POP3 vs Exchange

[overcast32]

Question came up at my company about using an external POP3 hosted email solution rather than a local mail server. I don't care for the idea myself - but am I just being big headed? hehe

Why would I not want to go with POP3?

I don't like the idea of attachments traveling out to the web and then back again for internal email. We may be using another calendar and contact organization system, so it's possible those won't be big issues - but what are the other pros and cons of Pop3 Hosted vs Exchange Locally?

Thanks for any input!

 

[dkediger]

Besides the traffic issue you highlighted, you'll probably hear several "advantages", although there are solutions available to native Exchange that address those:

Hosted POP3 will probably have a web interface available, so the thinking goes that mail could be accessed wherever someone has access to a browser.

Exchange has Outlook Web Access and Outlook 2003 can operate over http so it has equivalent features to POP3 here.


Hosted POP3 will likely come with anti-virus and spam scanning provided by the hosting company. I wouldn't consider a POP3 solution otherwise.

Exchange has basic spam scanning available, while anti-virus has to be addressed through 3rd party solutions.


Overall, Exchange is designed to be a native SMTP mail solution in a business environment, and it does that very, very well. Additionally, it does have the calendaring and contact management systems built in. The downside would be the initial expense of acquisition and ongoing management. There are also hosted Exchange providers available out there to look into as well.

 

[58sniper]

Tell them with Exchange and OWA, they have access to their calendars, tasks, notes, email, and contacts from any Internet connected PC. They also have access to Public Folders as well. You don't get that with hosted POP3 mail.

You save bandwidth with Exchange. You get disaster recovery with Exchange. You get resource sharing, like shared calendars and contacts.

Pat Richard, MCSE(2) MCSA:Messaging, CNA(2)