Top 3 Ways to Get More Out of Exchange with Windows Essential Business Server 2008

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[Today’s post comes to us courtesy of David Fabritius]

 

Midsize businesses interested in upgrading to Exchange Server 2007 should consider Windows Essential Business Server (EBS) 2008. EBS 2008 is an integrated software suite that is designed and priced for midsize businesses and includes Exchange Server 2007 as one of its core components. When you deploy Windows Essential Business Server 2008, in addition to getting all the value of Exchange Server 2007, you will also see added benefits from the other integrated components such as Microsoft System Center Essentials and Microsoft Forefront Security, as well as value-add features specific to EBS 2008, including a unified Administration Console and the Remote Web Workplace. And for those companies looking to support their line-of-business applications, EBS 2008 Premium includes SQL Server 2008. To learn more, [register to] watch the webcast presentation here.

1. Exchange Server 2007 is easier to deploy as part of the EBS 2008 solution.

Because the installation of Exchange Server is integrated into the overall setup experience of EBS 2008, it is easier to deploy and configure. Messaging infrastructure design considerations and best practices configuration settings appropriate for the needs of midsize business environments have been fully implemented as part of the guided setup process. This reduces the time and effort needed to get up and running with Exchange Server 2007, and well as providing a high degree of manageability, reliability, security, and confidence in having a solid IT infrastructure. Important productivity features of Exchange such as Outlook Anywhere and Outlook Web Access are fully configured and ready to use without any additional configuration steps.

2. EBS 2008 saves you money by lowering the total cost of ownership of managing and operating Exchange Server 2007.

EBS 2008 provides a unified Administration Console which enables midsize businesses to proactively manage their entire IT environment, including the Exchange Server. By leveraging the monitoring and alerting capabilities of System Center Essentials, the IT staff can proactively manage the environment instead of constantly reacting to issues that may impact business productivity. Sumeeth Evans, Director of IT for Collegiate Housing Services, has experienced tremendous improvements: “Our administrative workload is one-tenth what it was before.… This is the largest step forward, in terms of our ability to focus on real business needs that we have ever seen."

3. EBS 2008 reduces the complexity of securing your Exchange Server 2007 environment.

EBS 2008 starts midsize business off on the right foot by including over 300 pages of best practices and 15 security settings into the setup process, providing a solution that is secure by design. EBS 2008 also includes Forefront Security for Exchange Server which integrates multiple scan engines from industry-leading security firms into a comprehensive, layered solution, helping businesses protect their Microsoft Exchange Server messaging environments from viruses, worms, spam, and inappropriate content. In addition, EBS 2008 includes Forefront Threat Management Gateway (TMG) Medium Business Edition as part of the infrastructure solution which provides enterprise-class firewall capabilities and Unified Threat Management (UTM) protection by tightly integrating with the components and applications of the whole IT infrastructure.

 

For more information on upgrading Exchange as part of the EBS solution, or for more information on Windows Essential Business Server please visit https://www.microsoft.com/ebs/en/us/whyupgrade.aspx.