Q&A: Hosted Exchange Services for the Education Market

Transcription

1 Research Publication Date: 16 May 2008 ID Number: G Q&A: Hosted Exchange Services for the Education Market Matthew W. Cain To help combat Google's inroads into the.edu market, Microsoft is offering no-fee hosted Exchange to students and alumni, in addition to its Hotmail-based offering. We answer the most common questions about the service. Reproduction and distribution of this publication in any form without prior written permission is forbidden. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Gartner disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. Although Gartner's research may discuss legal issues related to the information technology business, Gartner does not provide legal advice or services and its research should not be construed or used as such. Gartner shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.

2 STRATEGIC PLANNING ASSUMPTIONS By 2010, Microsoft will phase out its Hotmail option for the education community and Exchange Labs will be the only hosted offering from Microsoft for the education market. By 2010, Microsoft will allow staff and faculty to use the Exchange Labs hosted mail option. By the end of the decade, Microsoft will enable universities to support one domain across dual systems when using a hosted option. ANALYSIS Microsoft, Google and, as of April 2008, Yahoo are locked in a titanic battle for the education e- mail market. In a strategic move starting late in 2007, Microsoft expanded Windows Live@edu, its no-fee Hotmail hosted offering, to include a version based on Exchange. Because Exchange is a richer platform than Hotmail, it represents a more competitive offering than the Google platform (see Table 1 for a comparison of the three options). The so-called Exchange Labs option also allows Microsoft to test new Exchange features and functionality at high volumes, and is designed to perform better in a hosted environment than the current version of Exchange (Exchange 2007, SP1). hosting represents a strategic business imperative for Microsoft and, via the Exchange Labs edu option, Microsoft is able to obtain direct feedback on its ability to support hundreds of thousands and, eventually, millions of users, a volume of beta testers it was unable to attain with its traditional beta test programs. Exchange Labs also gives Microsoft the ability to trial hybrid architectures, in which some users employ an on-premises version of Exchange and others use a hosted implementation. By 2010, we believe Microsoft will no longer offer both no-fee Hotmail and Exchange Labs versions to the education community we expect the Hotmail option will be phased out in favor of the Exchange Labs version. While actual deployment of the Exchange Labs implementation has been light given its age there has been no shortage of questions about the option. This report is about Exchange Labs and how it compares with the Hotmail option. There are some implicit comparisons with the Google.edu offering, but a more direct comparison is referenced in the recommended reading section. The groups eligible for Exchange Labs are students and alumni via an institutional agreement. Staff and faculty are not currently eligible, although we expect Microsoft will lift that ban as the service matures, most likely by the end of Lifting the ban will increase the appeal of the Exchange Labs option but will begin to deprive Microsoft of the ability to experiment with hybrid models, in which some users are hosted in the Microsoft cloud and some are serviced with premises-based systems. Do Staff and Faculty Have to Be on a Premises-Based Version of Exchange? No, in a recent reversal of policy, Microsoft will now allow staff and faculty to be on any system, not just Exchange (although, as stated above, staff and faculty will not be eligible for the hosted version). Furthermore, there is no specific version requirement for Exchange on premises, although, depending on the version of Exchange, there will be more or fewer integration features with Exchange Labs. Publication Date: 16 May 2008/ID Number: G Page 2 of 9

