Hosting your own Exchange or other type of email server used to be very popular amongst small businesses, often it would be odd to enter a company that didn’t have its own mail server. However with the onset of the cloud that has all changed. A company with just a hand full of users can operate in the same echo system as a fortune 500 company.
I am sure you may be telling yourself, I have been running my Exchange server with no monthly costs, why would I sign up for a reoccurring monthly fee? The truth of the matter is you are paying far more for Exchange or another email system than meets the eye.
The True Cost of Running Your Own Mail Server:
- Replacing the server every so 3-4 years:
First let’s talk about upgrades. Every so many years (ideally 3-4 years to keep up with technology) you have to replace your Exchange server, between the hardware itself, the software and Exchange licensing you are looking at thousands of dollars. The licensing is even more expensive now since Microsoft has abandoned Windows Small Business Server, which used to be an affordable way for small businesses to run Exchange at a discount. - Maintenance:
A server is much like a car, it has to be maintained or it will fail. How much are you paying for maintenance on your server? - Cost of Office:
You probably purchase new copies of office every couple of years, these can run over $250.00 per user. - Outage Cost:
How much productivity is lost when your server goes down or you lose power? Do you lose the big sales deal that could have yielded your company thousands or do you lose good will with your biggest client because you didn’t reply to their time sensitive email? Obviously these costs can be put into dollars but every organization is different. - Electricity:
Have you ever looked at how much you are paying to power and cool your server every month? While this will be relatively small in comparison to the other examples, it should still be considered.
Once you decide what the true cost is to your organization, you need to take into account the amazing benefits Office 365 has to offer. Check out the bullet pointed benefits below and decide if Office 365 is right for your business!
Benefits of Running Office 365:
- No Upgrades Necessary: You will never have to replace your mail server again and you will always be running on the latest and greatest mail server.
- Constantly updating against viruses, Ransomware and network threats
- Web Filtering
- Malware Protection
- Intrusion Detection and Prevention
- Application Control/Blocking
- Logging
- Secure Remote Access
- Quality of Service
- HIPAA Compliant
Here at Fuse we feel that a smart, managed firewall in combination with anti-virus and a premium anti-spam solution will extremely diminish your business’s exposure to today’s ever evolving cyber threats, such as ransomware! Contact your Fuse representative for a quote today.