System Administrator at KREBS+KIEFER
Real User
Top 5
The tool has diverse functions and excellent support
Pros and Cons
  • "Microsoft has many consultants who can provide support."
  • "It is tricky to integrate Microsoft Exchange Online if you are in an infrastructure provided by other vendors."

What is our primary use case?

I work for civil ministries, and we exclusively use Microsoft products because we get them for a low price.

I handle security with Fortinet, and I run virtualization with Citrix. Those are my main tasks.

What is most valuable?

Microsoft has many consultants who can provide support.

What needs improvement?

Some of the Microsoft implementations of protocols are far from standard. They make their own standards, and you're out if you can't convert to them. With other Unix-based solutions, we had more flexibility to react to special problems we needed to solve. We can only solve the problem now if the problem is solvable with Microsoft.

Similarly, it is tricky to integrate Microsoft Exchange Online if you are in an infrastructure provided by other vendors. We have had an alternative solution to Exchange since 2016, and if we had problems, it was never a problem with Microsoft. It was a problem with the alternative product. The problem is that Microsoft has a standard, and you need to stick to it.

Even if the reason for the problems is Microsoft, the SMTP stack in Exchange is far from the RC of SMTP. If the alternative solution makes extensions to DNS for their active directory and if you use an RC DNS server, you would have problems with some of the records that Microsoft produces. They are not replicated. If you begin with Microsoft, you make everything Microsoft. It is difficult to mix Microsoft with other vendors or with other products. And you get less support if you want to choose a solution other than Microsoft.

Moreover, Exchange Online should work on integration with other services like Teams because when they work together, you gain benefits that other companies might not be able to give you.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Exchange Online since 2012, and we will use it in the future.

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Exchange Online
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Exchange Online. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
768,578 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We formerly worked with Unix-based mail servers. The positive side is that you're flexible. You could use different hardware. You get limited with Microsoft.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Microsoft solutions are expensive.

What other advice do I have?

I prefer to use solutions like LibreOffice since they are free and cheaper, but our partners might have problems reading our data, and we would face difficulties cooperating.

The main problem with Microsoft products is that we get very dependent on them. Until 2016, I had to make decisions for the budget for the Southwest of Germany, and when you work with Microsoft, your budget is fixed to them, and you lose your ability to work with other solutions. That was a bad situation for us.

If you don't plan to use other solutions in the future, it's a good product. Otherwise, you have to be prepared that some problems may arise. Once you get married to Microsoft, it's a fierce divorce if you want to leave. I rate the solution an eight to nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
IT specialist at Groww
Real User
Top 10Leaderboard
Good documentation, excellent support, and an easy initial setup
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution generally works well. We can send and receive emails just fine."
  • "The pricing could be a bit lower."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily have it for our customers. We primarily use the solution with mobile access, and it's just for having the ability to send and receive emails. It also works with calendars and contacts. 

What is most valuable?

The solution generally works well. We can send and receive emails just fine. 

It is useful and easy to use. 

The initial setup is straightforward. 

It's scalable.

The solution is stable.

Technical support is great.

The solution offers great documentation. 

What needs improvement?

We'd like to have the ability to recall emails. 

I've just used it for six months and am still working to understand the general landscape.

The pricing could be a bit lower. 

Certain items have been removed from Mircosoft Booking. They should re-add the capabilities it had before. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for six months at this point. It's been less than a year. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of this solution is pretty good. We do find, however, that Microsoft Teams is unstable. Exchange, so far, has been great. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This solution is definitely scalable. We haven't had any issues at all. I love that I can start with what I actually need and scale up or down as needed from there. 

Right now, we have about 50 people on the solution. 

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is great. We're happy with its capabilities. There is also useful documentation that can help users understand the solution. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We are not using any other solutions. 

How was the initial setup?

The setup is pretty straightforward. It's not overly complex. It just took about an hour to set up everything. We simply had to go through some documentation. After we did that, it was very easy.

We have two administrators that can handle the management. They are global Microsoft admins. We also have an Exchange admin specifically. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is fine. I've had similar conversations with my customers, and we've found the cost is fair. However, if it could be lower, that would be a plus. 

The cost is around $12 to $16 per user.

What other advice do I have?

I'm an end user. We also currently support Microsoft products. 

Everything is available in the documentation, and there is great support. It's worth the price, and other users would enjoy having it.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Exchange Online
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Exchange Online. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
768,578 professionals have used our research since 2012.
TOFIK AHMED - PeerSpot reviewer
Ict User Support Technician at Jju
Real User
Top 10
Good cloud environment, is stable, and scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the cloud environment."
  • "The deployment is complex and has room for improvement."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case of Microsoft Exchange Online is for emailing.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the cloud environment.