3 Is It Possible to Have the Same Domain for Staff and Students, With Students on Exchange Labs and Staff on an On- Premises System? No. Microsoft is currently unwilling to route staff/faculty traffic to an on-premises SMTP router, although we expect it to change that policy in the next 12 months. For now, this creates a hardship for organizations wanting to maintain a single domain (for example, jane.doe@university.edu) for all school constituencies. In theory, schools could set up a mail router on premises that would accept all domain traffic and route student mail to Exchange Labs while processing staff mail locally, although we have not seen this done in practice. Will Exchange Labs Support BlackBerry Services? No. Microsoft recommends users look at the native push services of Exchange Labs (and Exchange 2007), which work with Active Synch and Windows-Mobile-enabled devices. But because it is staff and faculty that are most likely to demand BlackBerry services, this deficiency is not particularly critical for a student population. With Exchange Labs Are There Instant Messaging and Team Space Options? Exchange Labs uses a Windows Live ID for logon. With this Live ID, students can use any Live service, such as Live Messenger, Spaces, SkyDrive and Office Live Workspaces, although those services are not controlled or branded by the university. Universities should examine the entire suite of applications available from Google and Microsoft, not just the services. What Browsers Are Supported by Exchange Labs and at What Level? Supported browsers for Exchange Labs are IE6 and 7 for Outlook Web Access (OWA) Premium, Firefox, Safari and Opera for OWA Light. The OWA Light Firefox and Safari experience is not fully featured at this time, but we expect it to be available in See Table 2 for a comparison of OWA Premium and OWA Light features. Universities should determine the demand for multibrowser support and, if required, trial multibrowser support on Exchange to determine student acceptance. Core mail functionality is preserved across multiple browsers, and will be good enough for users with simple needs. Schools with broader functionality requirements for multiple browsers should avoid the Exchange Labs option in favor of the Hotmail version or Google's Gmail. What Are the Trade-Offs in Running Exchange on Premises for Staff and Exchange Labs for Students Rather Than Exchange on Premises for all Constituencies, and Between Running Exchange on Premises for Staff and Using Google for Students? There are two primary advantages to running Exchange on premises for staff and Labs for students (compared with Exchange on-premises for all) and one main disadvantage. The first advantage is economic/operational: universities no longer have to pay for staff and hardware to operate and upgrade Exchange for students. The second advantage is functionality: students have access to a much richer suite of applications via the Windows Live suite of applications than they would with a pure Exchange deployment. The downside is that certain features in the hybrid Publication Date: 16 May 2008/ID Number: G Page 3 of 9

4 model, such as free-and-busy calendar look up, are not available, although we expect Microsoft to address some of these deficiencies in the next 18 months. The advantage of running Exchange Labs rather than Gmail for students (while running Exchange on premises) include a common global address list that facilitates address look up, and consistent end-user and IT staff experience that can lead to help desk and operational efficiencies. See Table 1 for a more granular comparison of Google and Labs features. Are There Greater Risks in Using Exchange Labs Than Hotmail? Yes. Because Exchange Labs is a new platform that allows Microsoft to trial new features and functions, and because it is Microsoft's first foray into large-scale hosting (millions of users), Exchange Labs is riskier than the Hotmail option, which has successfully scaled to hundreds of millions of users. But with risk comes reward: Exchange Labs has much richer functionality than Hotmail, and we expect to see an aggressive approach to adding new functionality, in addition to deeper integration with premises-based Exchange. Which Option Should Universities Choose: Hotmail or Labs? We believe most organizations should choose the Exchange Labs version over the Hotmail version once the Labs version has been market proven (for example, successfully run with a couple of hundred thousand users for six months a benchmark likely to be reached by the end of 2009). Apart from the current and planned integration with premises-based Exchange, the Labs version (compared with Hotmail) provides more mobility options (via Active Sync), support for distribution lists, double the storage (10GB versus 5GB), support for larger attachments, secure connections, message tracking, journaling, more reports, and longer deleted item retention (30 days versus five days). Hotmail has better multibrowser support, but Labs supports Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) clients and Hotmail does not. What Are the Options for Migrating Messages From old Systems to Exchange Labs, Current or Planned? Mail migration options for Exchange Labs are on the road map and are likely to appear in late As a work-around, users can configure Outlook to work with multiple accounts, and move their manually between accounts, or to a.pst. But for organizations that need to migrate mail messages to a new hosted system, Gmail is the only option via its IMAP import function. Many universities, however, are willing to start with a clean mailbox for students, meaning migration of old messages is not a critical issue. What Are the Options for Migrating Messages From Exchange Labs at the Conclusion of a Contract, Current or Planned? Mail migration from Exchange Labs to another platform is manual, either by forwarding to a new mail address or downloading mail to a.pst folder. This makes it difficult to switch hosting providers. We believe Google and Microsoft will be forced to accommodate batch export in the next two years as a result of user demand. Even if Advertising Is Not Pushed at Students, Are Messages Scanned for Content and Is That Data Retained? content is not scanned to tailor advertising for students or alumni. data is retained in the in-box as long as the student wants to retain it, but Microsoft says it does not use those messages for any purpose. Publication Date: 16 May 2008/ID Number: G Page 4 of 9

