Move Email to the Cloud
Cloud-based email is the way of the future! It’s also a whole heck of a lot less expensive than
on-prem.
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Introduction
The time is right to move email to the cloud. Know your options and use best
practices to avoid stormy weather.
This Research Is Designed For:
This Research Will Help You:
 CIOs developing a forward-looking strategy for
 Compare and contrast the available
enterprise email.
deployment options for email.
 Know what features to look for in a cloud email
 Applications Managers who want to move
email off-premise and spend more time on
innovation.
solution.
 Become familiar with the offerings of major
cloud email vendors.
 Understand the challenges of cloud email
 Infrastructure Managers interested in
outsourcing email database management.
 IT professionals who want to learn more about
deployment and develop strategies for facing
those challenges.
 Assess the relevant cost-benefit for cloud
email.
what other businesses are doing with their
email platforms.
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Executive Summary
Prepare for cloud email.
• It’s inevitable. Almost 70% of Info-Tech clients will at least consider cloud email for their next
implementation.
• IT leaders choose cloud email for perceived cost savings and operational improvements.
• There are two choices for cloud email: Google Apps and Microsoft Office 365. They have different
features, but the projects are very similar regardless of the vendor.
Calculate the costs of cloud email.
• It’s less expensive than you may think.
• On-premise email typically has a lower TCO after five years when you consider licensing.
• Cloud email is always less expensive once operation costs, power, and cooling are considered
in the model.
• Use Info-Tech’s TCO model to make the best decision.
Overcome the key challenges for cloud-email adoptions.
• IT leaders put a lot of emphasis on assessing costs and assessing the operational impact of the
cloud transition.
• Instead, they should focus most of their effort on preparing end users for change and training
them.
• It is wise to use a consultant when internal cloud competencies are lacking.
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Treat email as part of the overall collaboration strategy
Info-Tech offers a variety of resources. This set will address how and why
you should move email to the cloud.
Collaboration
Email
A
You are here:
Move Email to the Cloud
Switch Email Platforms
VL+: Email Archiving
Build an Enterprise
Social Collaboration
Strategy
VL: Collaboration
Platforms
VL: Web Conferencing
Vendors
Implement a
Collaboration Platform
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Why you should care about cloud email
What’s in this Section:
•
•
•
•
Where did cloud email come from?
How popular is cloud email?
Why are IT leaders adopting it?
What does it look like?
Sections:
Why you should care about
cloud email
Know the market leaders
Assess the costs
Prepare for implementation
success
Take the next steps
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Email in the Cloud
How it got there
Where it’s going
• Cloud-based email has long been a part of private life,
with free web-based email platforms like Hotmail and
Gmail enjoying extensive usage worldwide.
• With the success of paid-for cloud storage and
corporate software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings like
Salesforce.com, efforts were made to apply similar
service and cost models to corporate productivity suites
like Microsoft’s Office.
• Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite
(BPOS) was a first effort in this area. BPOS later
became Office 365, Microsoft’s current cloud
productivity offering.
• Paralleling this development, Google brought its Gmail
and Google Docs platforms to the business world with
its Google Apps online productivity suite.
• Corporate use of SaaS has grown as a result of
attractive cost models – focusing on operational
expenditure rather than capital expenditure – and a
desire to move IT from application support and server
maintenance to core operational competencies.
• The cost of cloud-based email, and SaaS solutions in
general, will continue to fall.
• SaaS applications being developed in-concert with their
on-premise counterparts will continue toward parity and,
in some cases, exceed the functionality of on-premise
versions.
• Barring any major service disruptions or security gaffes,
adoption of cloud email will increase.
• Microsoft and Google will continue to be major
players in the cloud email market. Organizations with
success in other areas of the cloud market may launch
cloud email offerings as well.
• Invasive government legislation could pose a threat to
the continued success of cloud email.
• The adoption of cloud email by legal and governmental
organizations will continue to bolster confidence in cloud
email solutions.
The future of email is in the cloud. Almost 70% of respondents to a recent Info-Tech survey stated that
they are either in the process of moving email to the cloud or will consider it as part of their next upgrade.
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Cloud email has been around for a long time… for consumers
1990s
2000s
2010s
Client-dominant email
Consumer cloud email
Enterprise cloud email
Enterprises primarily adopted
email during the 1990s. The
market was dominated by
traditional enterprise vendors
and products such as
Microsoft Mail, Lotus Notes,
and cc:Mail.
