Many companies use Microsoft Exchange to organize and control the business lives of their employees. It handles the sending and receipt of email messages while its calendar and task manager are used to create and monitor important events and tasks.
Exchange 2010 was released in late 2009 and has many new features that make upgrading worthwhile.
- Exchange 2010 is a native 64-bit application and so overcomes previous limitations on memory and cache size. This results in improved performance and increased storage utilization and so handles likely future growth.
- Unified messaging means that emails, voicemails and faxes can all be received through a single inbox. This simplified approach means that all messages can be managed in one place, whatever their type. Searching is possible across all types, which can be forwarded and have notes attached.
- All messages, calendar and contact details can be accessed from anywhere using any suitable device. These include a desktop or laptop computer, any other mobile device with a browser or even a basic telephone when Internet connectivity is unavailable. Employees can keep up-to-date wherever they are through a secure and centrally managed interface.
- Data replication makes email messages available to employees in locations around the world without the need for expensive shared storage. This results in lower storage costs, database and storage redundancy and fewer full backups of data.
- Increased security is provided through integrated anti-virus, anti-spam and anti-phishing technologies. Multiple anti-virus engines protect from viruses and worms and message filtering is employed. All filters are updated at regular intervals.
- A common interface, wherever and however Outlook is accessed, is assured through Outlook Web Access. This offers enhanced security and has many new features, such as a scheduling assistant, faster searching, unified messaging and easier document access with HTML viewing of attachments.
- Mobile messaging is available on a range of devices, with scalability and native integration to ensure everything displays as it should. Desktop-like features, such as fast searching, rich HTML, calendaring and quick flags are available together with enhanced security.
- Easier deployment reduces the errors that can arise during manual configuration and also cuts down on the opportunity for malicious attacks. Deployment is simplified through using a server role concept and auto-discover feature, with day-to-day management also a much simpler process.
- Advanced management is available to reduce administrators’ time and effort while at the same time giving increased control. Administration is through a command line interface or graphical management console, with integrated diagnostics, monitoring and troubleshooting tools.
- Compliance with the corporate, regulatory and legal requirements is made easier without adversely affecting employee productivity. Features include rich text searches, scanning and acting on messages and applying retention rules.
