Service. These kind of bids generally come with a specific list of included services with very specific SLAs. If you find you need something even minutely different than the contracted offering, they'll gouge you. They make their money on the change orders.
Ed Crowley MCSE+Internet MVP Freelance E-Mail Philosopher Protecting the world from PSTs and Bricked Backups!T -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jon Hill Sent: Saturday, November 15, 2003 7:57 PM To: Exchange Discussions Subject: outsource!? My CIO has asked me to attend a meeting in which IBM is going to propose outsourcing our e-mail services, taking over for our 350 Exchange 2000 mailboxes. I'm looking for arguments to marshal against outsourcing. So far, what I've got is: * security: We use Clearswift MIMEsweeper to block incoming (and outgoing) messages containing viruses or executable files (.bat, .exe, etc.). This being IBM, I'm sure they can protect against viruses, though. * disaster recovery: Our disaster site is updated in real time. During the blackout in August e-mail was up twenty minutes after I arrived at the DR site. Again, probably not a potent line item against IBM. * regulatory: we have some regulatory requirements for keeping all records (including e-mail) on site for seven years. * integration: Our CRM solution integrates directly into Exchange, adding contacts directly to the users' mailboxes. * performance: I have trouble seeing how performance would be adequate when the mail server is off site. * price: 250 users. 350 mailboxes. 140GB/month (according to the Journal folders). That can't be cheap. * legacy: Seven years of preexisting e-mail, spread out among mailboxes and pst files. About 200GB all told. What else am I missing? _________________________________________________________________ List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm Web Interface: http://intm-dl.sparklist.com/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=exchange&text_mode=&lang =english To unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________________________ List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm Web Interface: http://intm-dl.sparklist.com/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=exchange&text_mode=&lang=english To unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
