In the “olden” days people would either host their email or run antiquated protocols, such as Pop3, and there was a great feeling in doing so. That mail server was safe and sound in that small closet, next to the filing cabinet, just waiting to overheat. Even better, it didn’t really matter when you lost power because you only accessed your email during work hours anyways. Pop3 was totally acceptable as well because A. you got it for free from your web hosting provider and B. you only downloaded your mail on your work computer. It’s the bees-knees, right?
Alas, like just about everything in technology, times have changed. Nowadays, from morning until night, we are checking our smart phones then turning to our tablet or computers for the exact same information. Having that information available, stable and secure, 24/7, is not just what we want but we have now come to expect! It’s not the same with hosting your own mail though. There are simply too many hurdles, both technical and financial, for a small business overcome to meet that 24/7 at 99.999 uptime.
Often times the rebuttal we hear when trying to advise a small business to convert to 365 is that they already have a server that they don’t have to pay monthly for, “so why would I pay monthly for something I already have?” It’s at that moment in time when the business owner (almost) feels like their server will last forever. They conveniently forget the 3 servers they bought before and the huge expense associated with installing and maintaining it. We liken this thought process to the early 2000’s “minutes delusion” with cell phones.
The other fallacy people often believe is that they have everything they will ever need in their technology environment. They are under the firm belief that whatever their server is doing today, email or otherwise, that it is all it will ever need to do. We all know is not the case. We never thought we would need email on our phones or Facebook on our tablet. Things we take for granted now, even simple things like sending a calendar request, didn’t occur to most people years ago as something they would need. Oddly enough though, even while we experience such rapid changes in our technology world, there are still those out there that are somehow convinced they can predict their future needs and that their current email / collaboration environment is totally suitable for that.
Let’s lay it all it out there: Your email environment wasn’t free. You paid a large sum all at once. Now there are/were ongoing maintenance fees. The truth is, you can’t afford to keep up with Microsoft. They will keep developing, enhancing and adding features. When the next big thing comes out they will probably add it to 365, at no extra charge, as they typically have done. This means, when your organization wants to run that “new tech that hasn’t been thought of” and your mail space needs to be increased, 365 will have you covered. Usually, after that point, going to 365 becomes a no brainer.
This blog article has already become too wordy now so below are the highlights of 365:
- Includes the latest and greatest version of Microsoft Office.
- Crazy uptime with all of your data stored in Microsoft Data centers.
- Predictable and scalable monthly cost.
- Constantly evolving and updating at no extra fee.
We know this a very high-level view that focuses on perspectives, so it’s a bit unorthodox, but as a Managed Service Provider we find it valuable to discuss items from views that are not normally focused on in technical blog articles.
