If you're currently using Exchange 2003 to handle your email, it's definitely time to upgrade — but to what? Here's what Xantrion recommends for organizations with 150+ users:
·
If cost is your primary concern, upgrade your
in-house Exchange server.
·
If data security and disaster recovery are
business-critical, move your email to a hosted private Exchange server — that
is, a server hosted in a secure remote data center, but dedicated to your
organization alone.
You'll notice that we do not recommend Office 365 or Gmail
for our larger clients. The chart below will explain why.
Option
|
2-Year Total Cost of Ownership
|
Comments
|
In-House Exchange
|
$54,859*
|
Lowest-cost method of providing
full Exchange-based functionality.
Vulnerable to natural disasters.
Requires internal staff skilled in mail server management.
|
Hosted Private Exchange
|
$66,362
|
Full Exchange-based functionality.
Hosted in a disaster-resistant data center in Colorado.
Does not require internal staff skilled in mail server management.
|
Office 365 Exchange
|
$51,790
|
Vulnerable to a San Francisco
earthquake.
Does not require internal staff skilled in mail server management.
|
Gmail
|
$64,728
|
Has fewer features than Exchange.
Security, privacy, and compliance concerns.
Vulnerable to a San Francisco earthquake.
Does not require internal staff skilled in mail server management.
|
*TCO includes the estimated cost of in-house engineers
needed to maintain the server infrastructure (if any) and administer the mail
system, as well as the cost of off-site data backup. HIPAA-compliant mail
archiving would add $12/user per month, plus a one-time fee of $990.