What needs improvement?

The deployment is complex and has room for improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is good.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward.

The deployment takes some time because it is complex.

We required 14 people for the deployment.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We have a three-year license for $25,000.

What other advice do I have?

I give the solution a nine out of ten.

We have 700 people using the solution.

I recommend Microsoft Exchange Online to other users.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
SahilSharma1 - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at PayU Payments Private Limited
Real User
Top 10
Easy to use, and straightforward deployment, but is not stable
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is scalable."
  • "The stability of the solution has room for improvement."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case of the solution is for email and SharePoint.

How has it helped my organization?

We are beginning to explore Office 365 Online Exchange and Azure, which are part of Microsoft 365. We intend to create our Active Directory and Domain Controller on Azure and integrate OnTime Active Directory with Azure Active Directory.

What is most valuable?

I haven't encountered any downtime with Exchange Online so far. Last week, the entire Azure portal experienced an outage, which caused some disruption, but thankfully, we haven't had any issues with 365 yet.

What needs improvement?

The stability of the solution has room for improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for over four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I give the stability a seven out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable.

We have thousands of people using Microsoft Exchange Online.

How are customer service and support?

We have a limited amount of time to contact tech support, but we usually communicate with the vendor. If I have an issue, our Microsoft partner can help us with problem-solving.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used Google G Suite before switching to Microsoft Exchange Online.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

The implementation was completed in-house with the help of our Microsoft partner.

What was our ROI?

We have seen a return on investment since we are taking advantage of the license and Microsoft Exchange Online's useful features.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The cost of our annual license for the solution is moderate. I would give the cost a five out of ten.

What other advice do I have?

I give the solution a seven out of ten. Microsoft Azure has experienced outages at times, but it can be comparable to Amazon Web Services (AWS).

I strongly suggest using Microsoft Office Exchange due to its ease of use and maintenance, as well as its increased reliability and added security features.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Emil Heinemann - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Cerberus IT Solutions
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Quick setup, useful online archiving, and highly scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of Microsoft Exchange Online is if you have people that are geographically distributed from each other is good. For example, if you have people in the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, having an online solution works best because then you can reach the scale of the data centers that are available by Microsoft. Additionally, if you're only going to have two to three people using the solution the cost is a lot less than having an onsite server and licensing. It is highly beneficial in these areas."
  • "The support from the vendor is fine. However, it could be faster, and some of the agents could be more knowledgeable, but it is a large solution, there's a lot of information that the agents have to work with. I can't always expect when I get connected to the first-level agent that they will know absolutely everything. Sometimes there's no replacement for pure experience."

What is our primary use case?

Microsoft Exchange Online is used for emails and it does a fantastic job. 

The only reason why you would choose an online solution is the company that you're working at is they do not want to have an onsite server. The companies that want something on-site would choose the on-premise version.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of Microsoft Exchange Online is if you have people that are geographically distributed from each other is good. For example, if you have people in the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, having an online solution works best because then you can reach the scale of the data centers that are available by Microsoft. Additionally, if you're only going to have two to three people using the solution the cost is a lot less than having an onsite server and licensing. It is highly beneficial in these areas.

The online archiving option works well. If you have a lot of emails and you want to keep them indefinitely, then you can use the online archive. It's available permanently and you can store quite a bit of email inside it.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Exchange Online for approximately four and a half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of the solution is good. I've only had an issue with it once or twice, but that was due to undersea cable damage.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Microsoft Exchange Online is highly scalable.

We have a lot of users using this solution.

How are customer service and support?

The support from the vendor is fine. However, it could be faster, and some of the agents could be more knowledgeable, but it is a large solution, there's a lot of information that the agents have to work with. I can't always expect when I get connected to the first-level agent that they will know absolutely everything. Sometimes there's no replacement for pure experience.

I rate the support from Microsoft Exchange Online a three out of five.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of the cloud version is similar to the on-premise version. You can have a straightforward or semi-complex deployment. Cloud deployments do not become as complex as the on-premise version, but they can, depending on how it is used. 

The deployment of the solution only takes five minutes. It is very useful when deploying from scratch. As soon as you have the domain up and running it is complete and ready to go.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The license for the solution is cheap, but it could be more affordable in the long term.

What other advice do I have?

We have one level two or level three engineer that does the deployment and maintenance of the solution. The online version does not require a lot of people to run it.

I recommend this solution to others and they will not regret it. They should not use other solutions.

I rate Microsoft Exchange Online a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Key Account Manager at Bechtle
Real User
Top 20
Provides a secure login and is intuitive but needs to be more user friendly
Pros and Cons
  • "Intuitive and easy to use."
  • "Using this solution is initially quite complicated."

What is our primary use case?

