Microsoft Certified Consulting Services

Benefits of Progent's Hosting and Management Services for Exchange
By utilizing an outsourced hosting provider for Microsoft Exchange, small and midsize companies can derive an array of advantages. The most straightforward advantage is monetary. Gartner Group has calculated that outsourced hosting can eliminate up to 35% of the expense of building and operating an in-house facility. Advantages like decreasing management distraction and increasing system availability and protection are more difficult to estimate, but these clearly represent significant benefits. Some of the key advantages of utilizing an outsourced hosting provider for Microsoft Exchange are:

• Reduced Capital Expenditures
  By utilizing a hosting provider for critical applications such as Microsoft Exchange, small and midsize companies on a restricted budget are able to avoid the substantial costs of designing and constructing a computer facility with sufficient physical security, environmental control, power backup, fire protection, and fault-tolerant Internet connectivity. Outsourced hosting services also save the expense of software as well as fault-tolerant computer equipment such as clusters and zero-downtime hard disk arrays. Increasing IT system capability when your company grows is also inexpensive and easy.

• Lower Operational Expenses
  Progent's Hosting and Management Services for Exchange cut operational expenses by leveraging the expertise of Progent's IT maintenance engineers and Helpdesk group. Small companies get the benefits of having access to a big IT services group without having to finance one. Small and midsize businesses also avoid the expense of the data center's 24x7 on-site security staff and full-time operations team.

• Better Executive Management Focus
  By utilizing Progent's Hosting and Management Services for Microsoft Exchange a small organization's management group is spared the distraction and stress of ensuring that the crucial email environment is continually available, secure,current, safely archived, and efficiently managed. Real or imagined user issues can be handled by Progent's Help Desk, and administrative tasks such as adds, deletions, and security authorization modifications can be implemented by Progent's Microsoft-certified professionals. All of these support services free executive to concentrate on core business challenges where they know how provide the most help to the enterprise.

• World-class Protection
  The onsite security offered by Progent's enterprise-class hosting facility is well beyond the level that most small to midsize businesses could expect to attain within an in-house facility. In conjunction with a 24x7 team of security personnel, Progent's data center features state-of-the-art intrusion monitoring and blocking systems plus reinforced barriers to stop unapproved access. Progent also provides software security such as a high-level firewall, round-the-clock network monitoring, spam and virus filtering, fast and thorough security update management, and a seasoned on-call team of data recovery professionals.

• Improved Fault Tolerance and Reliability
  Progent's facility for hosting Microsoft Exchange offers UPS electrical power, fault tolerant air conditioning, and non-stop Internet access to achieve a high degree of fault tolerance. The site is also located in a seismically stable region for safety against earthquakes. Progent's virtualized architecture for hosting Microsoft Exchange provides even greater fault-tolerance thanks to technologies such as server clustering and redundant hard disk subsystems.

• Regulatory Adherence
  If your company needs to or desires to comply with regulatory requirements like as SOX, GLB, or SAS 70, utilizing Progent's Hosting Services for Microsoft Exchange helps you to meet even the strictest security requirements.

• Business Recovery
  The fault-tolerant and secure features of Progent's hosting facility lowers the chances that an event could disrupt your Microsoft Exchange server. If there is a catastrophic failure, Progent's disciplined data back up procedures and virtualized architecture enable fast data recovery to ensure that your company can quickly resume operations.

Enterprise-class Data Center
No small company can justify the expense of planning, implementing, and managing a world-class hosting facility. Progent allows small organizations to leverage their information systems budget by offering Microsoft Exchange Hosting and Management Services based on a hosting facility trusted by some of the world's largest companies for hosting mission-critical applications. Key features of the facility Progent uses for application hosting are:

• 24-hour Staffed Security Plus Advanced Security Electronics
  Progent's hosting facility features tight security for controlling and tracking physical entry to the site. Onsite security officers are on duty on a 24x7 basis and a sophisticated electronic security system includes cameras, motion sensors, badge readers, and biometric access control devices. The exterior of the facility is protected with armor plated glass and inside areas are protected by steel reinforced security barriers.

• Full-time Network Operations Center
  Progent's hosting facility for Exchange includes a full-time network operations center with certified engineers and technicians who oversee the infrastructure and security of the data center and solve problems.

• non-stop Broadband Internet Access
  Progent's data center for Exchange hosting provides non-stop Internet access through a sophisticated switching system that incorporates dual, physically separated fiber cabinets connected to a variety of network carriers. Each vault is supported by a separate TELCO central office. Two fault-tolerant SONET rings support dual fiber routing to host equipment. Internet connectivity is supported by tier 1 backbone providers.

• In-depth Electrical Power Backup Infrastructure
  The data center utilized by Progent for Exchange hosting has its own utility district substation on the site. The utility district substation is fed by multiple regional substations. The data center has four diesel generators, each configured with backup failover components. The generators have switch and paralleling gear units for rapid delivery of emergency power and have the fuel to run the entire data center for one week. The facility also has UPS units, power distribution units, and gel cells capable of powering the entire facility during the interval when the generators come on line.

• Fail-safe Computer Room Air Conditioning (CRAC)
  Progent's facility for application hosting features redundant server area cooling units set up in a closed loop configuration with water-cooled chiller units that are rotated monthly.

• Smoke Detection and Fire Suppression
  Progent's facility for Microsoft Exchange hosting features a Very Early Smoke Detection System monitored by the round-the-clock facility operations center staff as well as by an external third-part service. The fire suppression mechanism includes a double interlock dry pipe system that is divided into 10' x 10' grid areas to minimize the impact on servers near any fire.

• Seismically Neutral Site
  The facility that houses Progent's Microsoft Exchange hosting servers is located in a seismic-neutral area with no known faults and no recorded earthquakes. The data center building is also built with a steel-beam superstructure engineered to hold up against a substantial earthquake.

