Hi, I recently discovered Microsoft's Online services / BPOS. Given the features (25Gb/mailbox, HA, ...) and very attractive prices, I can't see no valid reason for still providing my clients with on-site Exchange servers, or even with Exchange mailboxes hosted in our datacenters, except in the case of very specific configurations. Any feedback on that solution ? Christian

Them are fightin words!!!! J To some… There are many many articles and discussions on this topic already. I’d google around and check out what others have already said. For example an article I read this morning: http://siouxfallsbusinessjournal.argusleader.com/article/20100908/BJINSIGHT/100907038 Exchange online is great for low-complexity shops with reliable internet connectivity. If that doesn’t describe your environment, BPOS may not be right for you. There are many sacrifices in integration with other services and products (even other products Microsoft offers as part of BPOS like SharePoint!!) There are also very few configurable options in the BPOS-S platform. On-site installations are hands-down more flexible. Cloud-based services are not new. Hotmail for example has been around for a while. Why doesn’t everyone just use that? (rhetorical question to prove simply being “cloud-based” doesn’t mean better) I believe cloud-based infrastructure products are still very immature and may not be right for everyone.