2025 marks a pivotal change for e-mail systems in many organisations. Microsoft plans to end support for its Exchange Server 2019 and 2016 products by mid-October, requiring numerous companies to either accept the risks of outdated e-mail or migrate to modern e-mail platforms.
This trend creates opportunities for managed service providers (MSPs), such as decommissioning legacy systems, migrating e-mail data, configuring and managing new e-mail services and handling security requirements. The shift to modern e-mail also opens doors to a revenue stream that is easy to onboard, manage and ultimately grow reliably and even passively: e-mail signature management.
The underestimated value of e-mail signatures
The titles and business details that companies use to bookend their e-mails are an underexploited resource. With the right tools, e-mail signatures can become brand ambassadors and lead generators.
E-mail signatures are often overlooked by businesses, says Paul Cox, regional channel manager for MEA at Exclaimer. "Every employee in your organisation sends tens to hundreds of e-mails that reach potential prospects. Those are thousands of brand impressions every week that are completely underused. If those signatures are inconsistent within your organisation, with people just adding their own logos, their own fonts and colours, you're actually damaging your brand image."
An e-mail signature does more than represent the sender. It shapes a professional image and a company's brand. It can provide useful and actionable links, such as to social media or portals to book meetings. E-mail signatures can also support governance, such as displaying compliance notices. Why, then, are they so underused?
"Managing e-mail signatures is not really just about logos and links. It's about control, compliance and consistency at scale," says Jim Turner, COO at Exclaimer.
Continuously managing e-mail signatures is a demanding responsibility, especially across larger enterprises. It requires co-ordination and consistency. IT departments have more important things to do, and other departments generally lack the means to manage signatures or exploit them to their greater potential.
But these same problems can turn into a low-friction revenue opportunity for MSPs.
Standing out in crowded markets
MSPs operate in very competitive markets; they frequently consider market competition as their main concern, a percentage that goes up every year, and they often use diversification to stay ahead, adding on average six new services during 2024 (Barracuda MSP Report).
Yet, there is a danger of adding too much, especially when it adds significant overheads to MSP operations, such as recruiting additional staff or expending resources to maintain quality levels. In a world saturated with software as a service and other options, an MSP may overcommit as they try to grow their business.
The ideal MSP service is one that has frictionless onboarding, creates consistent revenue and delivers the type of value to customers that reduces churn rates and motivates them to expand its use.
"MSPs are looking for speed and seamless deployment to make sure that they can move on to the next customer, onboard them and grow revenue," says Cox.
E-mail signature management: A new revenue stream
An e-mail signature management platform can be simple to deploy and manage for both MSPs and their customers. Exclaimer's platform demonstrates these claims, boasting over 95% gross renewal rates and even higher passive organic growth among established users.
This success is not by accident. The service aligns with MSP realities, making it easier for them to keep their customers, says Turner.
"The better we help MSPs look after their customers, and they stay and they're sticky and they're happy, the more users they add, the more revenue MSPs get into the business. So it's extremely passive, extremely zero-touch."
E-mails remain popular and widely used, yet their signatures are either chronically underused or create operational burdens that professionals don't want to carry. Platforms like Exclaimer enable MSPs to simplify a complex burden, creating a value generator for their customers, who can then exploit features they'd not have considered. It ticks all the boxes: excellent value, low-friction management and onboarding, and a consistent income stream without draining resources.
According to Cox, Microsoft's decision to discontinue support for Exchange 2016 and 2019 presents an opportunity for MSPs to expand their offerings and secure additional annuity business.
"E-mail is not going anywhere. It is just evolving, and in that evolution, every part of the stack matters, including signatures. MSPs can solve real-world problems quickly and turn it into recurring revenue."
* ITWebTV Biz episodes are sponsored.
Share