Users became accustomed
to the nuances of different
user clients.
Hotmail introduced one of the
early web-based email services
in 1996. Users quickly became
accustomed to accessing email
via a web browser. Yahoo!
introduced a similar offering.
Google released Gmail in 2004,
creating new user expectations
for unlimited storage and clean
user interfaces.
Google offered Gmail For Your
Domain in 2006. This innovation
created a market for web-based
enterprise email. Microsoft
followed with BPOS in 2009,
subsequently renamed Office
365. Other options include
HyperOffice, IBM SmartCloud for
Social Business, Zimbra, and
Zoho.
Cloud email is nothing new. Early email users had to get their email via terminal sessions using nongraphical clients like Elm and Pine. The newest iteration of cloud email offers users a far better
experience and makes life far easier for administrators.
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Cloud email is the future for most enterprises
Over 70% of IT shops are either considering cloud email or have already
made the decision to implement it.
We have no intentions of
moving email to the cloud
29%
We will consider cloud email
for our next upgrade
We're in the process of
migrating email to the cloud
39%
13%
We use cloud email
11%
71%
• Fewer than 30% of IT leaders report that
they have no intentions of moving to
cloud email.
• The majority of IT leaders are at least
considering the transition.
• Of those that have made the change,
only about one quarter have opted for
hybrid solutions.
• Make a plan for cloud email. You
either need to adopt it or definitively
decide that you’re not doing it.
5%
4%
We migrated to a hybrid solution
We migrated to a cloud solution in the past two years
We migrated to the cloud more than two years ago
Cloud email for the enterprise is still very new.
Only about 25% of implementations are greater
than two years old. Also note that hybrid
solutions account for about 25% of the existing
cloud email install base.
Source: Info-Tech Research Group; Q2 2012;
N = 80
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The primary drivers for cloud email are cost and operational
efficiency
Recognize the benefits of treating email as an operational expense. IT leaders
frequently list these benefits as important, but rarely as the leading driver.
Overall Ranking Score
Perceived cost savings
479
Increased scalability
465
Improved uptime
Simplified administration
Desire to move email from
capital expense to operational…
Desire for offsite storage
Improved support for mobile
workers
Top 3 Ranking
The primary drivers
for cloud email are
cost savings and
operational
improvements.
435
369
341
63
40
406
370
62
37
IT leaders rarely rank the
shift from capital to
operational expense as
the top priority, but it
frequently appears
among the top three
drivers.
43
34
33
Source: Info-Tech Research Group; Q2 2012;
N = 80
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You should have your head in the clouds. Here’s why:
There are several benefits associated with moving email to the Cloud.
Info-Tech’s Top 3 Benefits
1. Cost Savings
A subscription service model prevents large capital outlay and converts
email to an operational expense.
2. Uptime
Many providers will use multiple redundant sites, giving better uptime and
disaster recovery than most customers could otherwise afford.
3. Scalability
Compute and storage capacity, and user license counts can be adjusted
upwards and downwards with corresponding changes in fees.
Other Considerations
Security
Providers can devote more resources to email security than most
customers.
Maintenance
Web-based applications mean less maintenance and version control
issues.
Strategic Value
Outsourced infrastructure enables IT leaders to focus resources on
strategic initiatives instead of worrying about keeping email servers
running.
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Consider both the costs and benefits of moving email to the
cloud
Info-Tech clients have provided a list of potential pros and cons.
Pros
• No need for dedicated staff to manage internal email servers (cost savings).
• Scale user count (and thus total cost) up and down. The solution is always upto-date with the latest security patches and features.
• No physical server equipment to maintain.
• No need to purchase software, unless you’re looking for a front-end
redundancy. Email lives on the net; if one of your systems goes down, it’s still
backed up there.
• Without the need for a client, it’s easier to integrate mobile devices into the
workplace.
• Service-oriented model creates better service relationships than typical “sell
and forget” software.
Cons
• Increased bandwidth requirements, potentially higher costs, and firewall
requirements.
• Requirement for server management is replaced with requirement for cloud
email management expertise.
• Ongoing costs per user add up over time.
• Loss of security at the local level; loss of physical control over email. You need
to be fully comfortable with the service provider’s security strategy.
• Email is always available; may create increased opportunities for sensitive
info leaks.
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