If you're reading this, chances are you're considering moving your organization to hosted exchange to boost employee communication and collaboration. Or perhaps you're already using hosted exchange but are looking for the best hosted exchange provider to migrate more of your business operations.
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There's also a good chance that you have two important questions on your mind:
1. Will hosted exchange actually benefit my business?
2. How much will a hosted exchange service like Microsoft Office 365 really cost?
It's important to look at these two questions together because sacrificing productivity just to save a buck won't help your organization grow. Nor will paying a premium for a host of features your organization may never fully use.
To objectively evaluate the real cost of any business decision, you need to consider more than just the upfront costs. What are the ongoing costs over time? And what are the opportunity costs?
So let's take a closer look.
1. Will hosted exchange actually benefit my business?
I'll start with the main reasons why most businesses are shifting to hosted exchange:
Better control over costs
Exchange hosted services are paid on a per user per month basis, which means you always know what your IT costs will be—no surprises.
Increased storage & security
The best hosting providers store their servers in state-of-the-art datacenters with security that borders on military-grade. Plus their servers can store vast amounts of data. True, your business data is stored off-site, but when you look at the data security of many SMBs…
Less burden on IT staff
IT personnel no longer need to monitor server uptime, or keep software and servers up to date. This doesn't mean you'll be able to get rid of your IT staff, but it does mean they'll be able to focus on more important things.
Flexibility
Hosted exchange automatically gives you a flexible IT structure that allows you to quickly leverage emerging technologies to tackle new business challenges in a cost-effective manner.
Greater mobility
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Employees can access information anywhere, anytime. With our increasingly mobile workforce, cloud-based communication and collaboration has become vital for optimizing real-time productivity.
Better access to expertise
Reputable hosting providers offer highly experienced technical support 365/24/7, which means your organization has the best IT talent at its disposal without having to add it to your payroll.
Sure, that all sounds great, but what will it actually cost me?
Funny, I knew you'd say that.
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How Much Will Office 365 Cost 2020
2. How much will a hosted exchange service like Microsoft Office 365 really cost?
The honest answer is: It depends. That's because there's more than one way to take your team collaboration and communication online. The two main 'access routes' these days are Microsoft Office 365-based solutions and Google apps, each with their own suite of hosted exchange applications and pricing structures.
Although the two are still battling it out for market supremacy, Office 365 has the upper hand among SMBs because unlike Google Apps, its hybrid mix on on-premises software and online services allow organizations to ease their deployment to the cloud, plus the familiarity of its interfaces will appeal to IT teams and users alike. Office 365 also has stronger communications capabilities—the main reason why SMBs are migrating to hosted exchange in the first place.
You may have noticed that I said 'Microsoft Office 365-based solutions' rather than simply Microsoft Office 365. That's because you don't have to get Office 365 directly from Microsoft.
And there are several good reasons not to.
There are currently several experienced hosting providers like Sherweb that offer enhanced Microsoft Office 365 solutions. In Sherweb's case, for example, its Office 365 solution—which it calls SkyOffice —is the only solution on the market that's actually designed to meet the specific needs of SMBs.
SkyOffice also goes beyond Microsoft's offering by including customizable plans, full migration, business-grade online backup and recovery, and personalized 24/7/365 support. In other words, it's Office 365… with service.
And that's important, because these are all features SMBs need to fully leverage the power of hosted exchange, but won't get directly from Microsoft. Or Google apps for that matter.
And yes, I know. You're still wondering about the cost.
Microsoft Office 365 from Sherweb—or SkyOffice—has four basic plans:
Standard: For professionals or small businesses with basic computing needs.
Cost/user/month: $5.95
Professional: For professionals and small businesses with more extensive computing needs.
Cost/user/month: $7.95
Business: For SMBs with 25 or more users with extensive computing needs.
Cost/user/month: $12.95
Enterprise: For SMBs with 25 or more users that need a trusted business partner who can offer maximum flexibility and support, along with exclusive resources to meet their highly-demanding computing needs.
And there are several good reasons not to.
There are currently several experienced hosting providers like Sherweb that offer enhanced Microsoft Office 365 solutions. In Sherweb's case, for example, its Office 365 solution—which it calls SkyOffice —is the only solution on the market that's actually designed to meet the specific needs of SMBs.
SkyOffice also goes beyond Microsoft's offering by including customizable plans, full migration, business-grade online backup and recovery, and personalized 24/7/365 support. In other words, it's Office 365… with service.
And that's important, because these are all features SMBs need to fully leverage the power of hosted exchange, but won't get directly from Microsoft. Or Google apps for that matter.
And yes, I know. You're still wondering about the cost.
Microsoft Office 365 from Sherweb—or SkyOffice—has four basic plans:
Standard: For professionals or small businesses with basic computing needs.
Cost/user/month: $5.95
Professional: For professionals and small businesses with more extensive computing needs.
Cost/user/month: $7.95
Business: For SMBs with 25 or more users with extensive computing needs.
Cost/user/month: $12.95
Enterprise: For SMBs with 25 or more users that need a trusted business partner who can offer maximum flexibility and support, along with exclusive resources to meet their highly-demanding computing needs.
Cost/user/month: $17.95
Of course, this doesn't factor in the opportunity cost, which will be different for every business. I recommend that you go back to the reasons listed in question 1 and start from there, because it's a cost that cannot be ignored. Not when your organization's success is at stake.
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*Update 7 Oct 2014: SkyOffice and SkyNox now go by a new name. Details
