Running your own Exchange server or Office 365?

Michael Shavel 21 Reputation points
2021-04-07T14:07:39.07+00:00

Hi,
We have been running our own private Exchange server (Hosted at Rackspace) since Exchange 2003. Recently management has been seriously considering moving the company (500+ users) over to a fully managed solution, like Office 365. Reasons include better spam control and eliminating the headaches of updating and patching servers.

I'm looking for opinions and pros/cons for those who might have done this.

My own personal and partial list of pros/cons

Pros:
No more software updates and patches to worry about.
Better spam control presumably
No weekend/holiday calls (I'm the Admin)

Cons:
Having to deal with phone techs that may or may not be qualified to solve your problems.
Takes longer to solve problems going through hosts ticketing/tier system.
Your a bigger target. Hackers want to crack very large targets. Right now they pretty much leave us alone.
More expensive - at the mercy of price fluctuations.
Once your with them, your probably with them for a long time

Thanks for your opinions.

Mike

Exchange Server Management
Exchange Server Management
Exchange Server: A family of Microsoft client/server messaging and collaboration software.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
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  1. Andy David - MVP 141.2K Reputation points MVP
    2021-04-07T15:56:47.02+00:00

    Pros: More Secure
    Better features
    You and your users will be happier.

    Cons: Periodic outages - but not your problem :)

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  2. Joyce Shen - MSFT 16,641 Reputation points
    2021-04-08T05:29:57.07+00:00

    Hi @Michael Shavel

    You could refer to this thread which discussed the similar question:

    Exchange on-premise vs office 365

    And a link here: On-Premises Exchange vs Office 365 – Which One Should You Choose?

    Please Note: Since the web site is not hosted by Microsoft, the link may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.

    If you have decided to migrate to o365, this deployment assistant will be helpful to you! Exchange Deployment Assistant

    If an Answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.

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