This product provides us with a secure login and enables us to gather information from our users. We are resellers and I'm a key account manager. 

What is most valuable?

The design is intuitive and better than the solution we had previously used. Once it was configured it was very easy to use. 

What needs improvement?

This is a single solution and if it's the first time you've used Exchange, it's extremely difficult to get users onboard because it's much more complicated than you'd have with 365, for example. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We've only just started using it, it's been a week. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable, we have around 100 users. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was complex and took us around two weeks. We deployed in-house; it's in the cloud so there's no maintenance required. 

What other advice do I have?

The problem is that it's a little complicated when you first start using it. It's important to read up about it and figure out whether it's the right solution for you. 

I rate the solution seven out of 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user
Technical Consultant at LinkDev
Real User
Top 5
Helps provide storage size needed for backup
Pros and Cons
  • "Microsoft Exchange Online is a stable product."
  • "I feel that there is a need for improvement in the product, considering that there are some concerns with the tool's integration capabilities."

What is our primary use case?

I don't use all the features of Microsoft Exchange Online. The product helped me solve my issue related to the storage size needed for backup every time.

How has it helped my organization?

Microsoft Exchange Online Microsoft is a useful tool for Microsoft Teams and scrum planning.

What needs improvement?

I feel that there is a need for improvement in the product, considering that there are some concerns with the tool's integration capabilities.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Exchange Online for three years. My company has a partnership with Microsoft.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Microsoft Exchange Online is a stable product. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Around 600 people in my company use the product.

My company has not planned to increase the use of the solution.

How was the initial setup?

The product's initial setup phase was straightforward.

The solution can be deployed in a week.

My company requires people with some IT knowledge to handle the product's deployment and maintenance processes.

What about the implementation team?

My company's in-house team deals with the product's installation process.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

My company needs to make monthly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the product. I feel that the price of the product is affordable.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

My company chose Microsoft Exchange Online over other products since we have a partnership with Microsoft. For our company's business uses, Microsoft helps save costs and offers good support.

What other advice do I have?

The feature of Microsoft Exchange Online I found to be the most beneficial for team collaboration stems from the integration capabilities. Microsoft Exchange Online can integrate with products like Microsoft Teams or Windows Live.

I have seen that Microsoft Exchange Online's dashboard ensures the aggregation of all the integrated items in a single interface. I think my company has to order Microsoft Teams and apply for it separately to be used on a product like Microsoft Exchange Online.

The security and compliance features of Microsoft Exchange Online have impacted our company's business operations as it is a good tool for business needs, and I haven't seen any major issues with it in any of the items provided. I have also not had any negative reviews or complaints about the product from our company's teams.

I use the solution's calendar functions for my scheduling needs. but I don't know how it offers any support.

The tool's integration capabilities were used for the benefit of the management of the areas attached to the solution from a single place.

I rate the overall tool a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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PeerSpot user
Support Engineer at Crest
Real User
Top 20
Easy to set up with good pricing and good access
Pros and Cons
  • "Technical support is helpful."
  • "We'd like to have the ability to recall emails on the web. I'm not sure if that is available yet."

What is our primary use case?

The solution is basically for access and it provides the ability to just receive and send emails. It also works with calendars and contacts and all of that.

What is most valuable?

The solution works very well. It's one of the best options available. The access it provides is good. 

It has an easy initial setup. 

Technical support is helpful.

It is scalable.

The solution is quite stable. 

It has okay pricing. 

What needs improvement?

We'd like to have the ability to recall emails on the web. I'm not sure if that is available yet.

I haven't used the solution for too long and need more time to see if other improvements are needed.

The cost could be a bit lower.

We've had clients complain about some aspects of Microsoft Bookings. It would be great to have an opinion platform back on Bookings. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been working with the solution for six months. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. The only thing that is not so stable is Microsoft Teams. However, Exchange has good reliability. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I love the scalability. I like that I can start wherever I am and scale up or down. I love the flexibility it gives us.

We have about 50 people on the solution presently. 

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is great. I've raised some requests, and they were helpful and responsive. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We did not previously use a different solution. 

How was the initial setup?

I took part in the implementation process. The initial setup is pretty straightforward and simple. 

The deployment didn't take more than an hour. 

We have two administrators that are global admins. We have one admin that is specifically for Exchange. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is fine. I've discussed this with customers, and they have found the price point to be fair. When you compare it to others, like Google, it is competitive. If it could be lower, of course, it would be ideal.

The solution costs $12 to $16 per user per month. 

What other advice do I have?

I currently support Microsoft products. I don't sell Microsoft. They also have my test environment, where I test a few things.

Everything is available in the documentation. It's a great solution. Everything you need is there.

Overall, I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. There's always room to improve still. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Exchange Online Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2024
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Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Exchange Online Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.