My experience with the different SBS versions goes back a long ways. Essentials is less work in my experience so far. Partly because there is less stuff to go wrong.
Overall, managing Exchange hasn't been a big deal. I always wonder what is going on in some of the companies that talk about having a lot of issues with Exchange and the users. Granted my customers are 100 and less but Exchange makes up a very small part of issues I contend with. With them wanting an Intranet and using SharePoint, Essentials may not work by itself. SharePoint isn't included in the box. If they go with Office 365 they can then have SharePoint online. SharePoint causes customers getting used to doing some things differently. There are more questions about SharePoint then there are Exchange/Outlook. Having someone at the company knowledgeable about SharePoint would definitely be a help. My wife works for a large bank. In the beginning she was always asking questions about how to do something in SharePoint. Sometimes to the point that I asked a couple of times where to send the training invoices. Now she hardly ever asks a question. Working a lot with it has helped. From: Rankin, James R [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2011 12:53 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Re: SBS Essentials 2011 Its the maintenance and complexity I was concerned about. Managing Exchange for a client with no on-site expertise and that doesn't want big ongoing support costs is the major issue. So it sounds like Essentials might be a better bet. They also want an intranet so the SharePoint stuff should be handy, but again its the maintenance associated with it that is their major concern. Sent from my SR-71 Blackbird _____ From: "Art DeKneef" <[email protected]> Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2011 12:45:31 -0700 To: NT System Admin Issues<[email protected]> ReplyTo: "NT System Admin Issues" <[email protected]> Subject: RE: SBS Essentials 2011 To answer some of the questions about SBS 2011 Essentials. I have deployed and use it. But like anything, what are your customers' requirements? Essentials is not cloud-based. What do you mean by cloud-based? Parts of it can be in the cloud. It costs less than Standard, supports AD if you want it, can do server and client backup, file storage can be local, no need for CALs (25 are included in the cost), could be lower maintenance, I think it is less complex because of the parts that are not included, Exchange, WSUS and SharePoint, can be setup so the client can do some basic tasks. The beta for integration with Office 365 is out now. For the small office that doesn't want or need Exchange in-house I think it's a great solution. Tie in Office 365 and Intune and you have a small managed solutions package you can offer customers. From: Burian, Matthew J. (mjb) [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2011 11:14 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Re: SBS Essentials 2011 I would be particularly interested if it integrated with Office 365 for email and collaboration services. _____ From: Steve Ens <[email protected]> Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2011 13:05:19 -0500 To: NT System Admin Issues<[email protected]> ReplyTo: "NT System Admin Issues" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: SBS Essentials 2011 I've migrated a few clients over to 2011 standard, but haven't touched essentials. Isn't it just integrating the "cloud" for the storage? On Wed, Nov 2, 2011 at 12:00 PM, Rankin, James R <[email protected]> wrote: Mainly wondering about the cloud-based Essentials vs the standard SBS 2011. Its limited to 25 users as I understand, but looks like it might be lower in the maintenance/complexity stakes for the client. Sent from my SR-71 Blackbird -----Original Message----- From: David Lum <[email protected]> Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2011 16:54:50 To: NT System Admin Issues<[email protected]> Reply-To: "NT System Admin Issues" <[email protected]>Subject: RE: SBS Essentials 2011 +1 also interested. I have two clients on SBS 2003 that should really upgrade sooner than later... -----Original Message----- From: Rankin, James R [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2011 9:46 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: SBS Essentials 2011 Anyone deployed or used this, any good or bad stories and experiences to share? I have a client who might be a fit for this but am still at the planning stage so could easily look at other alternatives. TIA, JRR Sent from my SR-71 Blackbird ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
