The key benefits of an exchange server are:
* File sharing
-access to email from any configured computer
-access to address book or contacts from any computer in the office
* Shared calendar
-simply put, it means they can use any computer set up to work on their files, emails, and calendar. The organization will often set up a laptop and enable remote access so the worker can also work while traveling or from home and still have full access.
The difficulty with this type of product relative to a small to medium business is that you will need a resource to run it and it is very expensive, both in terms of purchase cost and license and personnel fees.
So if you’re starting a business and want your employees to have a high level of flexibility, ie to work from home or on the go, or perhaps to “hotdesk” at the office, you’ll need an exchange server alternative.
There are two other possibilities that could provide the lion’s share of Microsoft Exchange’s gains without the price tag.
1. Hosted Exchange Server
2. Easy-Email + file synchronization software
Using a Hosted Exchange server is an effective solution. You have most of the benefits, but another expert company takes all the management and resource problems. You only pay a fee according to the number of users. This allows for rapid expansion so that as your organization develops, you can easily add users.
Easy-Email is a great option for small businesses.
It’s an email synchronization system in the form of a step-by-step guide that you, or an IT professional you hire, can follow. It will sync a user’s email and address book across their desktop, laptop, personal computer, pda, or netbook. Also, it will allow them to access their email from any other computer through Gmail.
It’s a very good value compared to any other workaround. Outlook Advanced Guide is only $67 USD and you can set up all your employees for this rate!
The main weakness of this system compared to sharing is that there is currently no shared calendar, so you’ll need to use a Google calendar or equivalent.
And in terms of file and folder sharing, it’s really simple. Set up Dropbox. Dropbox gives you a system of shared folders that are automatically synced over the Internet, but are also stored on the user’s computer so they don’t have to have Internet access to access files. You can decide which staff or consultants have access to which folders and the first 2 GB of storage space is free