Latest Exchange Online Expands Hybrid, Migration Options

Exchange Online, a Microsoft-hosted messaging and collaboration service based on Exchange Server, has been updated throughout 2013 to offer functionality of Exchange 2013. The service, available by subscription as part of Office 365 or separately, can be used in a hybrid scenario alongside an on-premises Exchange deployment, and tools are available to migrate user mailboxes from Exchange and other mail systems to Exchange Online accounts. Management, client, hybrid, and migration features have been improved with the updates, which could remove barriers for organizations considering moving to a cloud-based e-mail service, but adopters should explore deployment options and plan carefully.

This report focuses on the multitenant Exchange Online service offered stand-alone and with Office 365. Technical capabilities of this service vary with the customer’s subscription plan; some capabilities discussed in this report require a subscription to Exchange Online Plan 2 or Office 365 E3 or E4, the highest-level plans. Microsoft also offers large customers and governments a separate Exchange Online Dedicated service that is not multitenant but hosted on server hardware dedicated to a particular customer. Features in the dedicated service have minimal differences with the highest-level multitenant plans.