ANTenna Blog -- Services

Premises based solution or a cloud based approach? In many cases, small and medium businesses get caught in the transition point from the former to the latter. In response, Azaleos developed management services that support on-premise Exchange Servers as well as Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) and Exchange Online.

In business since 2007, the vendor has been straddling the line between hosted management services and premise based systems. Unlike many competitors in the email management space, Azaleos has focused on remotely managing premise based equipment rather than focusing on off site Exchange services.

But with cloud based systems growing in acceptance, the firm announced Azaleos Managed Hybrid Services, which help businesses manage premises based Microsoft Exchange servers as well as Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) and Exchange Online services. The new services are geared to companies with office and remote users; firms that have acquired other companies; corporations going though an Exchange upgrade; or businesses where regulatory authorities require premised based data protection. Pricing for the Managed Hybrid Services starts at $15 per user per month.

It will be interesting to see how much traction the new services gain. Azaleos has done a good job in carving out a niche in the highly competitive Exchange management market. With businesses showing more interest in cloud services, embracing that model makes sense. However, the role of third parties in cloud computing is unclear. Vendors, such as Microsoft, are taking on more of the customer support functions and shutting resellers out. In addition Azaleos may have trouble competing against larger suppliers. So for a small or medium business with short term for need mixed premise and cloud Exchange service management, the solution may be attractive, however, it is unclear how well the service fits small and medium businesses’ long term needs.