5 Are There Provisions for School Data to Stay in a Local Data Center if, for Example, a U.K. University Wants Data to Reside in a European Data Center? Exchange Labs data centers are only in the U.S. but Microsoft is working to add data centers in Europe and Asia in As Microsoft adds data centers, it will provision schools based primarily on legal and latency concerns. The issue of data center location will become very important, as not only universities, but commercial organizations, seek to comply with internal and external (government) regulations that govern where data can be stored. What Are the Rights and Procedures for Universities to Have Exchange Labs Mail Restored in the Case of Lost Messages? With Exchange Labs, users have the ability to use the "recover deleted items" feature. Deleted e- mail remains in the deleted items folder for 15 days, and can be recovered using "recover deleted items" for an additional 15 days. There are no other provisions for recovering messages. Microsoft does offer journaling capabilities with Exchange Labs, which is a function (often used for compliance) that copies all messages to an external repository. Exchange Labs users can turn on the feature for no fee, but they need to provide the repository for "journaled" mail. We don't expect most universities to use the journaling feature, given the lack of compliance requirements regarding student . Does Exchange Labs Require a Standard Paper Contract? There is a Terms of Use agreement that the university must accept online when it "onboards" to Live@edu. Microsoft no longer requires a paper contract, mainly because it found that its previous paper contract sometimes led to contentious debate with university legal staff and prolonged negotiations in some cases it even caused universities to lose interest in the hosted offering. Universities, however, should apply the same diligence to examining the Terms of Use agreement as they would to a paper contract. Table 1. Comparison Chart for Google and Microsoft.edu Offerings Functionality Google With Hotmail IMAP Yes No (considering) Yes POP Yes (with SSL) Yes Yes ical Yes Yes Yes Access on mobile phone Yes Yes Yes "Push" for mobile phones No Yes, Windows Live for Mobile (Windows Mobile, Nokia) Desktop client No Yes Yes Free and busy calendar look-up Yes Yes Yes Resource calendars Yes Yes Yes Distribution groups Yes No (considering) Yes With Exchange Labs Yes, Exchange ActiveSync (Windows Mobile, Nokia, Apple iphone) Publication Date: 16 May 2008/ID Number: G Page 5 of 9

6 Google With Hotmail Tasks No Yes Yes Mailbox size 6.5GB 5GB 10GB Attachment size 20MB 10MB 20MB Spam filter Yes Yes Yes Virus filter Yes Yes Yes Secure connection Yes No Yes Message tracking Yes No Yes Other applications available at no fee Archive/journaling capability Documents and spreadsheets, Talk (XMPP instant messaging client), personalized start page, Sites (team work space) Instant messaging, blogging, file sharing, real-time application sharing, photo publishing, client, video conversation, alerts, IM-to-SMS, contacts, contact sharing, social networking, online storage, desktop-sharing application Fee-based No Yes With Exchange Labs Instant messaging, blogging, file sharing, real-time application sharing, photo publishing, client, video conversation, alerts, IM-to-SMS, contacts, contact sharing, social networking, online storage, desktop-sharing application forwarding Yes Yes (optional) Yes (optional) Online file storage 10GB Sites 5GB SkyDrive 5GB SkyDrive Support Uptime SLA 99.9% 99.9% target uptime 99.9% target uptime Recovery SLA None None None Support hours 24/7 for critical issues 24/7 24/7 Phone support Yes Yes Yes support Yes Yes Yes Eligible to use support IT staff IT staff IT staff E-discovery options Yes, for IT staff Yes, for IT staff Yes, for IT staff User support Online help center Online help center Online help center Integration and Deployment Bulk account creation Yes, via API or CSV Yes, via API, CSV, ILM Yes, via API, CSV, ILM, Powershell Directory integration (options) API Yes, via API or ILM Yes, via ILM, Powershell or Web Services SSO options SAML 2.0 Yes, via SOAP API Yes, via SOAP API Application integration Many APIs Many APIs Exchange Web Services Ability to embed in portal Using Google Gadget or APIs Yes, via SSO and APIs Yes, via SSO and APIs Publication Date: 16 May 2008/ID Number: G Page 6 of 9

