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What are the benefits of hosted Exchange?Microsoft Exchange is one of the most utilized email server services in the world. The service typically requires additional in-house infrastructure, but many businesses use a cost-saving workaround called hosted Exchange. Read on to learn more about it. ​​What is Microsoft Exchange? Microsoft Exchange is a messaging system that offers businesses a number of services, […]

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16 Jul, 2021 / by Complete Technology Resources / in 2021july07windows_a, hosted exchange, microsoft, microsoft exchange, servers, Windows category
What are the benefits of hosted Exchange?

Microsoft Exchange is one of the most utilized email server services in the world. The service typically requires additional in-house infrastructure, but many businesses use a cost-saving workaround called hosted Exchange. Read on to learn more about it.

​​What is Microsoft Exchange?

Microsoft Exchange is a messaging system that offers businesses a number of services, including email, calendaring, task management, and address lists. By integrating Exchange into your business, you can access all of these services from any location and on almost every device.

Many companies that purchase Exchange install it on their on-premises servers, which can be a bit expensive, especially for small businesses. Moreover, the server required to host it can take up space that a business may not have. This is why many companies prefer to operate on cloud-based systems.

What is hosted Exchange?

To make Exchange available to more businesses, many IT companies like Microsoft now offer hosted Exchange. In this setup, your IT provider allots a space on their servers where they install Microsoft Exchange and make it accessible only to your company over an internet connection. They are in charge of ensuring that the data stored is secure and accessible to you at all times. Many hosted Exchange providers will also offer extra features like improved security, full-time management, and data backup.

In other words, hosted Exchange is the cloud-based version of Microsoft Exchange managed by a host company or provider. You and your employees will still be able to access Exchange as if it were hosted in your office.

Benefits of hosted Exchange

Companies looking to integrate hosted Exchange into their business can enjoy the following benefits:

1. Predictable and lower costs

Like many other hosted services, the majority of hosted Exchange services are offered on a monthly, per-user basis, inclusive of maintenance and hosting. This makes costs predictable, as you’ll be paying a fixed fee every month.

Hosted Exchange also lowers overall costs. If a business were to calculate the cost of purchasing Microsoft Exchange and the infrastructure required to use it, plus maintenance fees, the total and per-user cost will likely add up quickly. For many small businesses, paying a monthly fee will be far less expensive than hosting a Microsoft Exchange solution in house. What’s more, you save money on maintenance overhead and future expenses.

2. Easier implementation

Implementing Microsoft Exchange in your office would require you to find space for the server. Once you install Exchange on this server, you’ll have to manage it and add new accounts and users. In case the service goes offline, you’ll have to fix it yourself. But with a hosted Exchange solution, your IT partner will take care of hosting, installation, and management, so you can focus on running your business.

3. Flexible solutions

Growing businesses may find it tough to scale up or down on an in-house Microsoft Exchange solution because of the server's limited capacity. With hosted Exchange, scaling up or down is as easy as contacting your provider, who can ensure that space and resources are available. They can also help scale your solutions in case you move offices.

Looking to learn more about hosted Exchange and how your business can benefit from it? Chat with us today!

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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3 Questions to ask before replacing your serversYour company’s servers will eventually need to be replaced. To conserve and maximize your resources, you need to anticipate the best time to do this, as well as consider alternatives that offer the same — if not better — outcomes for your business. When do my servers need to be replaced? This is a difficult […]

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16 Apr, 2021 / by Complete Technology Resources / in 2021april16hardware_b, business, company, Hardware, planning, replacement, servers, virtualization category
3 Questions to ask before replacing your servers

Your company’s servers will eventually need to be replaced. To conserve and maximize your resources, you need to anticipate the best time to do this, as well as consider alternatives that offer the same — if not better — outcomes for your business.

When do my servers need to be replaced?

This is a difficult question, but there are two factors you will want to consider: age and performance. The useful life of a server is around three years. While it’s not unheard of for servers to function properly beyond year three, relying on them past this point can be risky, as hardware problems may occur more often. This means you will have to deal with costly repairs and possible sudden downtime.

In terms of performance, it doesn’t make sense to keep your servers around until year three if they are slow and too costly to maintain. It’s important to compare how much money you will lose in repairs and downtime versus the cost of buying new hardware.

Do I have an alternative to buying new servers?

Believe it or not, the answer to your server problems might not necessarily be purchasing more physical servers. One solution is to embrace server virtualization. This process allows your servers to be stored and maintained off-site, with all your resources being delivered to your office via the internet.

