Dedicated Microsoft Exchange on AWS Service Aimed Squarely at the Enterprise Market

By Peter Scott
TMCnet Contributor

Email in the cloud is obvious, but for large enterprises it is not always possible. Especially challenged are enterprises with substantive legacy systems running Microsoft (News - Alert) Exchange or needing to comply with strict regulations such as HIPAA and FINRA. But a new offering by Intermedia makes the move much easier.

Exchange servers in the cloud have been around for a long time; Intermedia (News - Alert) has been offering hosted Exchange since the year 2000, in fact. The company’s new dedicated-host Microsoft Exchange on AWS gives larger businesses a compelling new option, though.

The Dedicated Microsoft Exchange on AWS provides host physical servers with use that is limited to one server per customer and is more customizable than typical hosted Exchange options. Being on Amazon’s cloud, the Dedicated Microsoft Exchange on AWS also has compliance certifications that make it compatible with regulatory needs.

How Dedicated Microsoft Exchange on AWS is an improvement over just putting an Exchange server on Amazon by the business itself is because Intermedia takes over the task of managing the servers. It keeps them running and updated with the latest versions of Exchange and offers a 99.999 percent availability service level agreement.

Importantly, Intermedia also will help with the migration from on-premise Exchange systems to its cloud platform. Normally this sort of migration is left up to the enterprise, so Intermedia’s help is a key differentiator and a significant value-add.

Dedicated Microsoft Exchange on AWS is sold on a per-user basis of between $12 and $16 per user per month, which is different than the typical AWS monthly billing approach of per-use pricing. By charging per user, Intermedia makes billing more predictable for customers. For most, this is a welcome innovation.

Intermedia will also continue offering hosted Exchange on its own servers, of course; it has 70,000 customers of all sizes on its platform, including a major airline in the U.S. that has 11,000 email users. What Dedicated Microsoft Exchange on AWS brings is wider reach beyond the company’s 11 data centers, as well as the added certifications and customization options.

For many large firms, this new offering should go right to the shortlist when considering how to best offer Exchange in the cloud.