Exchange 2010 has launched!

Microsoft has recently released the new version of Exchange Mail Server 2010. As with each new version of Exchange new features are added and it’s very nice to see that the focus on new features around retention, governance & compliance and the ability to get rid of PST’s in the organisation! Disparte PST’s in the Corporate Environment have been a nightmare to manage for sys admins as they are often stored on the local computer and are not backed up at all and the fact they are stored on portable devices makes the information prone to theft and not retrievable. Previously such tools were only possible through 3rd-party vendors - while the Microsoft tools may not be as comprehensive we will need to wait and see.

Another offering that will be coming in 2010 is Hosted Exchange Online where Exchange will run out in the cloud by Microsoft. It will be interesting to see what kind and size of companies would be keen on sending their messaging infrastructure out to the cloud.

PicNet being a Microsoft Gold Partner already has access to this new software and I will be giving this a roadtest in a virtual environment in the coming weeks to see how this new messaging platform performs as well as the new features