[Hidden-tech] Email Hosting

[Neal Priestly]

Karen-

The largest drawback to using Google Apps email - if there is a problem,
you have almost no ability to resolve it.

I had two occasions to need support, the kind of things I could have
resolved in under an hour with access to the Exchange tools on an owned
server.  I never actually got to talk to a person - and we were using the
paid gmail, not the free version - and response times tended to lag beyond
the end of the work day, responses tended to be requests for irrelevant
information covered in the request for assistance.  Both times we ended up
having to accept that there were no resolution options after getting the
run-around for a few days.

Highly unacceptable for a paid service.  When it worked it was great, but
you have to gauge your tolerance for email lost with no recourse, and
possibly no awareness until it's too late.

I'd look into hosted service with a smaller, local company instead.  They
are more expensive than Google, but you get some fine folks supporting you
when things go sideways - and people who are on the same clock you are,
rather than getting support from Dublin and Bangalore.

I know both Crocker and IBS have hosted email offerings that they support
though I didn't get too deep into the process before the project was
shelved so I can't speak to real comparisons between the two.

One other thing to look at:  you mention a widespread team - can you do the
various compliance things like a litigation hold with the hosted provider
like you can with your own server?  That's a question to ask 1) your legal
counsel to see what you might need to consider and then 2) your sales
person to see if/how those needs can be met with the service.  I assume
hosted Exchange can be managed as you would manage a local Exchange
instance, but I don't know what other hosted services offer to meet those
needs.  I know of at least one - though I've forgotten which one - that
straight out told me that if I needed that ability I'd be better off
shopping elsewhere.

-Neal Priestly
 Free Range Technologist

On Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 11:56 AM, Karen Ammann <KAmmann at ota.com> wrote:

>   ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
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> Hi Everyone,****
>
> ** **
>
> With staff scattered across the US and Canada and a very snowy winter on
> its way, a big concern for us is having stable email access. We currently
> have an exchange server in-house. We don’t currently have a generator
> hooked up to our servers, but we do have a good back-up system.****
>
> ** **
>
> Questions:****
>
> **-          **We’re thinking of moving our business email over to gmail.
> Pros/cons? ****
>
> **-          **Is that an extreme move? Would more our email be more
> stable with a large hosting company instead of sitting on a server in our
> office?****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> Thanks for your input!****
>
> Karen****
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