I use Microsoft Exchange Online mainly for emails.
Network Security Engineer at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
An easy-to -use and stable solution that can be used for emails
Pros and Cons
- "Microsoft Exchange Online is an easy-to -use email solution."
- "Microsoft Exchange Online should have a faster search feature."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
Microsoft Exchange Online is an easy-to -use email solution.
What needs improvement?
Microsoft Exchange Online should have a faster search feature.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft Exchange Online for eight years.
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Exchange Online
January 2026
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Microsoft Exchange Online is a very stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Microsoft Exchange Online is a scalable solution.
How was the initial setup?
The solution’s initial setup is straightforward.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I rate Microsoft Exchange Online ten out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Solution architect at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
User-friendly, intuitive, and scalable
Pros and Cons
- "All of the features are beneficial, but the scheduling feature is particularly useful."
- "The stability of the solution on Mac products has room for improvement."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution for emailing.
What is most valuable?
50 percent of my work is accomplished via email. All of the features are beneficial, but the scheduling feature is particularly useful.
The solution is user-friendly and intuitive.
What needs improvement?
The stability of the solution on Mac products has room for improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for 25 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I give the stability a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. We have ten thousand people using the solution in our organization.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Our organization pays for a corporate license to use the solution.
What other advice do I have?
I give the solution a ten out of ten.
Microsoft Exchange Online is simple and intuitive and I recommend the solution.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Exchange Online
January 2026
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Exchange Online. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
IT Manager at a legal firm with 51-200 employees
Quick setup, useful online archiving, and highly scalable
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of Microsoft Exchange Online is if you have people that are geographically distributed from each other is good. For example, if you have people in the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, having an online solution works best because then you can reach the scale of the data centers that are available by Microsoft. Additionally, if you're only going to have two to three people using the solution the cost is a lot less than having an onsite server and licensing. It is highly beneficial in these areas."
- "The support from the vendor is fine. However, it could be faster, and some of the agents could be more knowledgeable, but it is a large solution, there's a lot of information that the agents have to work with. I can't always expect when I get connected to the first-level agent that they will know absolutely everything. Sometimes there's no replacement for pure experience."
What is our primary use case?
Microsoft Exchange Online is used for emails and it does a fantastic job.
The only reason why you would choose an online solution is the company that you're working at is they do not want to have an onsite server. The companies that want something on-site would choose the on-premise version.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Microsoft Exchange Online is if you have people that are geographically distributed from each other is good. For example, if you have people in the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, having an online solution works best because then you can reach the scale of the data centers that are available by Microsoft. Additionally, if you're only going to have two to three people using the solution the cost is a lot less than having an onsite server and licensing. It is highly beneficial in these areas.
The online archiving option works well. If you have a lot of emails and you want to keep them indefinitely, then you can use the online archive. It's available permanently and you can store quite a bit of email inside it.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft Exchange Online for approximately four and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of the solution is good. I've only had an issue with it once or twice, but that was due to undersea cable damage.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Microsoft Exchange Online is highly scalable.
We have a lot of users using this solution.
How are customer service and support?
The support from the vendor is fine. However, it could be faster, and some of the agents could be more knowledgeable, but it is a large solution, there's a lot of information that the agents have to work with. I can't always expect when I get connected to the first-level agent that they will know absolutely everything. Sometimes there's no replacement for pure experience.
I rate the support from Microsoft Exchange Online a three out of five.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of the cloud version is similar to the on-premise version. You can have a straightforward or semi-complex deployment. Cloud deployments do not become as complex as the on-premise version, but they can, depending on how it is used.
The deployment of the solution only takes five minutes. It is very useful when deploying from scratch. As soon as you have the domain up and running it is complete and ready to go.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The license for the solution is cheap, but it could be more affordable in the long term.
What other advice do I have?
We have one level two or level three engineer that does the deployment and maintenance of the solution. The online version does not require a lot of people to run it.
I recommend this solution to others and they will not regret it. They should not use other solutions.
