How to buy Microsoft Exchange Hosting

For a low and fixed per user monthly fee (usually around $10), your business can reap the benefits of Exchange for comprehensive messaging and collaboration. This means that absolutely all features of Outlook, powered by Microsoft Exchange, will be enabled for all your team members. The cost is low – the productivity benefits are huge! Finally your team members can collaborate, setup meetings, share calendars, and maintain company addresses shared by everyone.

I recommend: ASP-One Exchange Hosting Service is my preferred choice because they have been in business of Exchange Hosting since 1997, are Microsoft Gold Certified and even a Microsoft Partner of the Year in Advanced Infrastructure solutions.  They are my preferred choice because of the shared and dedicated offers – you can choose the best fit for your business, based on the number of users you have. They also offer a free cost comparison report – you’ll know exactly what it costs to outsource with ASP-One in comparison to in-house implementation. It’s a great deal! You can also take a look at thier competition - MailStreet or Mi8 - both are great choices. You can also search “exchange hosting” in Google or even go to www.microsoft.com, take a product shortcut to Microsoft Exchange 2003 and choose one of their recommended hosting providers.

Looking for mobility for your users? Enable it with Exchange.

Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync enables mobile service for Windows Mobile Devices. In most cases it is included free with the hosted service. If some of your members choose Windows Mobile-powered, but some will prefer to use BlackBerry, they can all be activated on the same account. Mix-and-match options enable flexible deployment in a user-friendly environment.

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BlackBerry and GoodLink mobile services are not free – they usually cost between $10-20 per month per device for service and the same for activation. That is the reason why many choose new, Windows Mobile 5.0 devices, such as Motorola Q. Most leading Exchange Server hosting providers will offer Exchange ActiveSync either free (as in ASP-One case), or with a low monthly cost (as with Mailstreet).

How can you be sure of service? Ask for an SLA and check references.

Take 99.9% no less service level agreement. Check background of the company you are choosing. Since it’s a Microsoft developed tool, it’s always a good idea to pick from a provider from a Microsoft partner list – preferably, Microsoft Gold Certified Partners. They work with Microsoft on deployment of new products and upgrades, are stable and provide proven service.

I recommend: Look at the Microsoft Exchange Hosting recommended Partner Page – you can look up the company you are considering on their list.