There are perfectly valid reasons for an organization to own and administer its Exchange server, even in this era of the cloud. Compliance and security are among the biggest of those factors, and there’s nothing like a well-managed on-premises Exchange deployment to provide a sense of security.
With that, of course, goes the burden of spending time and money to maintain that mail infrastructure. This is where the allure of a cloud-based (or hosted) Exchange becomes appealing. Having a service provider do the heavy lifting with maintenance might be enough to sway an organization’s decision makers. Others will look for cost savings, which can be compelling in certain cases.
So what are the options for your Exchange infrastructure, and what are the benefits and liabilities? For those answers, we turn to Andy Grogan, an Exchange Most Valuable Professional. He breaks down the pros and cons of both on- and off-premises Exchange. He also offers some thoughts on hybrid scenarios.
IT security specialist Kevin Beaver, meanwhile, contributes some practical advice for those opting for a hosted Exchange service provider. Knowing what to expect—and what to ask about—will go a long way toward ensuring the security of your mail infrastructure when you no longer completely control it.