A partner organization recently found themselves in a bind managing their aging on-premises Exchange server. Maintaining it was becoming a daily challenge, not only due to resource constraints but also because the infrastructure itself was on its last legs. Their IT staff, already juggling multiple tasks, didn’t have the expertise to handle the complex maintenance required. Emails would sometimes fail to send or be received properly, and as the organization grew, their server capacity was being stretched thin, leaving them in a precarious position.
The more they expanded, the more scaling their on-prem solution felt like pushing a square peg into a round hole—difficult, cumbersome, and unsustainable.
The Challenge
The organization’s problems stem from several key issues:
- Resource Limitation: Their IT team was already stretched thin, and the complexity of maintaining an on-premises Exchange server required specialized skills that they simply didn’t have. The constant need for troubleshooting was eating away at valuable time.
- Scalability Issues: With growth came more employees and mailboxes, and their on-premises setup couldn’t keep up. Scaling was time-consuming and costly.
- Potential Downtime: Their aging on-prem infrastructure was prone to failure, and without enough manpower to maintain it properly, they were seeing frequent email outages that disrupted communication across the organization, especially for key executives.
The Solution: Moving to an Exchange Online Hybrid Setup
This is where we, CT Link, stepped in with a proposal that would give them the best of both worlds: an Exchange Online Hybrid setup. This solution allowed the organization to retain some control by keeping a few on-prem servers, while transitioning the bulk of their email operations to the cloud with Microsoft 365.
The hybrid model was the perfect balance. It offered scalability and reliability from the cloud while keeping certain sensitive data stored on-prem for compliance purposes. Additionally, CT Link provided ongoing support and training to help the IT team manage both environments through a single interface, simplifying the process significantly.
Below is a summary of what our solution recommendation:
- Migration to the Cloud: Most of their mailboxes were migrated to Microsoft 365, which offered them the cloud’s flexibility and resilience. Sent or received emails were no longer lost.
- Keeping Some On-Premises Capabilities: For handling sensitive data and meeting local compliance requirements, they retained a few on-prem Exchange servers, allowing them to have the control they needed.
- Unified Management: One of the main advantages of an Exchange Online Hybrid was the ability to manage both on-prem and cloud environments from a single interface. This made administration much easier and reduced the IT team’s workload.
- Training and Support: The organization took full advantage of cloud-based training resources and support, which helped fill the skill gap in their IT team.
Achieving Reliable and Scalable Email Management
The move to an Exchange Online Hybrid setup paid off in several ways:
- Increased Reliability: With the robust infrastructure of Microsoft 365, the organization no longer experienced lost emails. This is more so for the executives, as they felt the email system was much more reliable.
- Cost Efficiency: They significantly reduced the costs associated with maintaining legacy hardware while enjoying the benefits of a scalable cloud solution.
- Flexibility: The hybrid model allowed them to shift mailboxes seamlessly between the on-prem and cloud environments based on business needs.
- Focusing on Growth: Freed from the daily grind of server maintenance, the IT team could now focus on more strategic projects, helping the business grow without the burden of constant technical firefighting.
- Additional Cloud Setup: The organization not only fixed their email system, but also gained different useful features. With their Hybrid setup, they also gained 1TB of Cloud storage and useful applications such as Microsoft Teams to help their business collaboration.
This Exchange Online Hybrid solution empowered the organization to maintain the control they needed while gaining the scalability and reliability of the cloud—a win for both their IT team and the business as a whole.
Interested in learning about other solutions we’ve implemented? Learn how we helped another organization with their remote access challenges here! To learn more about Microsoft solutions, you can set a meeting with us today by contacting us at marketing@ctlink.com.ph.