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Until recently, IT Partners hosted POP and IMAP accounts, mostly to small business and friends and family who had domain names. The problem was that we also had hosted Microsoft Exchange (with a big gotcha – we didn’t want to expose the Exchange server to the public internet). So we had some complex routing, firewalling, and proxy issues to deal with that made diagnosis of faults interesting.
With our datacentre 2.0 project, we didn’t want those compromises so we settled on Exchange 2007 using proxied RPC over HTTPS and Outlook Web Access. This was a major piece of work, especially the proxy configuration – if you are an IT Manager and want a copy of our how-to document – email me.
To add some additional complexity (the team just LOVE when I do that), I also wanted to continue to offer BlackBerry Enterprise Server functionality to our hosted clients.
Having no POP or IMAP worked for most users, until we came across users who already had Microsoft Exchange servers connected. Outlook won’t allow multiple Exchange Server accounts (though you can have separate profiles). We also needed to support Apple Mac users who have no support for RPC over HTTPS.
So, the net result for some clients is that we have embraced the Cloud, with Google Apps. The standard edition has a lot to offer, and is relatively easy to setup (just a couple of DNS changes). We manage the transition. Our clients, friends, and family get a world class service – especially when it comes to spam - and get POP or IMAP access as required.
As for the cloud, well, we continue to move services to the internet where possible. The latest is our partnership with YouSendIt – a great and easy to use service that has had a fantastic uptake. The ability to securely send large files (without breaking email), track delivery and downloads, password protect, and certify delivery (all from within Outlook) is very cool.