E-mail: Can't live without it, can't stand the hassles. Is it any wonder many people rely on Instant Messaging for co-worker communications?

But old habits die hard, and IM doesn't fit the work styles of many. Plus, e-mail was and probably still is the “killer app” for the majority of computer users today. Nothing will kill our collective love for e-mail, although spam and security issues sometimes comes close (Compare Messaging Security products) .

Microsoft product mangers knew exactly what they were doing when they added a basic e-mail client in Windows (Outlook Express for most versions) and included the full Outlook program in Microsoft Office packages. Tying Outlook features to work only with Exchange catapulted both client and server applications to the top of their respective markets. Even Microsoft's Small Business Server includes an Exchange server, tempting too many small companies without sufficient technical and security expertise to jump on that e-mail server bandwagon.

Yet Microsoft Exchange comes at a price, and sometimes a high price. Ferris Research reported on Valentine's Day, survey results of companies using Exchange Server. They found companies with 99 or fewer employees typically pay $250 per user mailbox per year in license fees and maintenance. The report seemed to think that price was high, but I think it's low if you include all the hours spent maintaining and security Exchange servers. Horror stories of server crashes, lost e-mail, security problems, and spam avalanches convince some to look at other options.

For many companies, a hosted service provides excellent support at affordable prices. I talked about Everyone.net last November, and they still seem to be one of the leaders in that area. Not to be outdone, Google offers their e-mail services for free to individuals and very small companies, and bundles enhanced e-mail support in their Google Apps for businesses.

Using a hosted service makes it easier to access all your e-mail from anywhere, handy when traveling. Since even micro companies often have employees scattered across the country or globe, hosted services solve the e-mail server remote access problem easily. Hosted services also tend to include group calendars, one of the handiest features of Outlook / Exchange.