7 Google With Hotmail Reports available API Usage Yes Required infrastructure None None None Migration tools Delete message recovery options Program details Number of.edus signed up Number of active users Marquee accounts Types of school supported (for example, K-12, graduate) Largest account (name and number) Constituencies not exposed to ads (for example, students) Yes, IMAP import tool for mail and API for calendar APIs IMAP and POP3 by end of days 5 days 30 days With Exchange Labs Coming by end of 2008 Thousands Thousands Confidential Several hundred thousand Northwestern University, Arizona State University, Nihon University, Hebrew University K-12, college, university, graduate Confidential API = application programming interface CSV = comma-separated values ical = icalendar ILM = Identity Life Cycle Manager IM = instant messaging IMAP = Internet Message Access Protocol POP = Post Office Protocol SAML = Security Assertion Markup Language SLA = service-level agreement SMS = Short Message Service SOAP = Simple Object Access Protocol SSL = Secure Sockets Layer SSO = single sign-on XMPP = Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol Source: Gartner (May 2008) More than 4 million University of Pennsylvania, University of Missouri, University of Wisconsin Parkside, South Dakota State University, Ball State University K-12, college, university, graduate All public schools in Chile Students, faculty Students All Confidential Confidential K-12, college, university, graduate Confidential Table 2. Comparison of Outlook Web Access Light and Web Access Premium Feature Outlook Web Access Light Outlook Web Access Premium Spelling checker Not available Available Reading pane Not available Available Publication Date: 16 May 2008/ID Number: G Page 7 of 9

8 Feature Outlook Web Access Light Outlook Web Access Premium Accessibility for blind and lowvision users Available Not available Notifications and reminders Not available Available Weekly calendar views Not available Available Windows SharePoint Services and Windows file share integration Not available Available Compose messages using HTML Only plain text is available Available Calendar options Arrange by Limited to the following features: Show week numbers Set the first day of the week Select days of the week Set day start and end times Limited to a subset of choices, depending on the folder type Available Available Right-click menu Not available Available Drag-and-drop Not available Available Explicit logon Not available Available Type-down search Not available Available Resource mailbox management Not available Available Appearance (color scheme) Not available Available Voice mail options Not available Available Source: Gartner (May 2008) RECOMMENDED READING "Google and Microsoft Battle for the.edu Market" "Free.edu From Microsoft: What's the Catch? What Does It Mean?" Publication Date: 16 May 2008/ID Number: G Page 8 of 9

9 REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS Corporate Headquarters 56 Top Gallant Road Stamford, CT U.S.A European Headquarters Tamesis The Glanty Egham Surrey, TW20 9AW UNITED KINGDOM Asia/Pacific Headquarters Gartner Australasia Pty. Ltd. Level 9, 141 Walker Street North Sydney New South Wales 2060 AUSTRALIA Japan Headquarters Gartner Japan Ltd. Aobadai Hills, 6F 7-7, Aobadai, 4-chome Meguro-ku, Tokyo JAPAN Latin America Headquarters Gartner do Brazil Av. das Nações Unidas, andar World Trade Center São Paulo SP BRAZIL Publication Date: 16 May 2008/ID Number: G Page 9 of 9