On-premises server/exchange or Office 365 for this company?

[BadBoy House]

I visited a potential new client earlier this week. A shop/cash and carry. They have an old server that they are considering replacing and they were also looking at replacing their workstations with new ones.

Wondered if I could get some second opinions:

Their server is a pretty old HP ProLiant ML310 Pentium D so barely much more than a desktop. It's running Server 2003 Small Business with Exchange 2003.

They use the server for storing shared files, databases etc (approx. 170GB) and one of the computers has an exchange mailbox set up in Outlook. They don't use or need Outlook on the other computers.

They have a separate premises, which is a warehouse. There are a couple of computers at that warehouse.

They are particularly interested in being able to access the files stored on the server from the warehouse - i.e. remotely.

Another company have already given them a quote for a new server, along with replacing all the workstations(?) and the associated setup. The quote they have is for all on-premises server, exchange etc.

I'm thinking this might be a bit overkill. Accessing files stored on the server from the remote warehouse might not be easy with this.

Rather, they might be better off with Office 365 - an Exchange account for however many people need one (probably just one), and OneDrive for storing their files. This would also give them the ability to access files from the warehouse.


Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

How many users total? Or rather..how many computers?
What "apps" does the server host?

I would tend to agree with moving to O365....and using OneDrive to share files.

//Ouch...a Pentium D running SBS03...LOL...must be a hoot rebooting that...can go take a nap!

So back to their existing setup...how many workstations? Multi-site...so how many at each?
If their only goal is sharing files...and not hosting any "apps" from the server....like it's also the server for a point of sales software or inventory software? Might even go straight back to workgroup mode...and do O365. Or perhaps toss a NAS in the mix. Yeah I'm typically a server guy and want a real server in there...but in this case...not sure one is needed yet.

 

[freedomit]

Definetly don't go for on premise Exchange, we don't even quote it anymore for companies with less than 25 mailboxes.

Questions to ask....Do they need AD? Do hey have any business software? What about a NAS with some kind of cloud sync (Netgear/Egnyte)?

 

[altrenda]

How many users total? Or rather..how many computers?
What "apps" does the server host?

I would tend to agree with moving to O365....and using OneDrive to share files.

//Ouch...a Pentium D running SBS03...LOL...must be a hoot rebooting that...can go take a nap!

So back to their existing setup...how many workstations? Multi-site...so how many at each?
If their only goal is sharing files...and not hosting any "apps" from the server....like it's also the server for a point of sales software or inventory software? Might even go straight back to workgroup mode...and do O365. Or perhaps toss a NAS in the mix. Yeah I'm typically a server guy and want a real server in there...but in this case...not sure one is needed yet.

I was waiting for your server recommendation, but this does look like an Office 365 solution.

Is that really the tipping point these days, hosting apps or a mailserver? How many workstations before it makes sense to keep it in house, given the per seat cost of O365?

Replacing servers in really small businesses is a big thing these days. they don't want to spend $ on iron unless they really have to.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I was waiting for your server recommendation, but this does look like an Office 365 solution.

Is that really the tipping point these days, hosting apps or a mailserver? How many workstations before it makes sense to keep it in house, given the per seat cost of O365?

Replacing servers in really small businesses is a big thing these days. they don't want to spend $ on iron unless they really have to.

I can't say I have a tipping point as far as how large the client is, for whether to recommend an on prem or cloud Exchange.
On one side...I make more money with on prem Exchange...as I try to get them on a bigger backup, and I will put them on our spam filter service, both of which bring more recurring monthly revenue. So Office 365 takes away from my monthly income....versus on prem Exchange.

Today I finished a proposal for one of my large clients, ~85 staff...to move them from local on prem Exchange 2010 to Office 365 E3. They look forward to using Lync...especially since they have a huge fleet of mobile laptop users out in the field, and doing some file sharing via OneDrive.

But from a clients perspective..it's hard to beat, especially the Small Business bundles...and being fully licensed for the latest full version of Office.

Yeah I know...I'm the guy here at TN that usually comes in overkill with a huge honkin server...but for the case the OP has here...sounds like a small retail store. So unless their POS system needs a proper server....I'd have a hard time trying to justify one.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Depending on the app even it might be shoved on to a VM running on Amazon or Rackspace. But yeah one computer using Exchange? WTF? Put that on the O365.

 

[Markverhyden]

I agree, O365 for Exchange. What is the database app and type of databases? For a retail location, loosing access can be a serious problem. Even for a few hours. So setting up that function locally might make a lot of sense.

 

[BadBoy House]

Really appreciate your input. Thanks.

At the retail shop there are 5 workstations in total.

From what I could see the server didn't host any apps - just file sharing and Exchange. Only one workstation was configured for email (the one with Outlook set to connect to the Exchange server). They have an Access database which each computer accesses via the shared data folder on the server.

Unfortunately the guy who knew what specific software was used and how it had been configured wasn't present when I visited. Made it a little difficult as they didn't have the admin details for the server nor did they know really how anything was set up. I've got to contact this guy to try and get some clearer details.

They definitely sound like a candidate for Office 365. Uploading 170GB of shared files to OneDrive could be fun.

 

[freedomit]

They definitely sound like a candidate for Office 365. Uploading 170GB of shared files to OneDrive could be fun.

Yep, good luck with that. I had to upload 300GB of email to 365 and it wasn't fun