There are two notable benefits of virtualizing your servers. First, you don’t have to spend a ton of money on new equipment. Second, virtualization is a scalable technology, meaning you only pay for the data capacity you use. For instance, you can have just two and a half servers, if that’s all your business needs. This is in contrast to having physical equipment, which would require your business to either make do with two servers or splurge and buy a third one even if you didn’t need all of that space.

Of course, there are a few things you need to consider before making the switch to server virtualization. One of the biggest issues is security. Ask yourself if you feel comfortable keeping all of your data off-site. While this isn’t a concern for some companies, others may not see this as palatable. There are several workarounds to this issue, including the hybrid option where you keep sensitive data on-site and everything else off-site.

Can I do anything to prevent a full-scale server replacement?

Yes. It’s certainly possible for you to buy some time and give your current servers additional life, but these are short-term fixes, not long-term solutions. Server upgrades are a good place to start if your servers are less than three years old but are performing poorly. Installing additional CPUs or memory may increase server performance at a fraction of the cost of buying new servers.

It’s also possible to extend the life of servers that may have four or five years of wear-and-tear on them via repurposing. Instead of swapping out all of your servers, use the old ones for non-critical processes and purchase new ones to handle critical workloads. This will help you get a better ROI on your technology while avoiding a wholesale hardware purchase, which could cripple your budget.

If you have any questions about your servers and how you can increase their performance, get in touch with us today. We can help you procure new hardware or explore other alternatives such as server virtualization.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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Hosted Microsoft Exchange: What you need to knowMany businesses rely on at least one server — typically Microsoft Exchange — to host their email platform. Some companies, however, don’t have enough room on-site for a server. Hosted Exchange solves this dilemma. Let’s take a closer look at how it can help your business. What is Microsoft Exchange? Microsoft Exchange is a messaging […]

The post Hosted Microsoft Exchange: What you need to know appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

05 Apr, 2021 / by Complete Technology Resources / in 2021april05windows_b, hosted exchange, microsoft, microsoft exchange, servers, Windows category
Hosted Microsoft Exchange: What you need to know

Many businesses rely on at least one server — typically Microsoft Exchange — to host their email platform. Some companies, however, don’t have enough room on-site for a server. Hosted Exchange solves this dilemma. Let’s take a closer look at how it can help your business.

What is Microsoft Exchange?

Microsoft Exchange is a messaging system that offers businesses various services, such as email, calendar, task management, address lists, and more. By integrating Exchange into your business processes, you can access all of these services from any location, on almost any internet-connected device.

Many companies that purchase Exchange install it on on-premises servers. This setup can be costly, especially for small businesses. Moreover, the server needed to host it can take up a significant amount of physical space. This is why other companies prefer to operate on cloud-based systems.

What is hosted Exchange?

To meet the demands of various businesses, many IT services providers started offering hosted Exchange. In this setup, your IT provider allocates some space on one of their servers. They then install Microsoft Exchange in a space accessible only to your company, over an internet connection. The provider is in charge of ensuring that the data stored is secure and accessible to you at all times. Some hosted Exchange providers also offer extra features like improved security, full-time management, and data backup.

In other words, hosted Exchange is the cloud-based version of Microsoft Exchange. You and your employees will still be able to access hosted Exchange as if it were installed on an in-house server.

Benefits of hosted Exchange

Companies looking to integrate hosted Exchange into their business can enjoy the following benefits:

  1. Predictable and lower costs
    Like many other hosted services, the majority of hosted Exchange services are offered on a monthly, per-user basis, inclusive of hosting and maintenance. This makes costs predictable as you’ll be paying a fixed fee.Hosted Exchange also lowers overall costs. If you calculate the cost of purchasing a new server, Microsoft Exchange, and supporting infrastructure, plus maintenance fees, the total and per-user cost will add up quickly. For many small businesses, paying a fixed monthly fee will be far more cost-efficient than hosting a Microsoft Exchange solution in-house. What’s more, you save money on future expenses such as hardware replacements and new software licenses.
  2. Easier implementation
    Implementing Microsoft Exchange in your office would require you to allocate physical space for the server and to install the server and Microsoft Exchange. On top of this, you also have to manage Exchange and add new accounts and users. In case the service goes offline, you’ll have to troubleshoot it yourself. But with a hosted Exchange solution, your IT partner will take care of hosting, management, and installation, so you can focus on more important business matters.
  3. Flexible solutions
    Growing businesses may find it difficult to scale up or down on an in-house Microsoft Exchange solution due to the server’s limited capacity. With hosted Exchange, you can simply contact your provider whenever you need to adjust your server requirements. The hosted Exchange provider can also help scale your solutions in case you move offices.

Looking to learn more about hosted Exchange and how your business can benefit from it? Talk to us today!

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

The post Hosted Microsoft Exchange: What you need to know appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

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