Exchange killed off competitors like Notes and is amply defending against Gmail
Microsoft, Exchange Server is a critical product for its maker in Redmond. Fortunately for Microsoft, it is equally critical for the users that buy it. With Exchange 2010 in its final beta release, as of yesterday, the product is poised to become the bridge between traditional on premises software and cloud computing.
Exchange is now a nearly $2 billion business for Microsoft, the company says, and the users and systems integrators I talk to are equally excited about Exchange 2010 and its hybrid approach to the cloud. The hybrid approach allows users to keep some functions under their direct control in their data centers or on clients while offloading others — such as less-critical e-mail boxes — as a lower-cost service in the cloud.
In a nice analysis story about the role Exchange has taken on today, IDG News correspondent Elizabeth Montalbano writes:
“Exchange Server was the first of Microsoft’s business software to be released in a hosted Web-based version several years ago, and the company has since followed suit with its SharePoint collaboration, Live Communications unified-communications and Live Meeting Web conferencing applications. In Exchange 2010, Microsoft is highlighting features that integrate its on-premise and hosted versions of the product more closely together, which the company hopes will encourage companies to begin adding hosted services to their on-premise software.”
If you haven’t had a chance to put a copy of Exchange Server 2010 in your lab, you may want to peek at some of its best features, named so by Network World’s testers: Slideshow: Sneak peeks at Exchange 2010 interface. Or check out the results of Network World’s test on the beta done by Joel Snyder. I know Joel and he’s not easily impressed, particularly by software from a giant, arrogant vendor such as Microsoft. But he was downright tickled with what he saw in Exchange 2010.
What do you think, will 2010 be worth the pain of upgrading?
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