Small business - Should I host my e-mail or get MS exchange?

[Finality]

Hi guys,

I'm running a small business here we have about 8 employees who need e-mail address right now, hosting through google apps isn't an option right now because of some issues with the domain registry.

So I'm looking at e-mail options ideally I would like an exchange type setup, the company is growing fast and I would like to keep things flexible, as of now now BBerys in the office and I'm not worried about that for at least another year or so.

I have seen decent hosted e-mail plans from $1/month per account to $13 for an exchange server based one. I'm debating simply buying an exchange server license and hosting the e-mail ourselves. The problem is we don't have a dedicated IT staff and just one server though the load requirements are not that high, its just a small amount of data that keeps getting shuffled back and forth.

What do you guys think my best options are and do you have any recommendations for e-mail hosting companies?

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Finality
Hi guys,

I'm running a small business here we have about 8 employees who need e-mail address right now, hosting through google apps isn't an option right now because of some issues with the domain registry.

So I'm looking at e-mail options ideally I would like an exchange type setup, the company is growing fast and I would like to keep things flexible, as of now now BBerys in the office and I'm not worried about that for at least another year or so.

I have seen decent hosted e-mail plans from $1/month per account to $13 for an exchange server based one. I'm debating simply buying an exchange server license and hosting the e-mail ourselves. The problem is we don't have a dedicated IT staff and just one server though the load requirements are not that high, its just a small amount of data that keeps getting shuffled back and forth.

What do you guys think my best options are and do you have any recommendations for e-mail hosting companies?

For $13/mo/ea, it's a no-brainer - outsource it. Your employees have more important things to do, and there's no way you can get anyone to run an 8 person e-mail server for that cheap.

 

[redbeard1]

Some very loose pricing:

Server with SAS drives $2500
Server 2003 OS $650
10 server cals $500
Server Anti Virus 10 Cals $500
Exchange 2007 $750
10 Exchange cals $700
Tape Drive $1000
Backup Software $600
Exchange Backup Agent $750
Exchange Anti Virus $ 700 (Different than server anti virus)
Labor to get it installed? $
Headaches to keep it running? $
Yearly renewals for both Anti Virus programs
Real Firewall instead of a cheap router $1000 (for forwarding ports into the Exchange server)

Versus how much for monthly hosting?

 

[RebateMonger]

If you do decide to run your own Exchange Server, the obvious choice is Windows Small Business Server. It's cheaper than buying a standalone Exchange Server license, and you get tons of useful business features besides Exchange. Running an Exchange Server isn't particularly difficult, but there are some occasional tasks that require some expertise.

Exchange, though, isn't designed to work directly with Blackberries. Synchronization of data beyond simple email will require either an ActiveSync hookup (synching to your desktop PC), or a Blackberry Enterprise Server. The BES can be run on an SBS Server or contained inside a Virtual Server. If you use Windows Mobile phones instead, you'll likely never have to connect the phone to a PC.

The two Exchange hosting companys that I've used are OwnWebNow.com and InterMedia.net. One-and-One has inexpensive ($6 a month) Exchange accounts, but I don't know that I'd recommend them.

 

[redbeard1]

If they have a server already, then if they get a SBS server, they need to migrate all of those existing users and computers to the new internal domain that the SBS Server forces you to create. Going with the standard server product allows them to join the existing server domain, saving the migration labor.

Plus if the day comes that a SBS server needs to be replaced, it cannot be simply replaced with another, since two SBS servers cannot exist in the same internal domain. So more labor is needed to either migrate the network again, or then buy a seperate server and Exchange which can join a SBS server domain.

So yes you can save some initial software costs going to SBS 2003. SBS generally comes with 5 cals, so they will need more of them. The hardware, labor, ongoing maintenance, backup and anti virus still need to be addressed.

 

[TemjinGold]

With only 8 employees, have you considered the "big ol' whiteboard in the middle of the office" option?

 

[Finality]

Originally posted by: redbeard1
If they have a server already, then if they get a SBS server, they need to migrate all of those existing users and computers to the new internal domain that the SBS Server forces you to create. Going with the standard server product allows them to join the existing server domain, saving the migration labor.

Plus if the day comes that a SBS server needs to be replaced, it cannot be simply replaced with another, since two SBS servers cannot exist in the same internal domain. So more labor is needed to either migrate the network again, or then buy a seperate server and Exchange which can join a SBS server domain.

So yes you can save some initial software costs going to SBS 2003. SBS generally comes with 5 cals, so they will need more of them. The hardware, labor, ongoing maintenance, backup and anti virus still need to be addressed.

Thanks redbeard1 that pretty much made up my mind. I'm going to go with a hosted service. I'd rather migrate at a later date than go through all that hassle at that point in time. We already have a server running server 2003 standard edition. Its very basically setup right now, its basically where we host our software & documents. Were planning on upgrading to a more powerful IT setup in Nov/Dec next year when our new offices are built + we have a new software package which I plan on implementing then to automate the office processes with. I'd basically hire an IT guy or outsource work to a 3rd party company.

TemjinGold: we have a whiteboard, haven't used it in two years, but prefer to scream across the office to one another its more fun

Main goal is for client communication we use a lot of telephones and faxes and faxes tend to get lost, this way there is a nice electronic trail. Interoffice communication is secondary, there are only a couple of people I need to task jobs with.

 

[bwatson283]

www.altn.com

 

[Finality]

Originally posted by: bwatson283
www.altn.com

Nice idea but a lot more than I wanted to spend.


Guys anyone have any suggestions for an e-mail host? I don't need Exchange anymore, I'll worry about that at a later date. I just need something with a permanent IP address and a decent amount of storage per mailbox or as a whole. Also preferably I'd like to be able to check my employees e-mails (its not their personal e-mails this is just for following up on things with clients).

 

[Finality]

Oh yes something easy to setup also

 

[Atheus]

Originally posted by: redbeard1
Some very loose pricing:

Server with SAS drives $2500
Server 2003 OS $650
10 server cals $500
Server Anti Virus 10 Cals $500
Exchange 2007 $750
10 Exchange cals $700
Tape Drive $1000
Backup Software $600
Exchange Backup Agent $750
Exchange Anti Virus $ 700 (Different than server anti virus)
Labor to get it installed? $
Headaches to keep it running? $
Yearly renewals for both Anti Virus programs
Real Firewall instead of a cheap router $1000 (for forwarding ports into the Exchange server)

Versus how much for monthly hosting?

On the other hand an old BSD box running sendmail and IMAP costs approximately one beer... why would you get that overpowered monster for 8 users?

 

[dclive]

And the Unix geek required to administer it, at $85/hour, how long until that eats into the funds?

Outsource. The outsourcer is set up with answers to all of the common setup issues, and can give you a managed environment for cheap. $13/user/month isn't half bad.

 

[bwatson283]

the the feature from google.

 

[Corbett]

appriver.com

 

[mruffin75]

second appriver

 

[mruffin75]

second appriver