In the mid-to-late 1990s, only large companies could afford to purchase and maintain their own e-mail servers. Smaller companies typically got by with POP accounts hosted by their Internet Service Providers or web site hosts, or sometimes simply had employees use their own personal accounts at AOL or other large e-mail providers. These setups were problematic, as they did not offer the flexibility, control, or advanced functionality associated with full server control.

With the introduction of Microsoft’s Small Business Server (which includes the Exchange mail server) and greater access to high-speed Internet connections with static IP addresses, small businesses got the opportunity to host their own mail servers. They were able to enjoy a number of advantages, including central storage and backup of e-mail files, flexible and  larger user mailboxes, tighter integration with network accounts, and relief from often restrictive policies imposed by Internet service providers and other mail hosts.

However, hosting one’s own mail server comes with several costs. Not only must one pay for the hardware and software involved, but one also has to assume the responsibility for keeping one’s mailboxes spam-free, virus-free, and backed up. One also assumes the risks associated with hosting a server on a small budget. Small businesses generally do not have the kind of redundancy and disaster recovery options that large mail hosts have, and they are likely to experience outages and delivery problems. Furthermore, managing a mail server requires special expertise. Although it is not that difficult to learn basic tasks such as adding and deleting users, troubleshooting problems with mail servers is generally not a do-it-yourself task.

Cloud-based e-mail services have been around for some time, most famously in the form of AOL, Hotmail, and Gmail. Only recently, though, have services emerged to meet the demands of small businesses as opposed to home users. Today it is possible to find cloud-based e-mail services that offer the functionality that small businesses demand, including:

• Domain branding (e.g. username@stopbuyingservers.com instead of stopbuyingservers@aol.com, hotmail.com, gmail.com, etc.)
• Reasonably-sized mailboxes (measured in GB instead of 10’s or 100’s of MB)
• Integrated spam and virus filtering
• Web access from anywhere including access to old mail, sent mail, contacts, and other items other than new mail.
• Centralized, do-it-yourself administration of user accounts.

In upcoming posts we will look at the cloud-based e-mail services that are available today.