In these austere times, it’s difficult for businesses to countenance expending large amounts of money on new IT systems or upgrades. Technology departments are often targeted for cuts as they have one of the largest budgets in an organization. When it comes to Exchange archiving solutions, there is a compromise available to save money, without compromising functionality, and we will discuss it here.
The traditional method of hosting email servers in-house has pervaded business for many years. It retains control, security and for a while, was the only way to do things. The advent of service providers who offered hosted versions of these systems offered a different way of doing things.
For a while, the uptake was limited to new and smaller business. These were most likely to appreciate that an in-house system was too expensive, and a little overkill for their needs. Also, traditionally, new businesses are much more open to new ways of doing things, which helped the hosted model take off.
The main problem the hosted model faces is trust. With a traditional Exchange archiving solution, everything was controlled internally. If there was a data leak or disaster, the business only had themselves to blame. With a hosting provider, the organization is trusting them to take as much care of their data as they would themselves.
That isn’t such a big deal now the software as a service sector has become more formalized. It’s in the service providers interest to maintain data security. It’s also part of the law governing Exchange archiving solutions. Just because the provider doesn’t generate the emails, doesn’t mean they are exempt from the legislative requirements governing them.
The ability to have a fully-supported system that is secure, up-to-date and maintained round the clock is a tempting prospect for organizations who don’t want the expense of setting one up for themselves. The hosted model is ideal for those in that situation. The main consideration is the choice of service provider, which is now easier than ever now there are some established names in the market.
The SaaS industry has been around long enough to have generated reputations for those who are good, and those who aren’t. A little research can provide a list of suitable candidates from which to begin negotiations. There are some large, well-known names in the market who offer SaaS as part of an overall product strategy.
There are also those who specialize in SaaS, or even in email archiving alone. Demand is such that these businesses often succeed where others don’t. The choice of who to do business with is down to the organization, but fortunately, there are now plenty to choose from.
Exchange Hosting & Exchange archiving solutions are ideal for organizations who either don’t want to set up their own messaging infrastructure, or those who aren’t yet large enough to warrant one. It’s the ideal middle ground between control and security. SaaS is definitely something to consider when considering a new business, or new way of working.
