More Thoughts on Microsoft Exchange Online

By Stephanie Jordan
in

In writing this month’s magazine cover story, Exchange Options: Is It Time to Make a Move? those interviewed for the story shared thoughts on their partner turned competitor, Microsoft Corp. As noted in the article, all were philosophical, but not everything they discussed could be included in the original article due to space constraints. Here are some additional thoughts I wanted to share.

Scott Cutler, executive vice president for AppRiver, believes one of the reasons for Microsoft choosing this path is their own direct customer demand. “Microsoft is getting pressure from some large companies that are saying: ‘We would like to do a hosted model, but we want you, Microsoft, to offer it.’ These organizations already have a large relationship with Microsoft and they are going to leverage that—so part of Microsoft’s strategy is making sure large companies can go to a hosted model, if that is what they want,” says Cutler.

All those interviewed felt that while there would be companies that select Microsoft for outsourced Exchange, there will be many that won’t. “I think Microsoft is very Microsoft focused, as they should be,” comments Randy Ide, senior product manager of messaging products for XO Concentric. “They are very focused on the making of software and not really known as a software-as-a-service (SAAS) provider and all of the options are going to be Microsoft-centric. If you want something outside of that, like Blackberry, Microsoft may not be a good solution for you.”

Echoing Ide’s statement is Danny Essner, director of marketing for Intermedia. “One of the key advantages that Intermedia has to leverage is its ability to diversify its offerings beyond the Microsoft ecosystem. When you buy a solution from Intermedia, you can buy a la carte services, or you can buy bundles. Most of our customers tend to go the bundle route. Our most popular is called the Buisiness Productivity Suite, which is a bundle of Office Communications Server, Sharepoint and Exchange. That is the core of the Intermedia offering. Once you go outside that offering, we offer a robust ecosystem of solutions.”

As an example, Essner goes on to describe one of Intermedia’s most popular, its mobility solution. “We have Exchange ActivSync for the Windows mobile phones and iPhones, and now the Palm Pre. The next big add-on is in archiving. This is a really hot area now with an increasing number of companies coming under regulations that require storage for a certain amount of time, and have e-Discovery policies. We also have a lot of security tools, like encryption, which is becoming increasingly important to customers.”

While the year 2010 is approaching quickly, to Ide, Exchange 2010 is a ways off. “Most people are not looking at 2010. Most are still looking at Exchange 2007. We do receive inquires on it, but only from the largest and most sophisticated customers that tend to have non-disclosures with Microsoft on its product roadmap. The other thing to keep in mind is that it is a fairly significant change. There’s lots of exciting stuff coming in Exchange 2010, but it’s not here yet, in terms of a full production product. If you look at the adoption cycle there are many that may not adopt until 2011. Look how many people are still on Exchange 2003 even through 2007 has been here for three years. I think it will be a while before Exchange 2010 starts to hit, but when it does, we will be ready.”

For more on Exchange 2010, be sure to read Messaging News guest writer, Lee Benjamin’s article: Exchange 2010 Thoughts and Considerations

Published July 28, 2009