Hybrid Hosted Email Systems are Challenging Exchange

Email is such an essential business tool today, that it is almost impossible to remember how life was without the versatile, electronic work aid. Certainly everyone knows what it is like when the email is ‘down’. Crowds of hapless beings wander aimlessly around the office citing tales of woe and potential file loss as a reason to have yet another coffee. All work comes to a halt and psychological effects quickly manifest themselves in office staff. Let’s face it, we’re addicted. 

How have we become so reliant on the in box and that friendly ding announcing cheerily, “you have new mail”? It’s quite easy to see when you analyse the benefits that the system brings, but The latest Exchange mail is so packed with features and benefits for users that it is actually difficult to imagine how they can all be utilised or even having enough time in the day to set them all up. And in reality it is only the most ardent user that employs every option in the extended drop down menu.   

Maybe it’s time to take stock and look at what we really need for business email. The inbox and outbox are pretty essential. The sent box is certainly reassuring and deleted files particularly useful in case you click ‘del’ on the wrong email. How much more do you need? The calendar is great, and being able to share appointments and details very useful for busy departments. So, unless something critical has been left out, that’s about it.  The key problem faced by companies was always the inclusion of the calendar, which put mail users by default into the Exchange server class and immediately, its associated costs.

Fortunately, with developments in server and hosting technology, the mail service providers have been able to introduce ‘Lite’ products at suitably light prices. Admittedly some users still require the all singing, all dancing Exchange Mail option which, if used to its full extent, can be an incredibly powerful and timesaving tool. However in most situations these ‘power users’ are only around 10% of the user base, and in some companies even less than that.

The solution to the conundrum was finding a mail system that could offer the complexity of parts of Exchange but in combination with the ability to remove the unused options in the cases of straightforward business email requirements.

One company has bitten the bullet. Rackspace, the world's leader in the hosting and cloud computing industry, has introduced a hybrid Email solution which offers a custom mix of hosted Microsoft Exchange and a business-focused Rackspace Email platform on a single domain. Hybrid Email systems have moved on significantly from the old personal email offerings of the past. They now feature easy calendar viewing that is fully interchangeable between hosted Microsoft Exchange and a simpler mail solution. Hybrid emails have the same high quality webmail interface, designed to help make businesses using the solution far more productive.

Such solutions are absolutely perfect for even the larger companies. Why on earth would you want to pay for large scale Exchange Mail solutions when in practice just a few employees actually need the extended facilities? Hybrid email hosting systems allow a seamless combination of two worlds, but more importantly provide very significant cost savings without excluding anyone from the mainstream of what’s happening. Business mail cost calculations have revealed that a hybrid mail system can save up to 60% of the costs normally associated with hosted Managed Exchange and significantly more than hosting a stand alone Exchange Server in-house.

You are probably thinking there must be a downside. It is true to say that for the advanced user, requiring all the bells and whistles the basic solution is probably inadequate, though recent updates to Hybrid Email hosting have brought the system very much in line with Exchange, and for all but the extreme technophiles, the solution is as near to being perfect for everyday business as you could wish, the only thing missing being the cost.

Modern hybrid email solutions include:

Viewable Calendars - Users can share and view calendars across the entire organisation, whether they are Exchange users or hybrid Email user.

Webmail - The webmail interface is easy to learn and simple to navigate. Features typically include improved search quality and speed, and simplified customization of company logos and background images for companies. They evn cater for the needs of private label resellers.

Full Control Panel - Administrators can manage both Hosted Exchange and Hybrid Email accounts and settings from one dashboard.

Storage - Cloud based email accounts have access to free hosted SharePoint, with up to 250MB of storage, for improved document management and team collaboration. Additional storage is usually easy to purchase with low utility pricing.

Remote access – New hybrid mail systems offer the same compatibility with the Microsoft Outlook desktop client, and provide mobile support for Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows Mobile phones.

If your business email is based on Microsoft Exchange or you own an Exchange server then it is going to make financial sense to take a long look at just how essential this really is for the majority of your users. In these potentially austere, cost-saving times, when businesses are looking to protect their bottom line, it makes sense to look at email hybridisation to grow some savings.

Find out more on Email Hosting and Hybrid Email Hosting from the world’s most successful hosting company.