IT Support: Exchange or Office 365 ?
IT support and infrastructure management can be very complex and requires different levels of oversight. In today’s agile world, organizations are looking into ways on how to increase productivity through highly available IT infrastructure, while reducing costs. One of the most critical applications for organizations currently is email and communication. We occasionally get asked by customers which email solution is right for them – Exchange or Office 365?
Traditional email solution has been on-premise exchange but there is a growing trend and demand for Office 365 and organizations are moving to it, fast! In this article, we plan on listing pros and cons for both of these solutions.
Pros Office 365
- Office 365 is managed by Microsoft with up time of 99.9% of your services
- You don’t need on premise engineers to manage and provide IT Support for an email server(s)
- As new security patches come out, Microsoft tests and applies the patches accordingly leaving you with peace of mind so you can concentrate on your business
- Office 365 subscription comes with instant messaging, sharepoint and lync/skype for business, while other providers will charge you extra for additional services
- Office 354 has the ability for end-to-end email encryption and archiving
Cons Office 365
- Highly sensitive data doesn’t reside on company owned equipment but on Microsoft servers (this can be a challenge for companies with a highly secure environment)
- Small business customers do not get phone IT support, rather they have to rely on Microsoft forums to find an answer
- If you run into issues and don’t have any one who understands Office 365, you’d have to pay Microsoft per ticket basis even though you have email subscription service
Pros of Exchange Server
- Email is hosted on company owned equipment hence, the company has full ownership of data
- Allows security administrators to perform in-place security scans of the exchange server
- Full oversight of email boxes, email tracking, IT support and troubleshooting
- Administrators can create their own custom mailbox storage and advance policies
- Can be an on-premise or hybrid solution
Cons of Exchange Server
- Higher cost of up keeping exchange server (server hardware usually have to be upgraded every 5 years)
- Higher cost to maintain and manage exchange server
- Troubleshooting is done all at customer’s end hence, it can get out of hand at times if something breaks due to security patches
- Unlike Office 365, customers don’t get automatic bundled of services
- Backups and restores of mailboxes is all is handled by the customer and their IT support department
Both of the solutions above have their share of Pros and Cons. We can help you choose the solution that fits best for your environment. At AMS Networks we help build IT systems to increase productivity so you can get back to your business. With our Managed IT support services, you can rest assure that you are in good hands. We proactively monitor your systems around the clock to make sure that they are available. AMS Networks can also help you migrate your workload to our state-of-the-art cloud where you’ll get 99.999% of guaranteed uptime!. We are a one-stop shop for all of your IT needs. Talk to us about logo, brochure and website design.
If you are a company located in Virginia, Maryland or in Washington, DC contact us today to learn how we can help provide the top notch IT service. Contact us today by calling 703-662-5800 or by filling out our contact us form to receive a free on-site consultation.
