* Azaleos approach to message management reduces cost and improves reliability
Azaleos OneServer, in conjunction with the company’s OneStop Managed Services, offers a hybrid approach to managing Microsoft Exchange. In short, Azaleos offers an entire Exchange environment in a box that sits on-premise, but management of the system is provided through an outsourced model.
Azaleos has just introduced Version 2 of its product. Among the many changes incorporated into the new release is the consolidation of all functionality (for OneServer) into two servers instead of three servers as in the previous release. Azaleos also offers BladeMail, which includes a chassis that can incorporate up to 14 blade servers, redundant switches and redundant power supplies. Each OneServer pair, as well as each pair of blades, can support up to 2,500 users, allowing a single BladeMail chassis to support up to 17,500 users.
Azaleos incorporates a full suite of services in its OneStop offering, including archiving, e-mail security, reporting, disaster recovery and other functions. Azaleos is also offering a proprietary, in-place upgrade to Exchange 2007 when the system becomes available, offering a lower cost migration alternative to a conventional migration strategy.
OneServer, which includes two physical servers and a switch, sells for $32,000; the BladeCenter chassis, which includes two blades, sells for $48,000. OneStop services sell for between $5 and $12 per user per month.
The Azaleos approach is interesting because it combines the best of both worlds: it allows companies that are worried about the perceived lack of security and lack of control of hosted solutions to realize most of the benefits of hosting their e-mail while retaining full physical control of the infrastructure elements associated with their messaging capabilities. For many companies, this can significantly reduce the cost of messaging management while improving the reliability of e-mail services.
