Microsoft Exchange vs. Smarsh Communications Intelligence Platform (with Actiance)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft Exchange
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Exchange is a secure email / messaging gateway with file archiving and encryption / data loss capability, available as a hosted service (Exchange Online) or installed (Exchange Server).N/A
Smarsh Communications Intelligence Platform
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
Actiance was a social media compliance and archiving platform acquired by Smarsh in November 2017. It is now part of the technology underlying the Smarsh Communications Intelligence Platform. Actiance products Vantage and Socialite are now Connected Capture. Actiance Alcatraz is now Connected Archive.N/A
Pricing
Microsoft ExchangeSmarsh Communications Intelligence Platform (with Actiance)
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft ExchangeSmarsh Communications Intelligence Platform
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft ExchangeSmarsh Communications Intelligence Platform (with Actiance)
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Microsoft ExchangeSmarsh Communications Intelligence Platform (with Actiance)
Secure Email Gateway
Comparison of Secure Email Gateway features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Exchange
8.1
81 Ratings
4% below category average
Smarsh Communications Intelligence Platform (with Actiance)
-
Ratings
Anti-malware8.164 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizability7.976 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Loss Protection8.666 Ratings00 Ratings
Threat Detection7.965 Ratings00 Ratings
Sandboxing7.445 Ratings00 Ratings
End-to-End Encryption8.365 Ratings00 Ratings
Management Tools8.478 Ratings00 Ratings
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Microsoft ExchangeSmarsh Communications Intelligence Platform (with Actiance)
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Microsoft Exchange
Microsoft Exchange
Score 8.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Microsoft ExchangeSmarsh Communications Intelligence Platform (with Actiance)
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(99 ratings)
7.5
(2 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(3 ratings)
8.1
(2 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.9
(12 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
5.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
5.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft ExchangeSmarsh Communications Intelligence Platform (with Actiance)
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
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.
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Smarsh
This appliance is well suited for organizations that have a need to monitor, moderate, or log social networking site use or the use of any website. It is a very solid tool for any information security department to have at their disposal.
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Pros
Microsoft
  • 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.
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Smarsh
  • Discovery: It allows for easy discoveries by the compliance and cyber security departments.
  • Ethical walls: This keeps certain departments from talking to each other.
  • Very granular control. This is a big product meaning you can get very detailed with it.
  • Once it's configured and running, we hardly ever have any issues.
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Cons
Microsoft
  • 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.
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Smarsh
  • Its configuration options were very large and required a good deal of time to learn all of the various settings.
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Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
It is the best, and perhaps only, email solution worth considering.
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Smarsh
It's the only product at this time that meets all of our requirements.
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Usability
Microsoft
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.
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Smarsh
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Microsoft
Exchange is setup with multiple servers behind load balancers to provide high availability.
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Smarsh
No answers on this topic
Performance
Microsoft
I would say it's the best email product I've experienced.
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Smarsh
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Microsoft
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.
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Smarsh
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Microsoft
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.
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Smarsh
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
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.
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Smarsh
This was the only appliance of its kind that I have used. Other devices have different capabilities for web filtering such as the checkpoint firewalls, but none of them offered the overall solution that was deployed with this product at that time.
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Scalability
Microsoft
The only time Exchange has failed us is when we did something to cause the failure.
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Smarsh
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • 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.
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Smarsh
  • Faster investigative work has led to increased employee efficiency when working on security investigations.
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ScreenShots