Likelihood to Recommend You can use Microsoft Exchange Server with peace of mind for e-mail, calendar, communication, scheduling, and collaboration services. Microsoft's Exchange Server is a product designed to provide users with access to the messaging platform from mobile devices, desktops, and web-based systems. Telephony features in Exchange Server support voicemail. Exchange Server successfully offers high availability service with Microsoft Exchange Database availability groups.
Read full review While this solution is capable of managing a smaller environment, I'm weary to install it into a larger customers' environment. This solution does a decent job of basic email security and centrally managed controls. Hardware upgrade options seem limited though if adding a lot more email boxes. Retention options are limited compared to other products.
Read full review Pros As we have a large user base of 11,000 users we use MailTips to avoid people getting confused with people with similar names in the organization. The integration between Teams Meeting and Resource booking is generally very good. The Scheduling Assistance makes it easy to scan calendars and find free periods to provisionally scheduled events. Marking yourself as Out of the Office and busy is easy, as is sharing your calendar within the team/organization or individuals. Voicemail integration and the ability to receive missed chats in your inbox are highly used and useful. Read full review Simple GUI interface where everything is in one location and easy to use. Simple setup, but allows you to be flexible with different security zones. Robust, stays up and running. Read full review Cons The two main factors for the better reliability & Uptime of internally hosted Exchange Server depends on Exchange Server configuration and the level of investment the organization is willing to provide for hosting the Exchange Server On-Premise Environment. As the data is stored in the organization’s hardware, any disaster may lead to the loss of email and servers. Losing data might affect business continuity and rebuilding it can be costly. Security remains a major concern. Security of data loss is main concern. To ensure that, organization needs to configure networks, systems and Exchange platform against possible threats. Hardware and license costs are high. Read full review Manufacturer is focused on several solutions (so likely not enough focus in one area) Not the most cost effective solution Read full review Likelihood to Renew It is the best, and perhaps only, email solution worth considering.
Read full review Usability Microsoft Exchange is well suited for inexperienced Messaging Admins and veterans alike. If you have no idea of the fundamentals of modern email (SMTP, mail headers, MX Records, SPF/DKIM, Encryption, etc.) and just need to get people's mailboxes and calendars the support they need, you can use it with confidence. If you are an old pro and want to leverage and dovetail your Powershell and AD with Exchange, you will be rewarded for your efforts.
Read full review Reliability and Availability Exchange is setup with multiple servers behind load balancers to provide high availability.
Read full review Performance I would say it's the best email product I've experienced.
Read full review Support Rating We have a good enterprise agreement with Microsoft which affords us quick phone support. I have found the support staff knowledgeable and prompt with a solution when required. At times it may be difficult to schedule a call back, this is mainly due to our need for calls early in the morning which happens to be during a shift change at Microsoft support.
Read full review Implementation Rating Implementation/conversion can be quite complex and, unless you have certified Exchange administrators in-house, you should strongly consider a 3rd party consultant for this implementation.
Read full review Alternatives Considered Most of the 365 subscriptions include desktop and cloud versions of Microsoft programs. These "traditional" software may be installed on a desktop computer and used offline without any problems, as long as you have a working Internet connection. Because so many firms still transmit each others file's developed locally using these applications, despite this being an era of cloud computing– there is a strong case for keeping desktop versions available.
Read full review We switched from Watchguard to SonicWALL because of the ease of use and everything was located in one place. At the time Watchguard was changing to force you to use a server to manage your VPNs, and we didn't see a reason to have to manage another product when it should have been able to do everything itself. SonicWALL met and exceeded our expectations.
Read full review Scalability The only time Exchange has failed us is when we did something to cause the failure.
Read full review Return on Investment It has been an important factor in allowing seamless communication with clients and scheduling business meetings, which in turn works in the company's favor. Haven't noticed any negative impact Exchange has had on our ROI. The support team is also responsive and helpful. Read full review Blocks a majority of spam and malicious emails Sandboxing options limited Not the best solution out there that we have seen Read full review ScreenShots