This post is as much for me as anyone else – the array of products from Microsoft is mind boggling.
Once upon a time, Microsoft launched Exchange Hosted Services. Based on the name alone, it sounded like Microsoft were now hosting Exchange mailboxes, like some of their hosting customers had already been doing. But no, it was in fact a service that provided:
- Online filtering of spam and malware
- Archiving
- Limited mailbox DR
- Web portal
- Mail encryption
Then along came BPOS (the product naming team strikes again) and that included mailbox hosting. At least that’s been renamed to Office 365 –> but I’m encountering a lot of people who thing that’s just an alternative to the Office you install on your PC!
You can subscribe to a bunch of online services for Exchange
- Forefront Online Protection for Exchange: This is the online anti-malware (8 engines) and anti spam solution, clearing up the crud before it gets to your Internet link to reach your mail servers.
- Exchange Online Archiving: what is says on the tin.
- Exchange Hosted Encryption: automatically encrypting emails for you based on policies that you configure.
Exchange Hosted Services is still sold as a bundle including those 3 products.