a cloud switch. He avoided the costs of all that hardware, let the service provider handle the hassles of ongoing mailbox growth, and used his free time to focus on things more strategic than e-mailbox administration. You know, frequent readers like Dennis have always struck me as pretty bright guys. Now, we have proof!

Collins, who's lucky enough to work at a country club, has a pretty similar story. For him, it just didn't make sense to install an Exchange server for eight users. With the cloud, he barely has to think about it.

What is your cloud app experience? Share your story by writing [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on 08/29/2012 at 12:47 PM