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Microsoft Exchange vs Proofpoint Intelligent Compliance Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Exchange
Ranking in File Archiving
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
92
Ranking in other categories
Email Applications (3rd), Wireless Email (1st)
Proofpoint Intelligent Com...
Ranking in File Archiving
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Email Archiving (5th), eDiscovery (9th), Compliance Management (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the File Archiving category, the mindshare of Microsoft Exchange is 7.9%, down from 11.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Proofpoint Intelligent Compliance Platform is 3.2%, up from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
File Archiving
 

Featured Reviews

Harry Murdani - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps with email services and communication with internal and external contacts
Everything is useful. The only useful thing Microsoft Exchange could do is give us more of a discount on pricing because it's so expensive. Regarding the calendaring functions of Exchange, there is a problem when scheduling an event for the whole day. When you click the whole day event, the scheduling doesn't really work. For example, if I schedule a meeting with you and block your whole day, instead of just putting a time from morning to afternoon, other people can still block your time, which results in double booking. It's kind of a bug that allows people to double-book. So, the scheduling isn't working properly yet. We also faced challenges with backup services. You need to use a third-party backup solution to back up the whole Exchange server properly. You can't use the native Windows backup services. It's like they're forcing me to buy another product, which means additional costs. The backup solution and the double booking issues. If Microsoft Exchange can fix these two things, then it will be very good.
Anita Brüggemann - PeerSpot reviewer
Effectively reduces spam and malicious emails with reliable detection capabilities
It would be helpful to make it easier for end users to filter and see items in the quarantine within the Proofpoint Intelligent Compliance Platform. As an admin, I believe it would be sensible if end users could also see the quarantine folder in the Proofpoint Intelligent Compliance Platform so they can create their own rules. The reports are all predefined, and I cannot create custom reports, so I am not fully satisfied with their visibility. I would appreciate the ability to generate my own reports.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The product can scale."
"The ability to share information, appointments, and agendas easily is the big value of Microsoft Exchange."
"The most valuable features of Microsoft Exchange are it is always online and has broad email and file-sharing capabilities."
"It gives me benefit in terms of integration with other services such as SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, and OneDrive. It makes my work much easier."
"Microsoft Exchange's most valuable feature is that it's old-fashioned communication, meaning it's good for people who aren't able to work comfortably in a cloud environment."
"Microsoft has a very good support team."
"I find the Outlook client very valuable. It allows me to connect to the Exchange Server and send and receive emails easily. The graphical interface is user-friendly and has a good look and feel."
"For me, the solution is very user-friendly. I've used it a long time and I know where everything is."
"Our experience with the platform has been positive as it has maintained consistent control over spam and malware threats."
 

Cons

"The solution could be more user-friendly."
"The main problem with Microsoft products is that we're constantly required to install patches and fixes."
"The price of Microsoft Exchange could improve, it is priced high."
"From a security point of view, Microsoft should enhance the new features. Technical support could also be better."
"It's not always the finest solution in terms of integration with products that are not from Microsoft. It integrates very well with Microsoft products but not with third-party products."
"One thing for improvement would be to have an offline version of Exchange available for use if our connection goes down."
"Sometimes we don't get support quickly enough - for example, if there's some global hacker attack, we don't get served as quickly. The skills of the technical staff can also vary, and Microsoft could perhaps improve their training."
"Microsoft Exchange needs to improve how it handles and assigns policy and security."
"The Proofpoint Intelligent Compliance Platform does not provide features that help reduce manual efforts, so additional human resources are still required to manage security."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft Exchange itself does not require a license, but users who will have mailboxes will require a license. It depends on the number of users to choose which license. If you exceed 2,000 mailboxes, it's preferable to get the enterprise license."
"Exchange is better for medium to large businesses because it can be quite costly for SMB, which may not need all the options the product provides."
"The pricing is expensive."
"The solution is expensive to maintain because it requires frequent updates and ongoing server maintenance."
"The price of Microsoft Exchange could improve. In Egypt, the price keeps increasing."
"The product pricing is reasonable if you utilize its full suite of features."
"Microsoft doesn't have a unit price, it's based on the quantity, and they offer great discounts."
"There is an annual cost to use Microsoft Exchange, and the price could be less expensive."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
21%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

How does Zimbra Collaboration compare with Microsoft Exchange?
Zimbra is a free, open source collaborative software suite. The features I like best are the ease of integration and the email, calendar, and collaboration server with web interface. In addition, I...
What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange?
The initial setup was straightforward and fast.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Exchange?
Microsoft Exchange is costly, and its licensing model can be expensive over time as more users require licenses.
What needs improvement with Proofpoint Intelligent Compliance Platform?
It would be helpful to make it easier for end users to filter and see items in the quarantine within the Proofpoint Intelligent Compliance Platform. As an admin, I believe it would be sensible if e...
What is your primary use case for Proofpoint Intelligent Compliance Platform?
We use the Proofpoint Intelligent Compliance Platform because it has a good ability to detect viruses and malicious emails, and it collects a lot of spam emails. Since we use this platform, the spa...
What advice do you have for others considering Proofpoint Intelligent Compliance Platform?
It is a cloud-based deployment of the Proofpoint Intelligent Compliance Platform. We worked with an internet provider, who is also a security provider, and it took one day to deploy it on the cloud...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Exchange, MS Exchange
Proofpoint e-discovery and Analytics, Proofpoint Enterprise Archive
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Scitec Nutrition, British Airways, InnoGames, Osteology Foundation, Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, NTC Contracting
The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America
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861,390 professionals have used our research since 2012.