Progent's Configuration and Ongoing Support Services for Microsoft Exchange Hosting
Progent's hosting services for Microsoft Exchange feature full integration of Exchange Server with your current IT network and also include a variety of ongoing services designed to keep your messaging solution operating optimally with a high degree of security, availability, administration control, and end user support. All operating system and application products are purchased by Progent and are owned by Progent, and all maintenance of systems and other equipment is implemented at no charge to clients. Progent's fast and non-stop Internet interfaces offer 3 MBPS performance.

Integration and support offered as part of Progent's Microsoft Exchange hosting services include:

• Seamless Integration with Your Information System
  Progent's hosting service for Microsoft Exchange is transparent to your employees, clients, and partners. Your existing email domain name is preserved as well as your internal email addresses, contacts, file set up, and group configurations. Your email will also be available anywhere and any time through Outlook Web Access or Microsoft Exchange mobile service. Progent will also set up Exchange Server to handle remote synchronization with Window Mobile-based computing appliances such as Windows Pocket PCs and smartphones.

• Spam and Virus Filtering
  Progent's hosting service for Exchange features E-Mail Guard spam blocking. E-Mail Guard is based on Postini’s Perimeter Manager, a managed service which routes all your email traffic to secure data centers — ones also used by world class companies like Google, eBay, and Yahoo — where messages and file attachments are filtered using state-of-the-art heuristic rules technology. E-Mail Guard handles the security of enterprise email by performing continually updated spam and virus filtering, content filtering, and protection from mail-borne directory harvesting and DoS attempts. E-Mail Guard also features traffic monitoring, management reporting, and content management tools plus transmission filtering to assist you to troubleshoot your email solution and set and enforce company-wide email policy.

• Continual Security and Performance Monitoring
  Progent's hosting for Microsoft Exchange features constant monitoring of the performance and security of Exchange Server using Microsoft's System Center Operations Manager, an advanced network monitoring solution that automatically uncovers network trouble and trends. Microsoft Operations Manager works by proactively tracking event history, then filtering, consolidating, and evaluating these system events based on an extensive internal database. When Microsoft Operations Manager detects problems or a potentially dangerous tendency, the software can initiate special remediation routines or transmit alarms to alert Progent's messaging maintenance experts.

• Update and Patch Management
  As part of the support provided with Progent's Microsoft Exchange hosting, Progent's Microsoft-certified administrators make sure that patches, security updates, and Microsoft service packs are installed consistently and non-intrusively. Progent will also make sure that additional software supportive of Microsoft Exchange Server is kept up to date. In the event that the Exchange Server host machine must be temporarily shut down for ordinary software maintenance, Progent uses a maintenance interval from 10:00 pm Friday evening to 6:00 am Saturday morning Pacific Time. Progent notifies clients before any planned downtime in order to reduce business disruption.

• Daily Data Backup and Fast Disaster Recovery
  Progent's data backup practices for hosted Microsoft Exchange systems feature one month of daily backups, complete server backups every week, differential backups daily, and full backups with off-site archiving monthly. Progent's virtualized architecture allows fast system recovery in the event of a catastrophic failure, and in case an extreme host failure Progent will migrate the hosted Microsoft Exchange Server environment to another host system within half a business day.

• Help Desk Call Center Support
  Progent's Helpdesk services are provided to maintain Progent's hosted Microsoft Exchange systems. Progent's Technical Response Center (TRC) handles all Helpdesk support and is accessible by phone, email, or the web. Supported by Microsoft-qualified engineers who are expert at delivering Microsoft Exchange support, Progent's Help Desk Call Center can quickly resolve virtually any issue related to Microsoft Exchange and can also offer expert help for a wide array of network issues including system infrastructure, business applications, multi-platform integration, and system security. Progent's Help Desk Call Center can also escalate the most complicated issues to Progent's world-class consulting group which includes Cisco-certified CCIE network specialists, CISA and GIAC certified security professionals, Linux OS consultants, and Mac consultants.

• Microsoft Exchange Administration Services
  Progent's Help Desk Call Center provides all Microsoft Exchange administration services such as adding or removing users, changing security privileges, or resolving capacity problems. Like every service provided by Progent structured on Progent's Help Desk model, Progent's TRC delivers the broad and deep technical expertise and consistent service of an enterprise-class service group, plus the transparent trouble-ticket tracking and follow-up of a well managed Helpdesk.

Progent's Virtual Server Hosting Services
Progent's Virtual Server Hosting service offers full-service hosting for all of a small or midsize organization's network and application in an environment that delivers the top degree of availability, security, and scalability and is also economical and easy to migrate to a different host environment. Progent's Data Center Hosting services are built on advanced virtualization technology that allows small businesses with mixed environments to save significantly on the expense of capital equipment, network support, and IT management while benefiting from world-class availability and an unprecedented level of vendor independence.

Unlike common Software as a Service (SaaS) hosting packages, Progent's Virtual Server Hosting supports all network and application servers in one centrally managed environment and can support mixed platform and non-standardized networks that are typical of small businesses but are troublesome for conventional hosting services. Progent's Virtual Data Center Hosting services keep ownership of the OS and application software in the customer's hands so that moving to a new virtualized environment is quick, safe, and easily affordable. This prevents becoming captive to your initial hosting provider while still providing all the investment savings inherent with Application Service Provider (ASP) and SaaS hosting service models.

Find out more about Progent's Virtual Data Center Hosting and Management Services.

Contact Progent for Exchange Server 2010 and Exchange 2007 Solutions
If you need help with Exchange Server 2010 or Exchange 2007 or want to learn more about Progent's hosting services for Microsoft Exchange, call 800-993-9400 or contact exchange-help@progent.com