Rackspace adds Managed Microsoft Exchange to suite of e-mail solutions

Rackspace Managed Hosting has added Managed Microsoft Exchange to its suite of e-mail solutions, which support more than 100 000 users worldwide, including thousands in South Africa.

Customer demand has led Rackspace to offer a comprehensive e-mail portfolio, with four best-of-breed messaging solutions, including Noteworthy, Imail Server, Dedicated Microsoft Exchange (customer managed) and now Managed Microsoft Exchange from Rackspace.

Rackspace MD EMEA Jacques Greyling, a South African, says messaging is generally critical for modern businesses: "Therefore, the importance of having a reliably hosted e-mail solution cannot be overestimated. "If e-mail goes down, it can really impact the bottom line. Outsourcing e-mail frees up time for core business activities and reduces the risk and capital outlay to a small monthly cost."

Greyling adds: "Providing support for e-mail services has been driven by our customers who want the level of service that Fanatical Support provides across other applications in its business, and we back up the service with our aggressive service level agreements."

Fanatical Support is a unique customer service philosophy that drives Rackspace to meet and exceed its customer's expectations. Managed Microsoft Exchange from Rackspace allows users to benefit from the world's most highly-deployed e-mail and collaboration solution, without the hassle of managing and maintaining the infrastructure.

Martin Walker, UK Hosting Manager, Microsoft, welcomed the news: "A growing number of businesses are turning to partners like Rackspace to 'selectively-outsource' business solutions like e-mail. This Managed Exchange service from Rackspace enables companies of all sizes to 'focus on what they do best' rather than building/managing/delivering IT solutions."

With Managed Microsoft Exchange from Rackspace, customers also benefit from a 99.9% application uptime guarantee, Web-based management tools, improved security and user experience with integrated premium anti-virus and anti-spam and mail recovery, including 14 days of deleted data immediately recoverable and 30 days of deleted data recoverable within six hours. Additionally, customers work with a dedicated account manager and support team.

Greyling concludes: "Businesses that use Microsoft Managed Exchange from Rackspace can do more than send and receive e-mail. They can share folders, calendars and contacts and benefit from enhanced communication between staff, whether they are in the office or on the move. Storing information in a centralised source allows employees to easily arrange meetings, check availability and manage projects across workgroups. The service supports demands for mobility and offers a multi-layered approach to security."

Microsoft Managed Exchange from Rackspace supports mobile wireless solutions from BlackBerry, Good MM, Pocket PC and Treo/MOTQ and provides 24/7/365 staffed security and monitoring of both internal devices and external threats.

In addition, Rackspace provides a fully-resilient and redundant network infrastructure that eliminates single points of failure. The service is designed to allow businesses to off-load the administration relating to their messaging system, while providing a solution that is richer, more reliable and robust then Web mail.

Rackspace's suite of messaging and collaboration solutions also includes Noteworthy Managed Mail, Imail Server by Ipswitch and Dedicated Microsoft Exchange, where a customer manages its own exchange server, hosted by Rackspace For more information on Rackspace's Messaging Solutions, please visit http://www.rackspace.co.uk/exchange/.