I rate Microsoft Exchange Online a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Manager, Information Technology at a venture capital & private equity firm with 10,001+ employees
It's easy to deploy and scale, but it can be complex to incorporate different departmental requirements into one platform
Pros and Cons
- "Exchange Online is consistent. It's easy to deploy and scale out to all of our organizations."
- "The efficiency could improved."
What is our primary use case?
We use Microsoft Exchange Onlne for communication, collaboration, and some project management tasks.
What is most valuable?
Exchange Online is consistent. It's easy to deploy and scale out to all of our organizations.
What needs improvement?
The efficiency could improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Exchange Online for more than 10 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Exchange Online must be reliable and available for our operations.
How was the initial setup?
It can be complex to incorporate the unique requirements of each division into a single platform to meet all of the requirements. It's not hard to maintain Exchange Online, but you need an expert on your team and some outside help from the vendor.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Microsoft Exchange Online seven out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Systems Administrator at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
A stable solution with a good storage capacity
Pros and Cons
- "It has helped us because we don't have to worry about servers crashing."
- "The mail-blocking feature is not great and could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case for the solution is focused on the email team. We are currently in a hybrid environment and have some users on cloud and some on-premises. So we are migrating everybody from on-premises to the cloud by the end of this year.
How has it helped my organization?
It has helped us because we don't have to worry about servers crashing. Everything has been stable since we began migrating to the cloud.
What is most valuable?
We have found the availability of large storage valuable.
What needs improvement?
The mail-blocking feature is not great and could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the solution for approximately three years and are currently using Microsoft Exchange 2013.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable, and we have not had any downtime in the last three years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable and approximately two people are required for deployment and maintenance.
How are customer service and support?
We rate customer service and support an eight out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have not previously used other solutions.
How was the initial setup?
I cannot comment on the initial setup as a third party did it for us.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented it via a Microsoft third-party vendor.
What was our ROI?
We have seen a return on investment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing cost varies. For example, we have E1 and E3 licenses. Currently, it's approximately E3 $20 per user.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the solution a nine out of ten. The solution is good, but the mail-blocking feature can be improved. I advise new users considering implementing the solution to consider using a third-party vendor for the implementation process.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
CDO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Convenient, easy to install, and scalable when deployed on the cloud, but has too many products integrated with it that it has now lost focus
Pros and Cons
- "What I like about Microsoft Exchange Online is that it's a very convenient solution because it's part of the Microsoft business suite. This is the first email service I've used that lasted for many years, and I'm still using it because it's very convenient and it's suitable for my needs. Microsoft Exchange Online is the best product in the world for me because I don't remember any other service that's so well-accepted."
- "What I don't like about Microsoft Exchange Online is too much integration because now it has many services connected to it. In the beginning, it was just email, and now it's also Teams and Visio, and many other services which I don't like. Microsoft Exchange Online should focus on one service. The product now lost focus, and this is its area for improvement. I would also like more freedom in choosing to use just one service, for example, just Microsoft Exchange Online, which means I don't need Teams or any other Microsoft product or service there. Right now, all services are either in the Microsoft Office suite, or there are more products or services integrated with Microsoft Exchange Online, and I'd like to just focus on one."
What is our primary use case?
We're using Microsoft Exchange Online for our emails.
What is most valuable?
What I like about Microsoft Exchange Online is that it's a very convenient solution because it's part of the Microsoft business suite. This is the first email service I've used that lasted for many years, and I'm still using it because it's very convenient and it's suitable for my needs.
Microsoft Exchange Online is the best product in the world for me because I don't remember any other service that's so well-accepted.
What needs improvement?
What I don't like about Microsoft Exchange Online is too much integration because now it has many services connected to it. In the beginning, it was just email, and now it's also Teams and Visio, and many other services which I don't like.
Microsoft Exchange Online should focus on one service. The product now lost focus, and this is its area for improvement.
I would also like more freedom in choosing to use just one service, for example, just Microsoft Exchange Online, which means I don't need Teams or any other Microsoft product or service there. Right now, all services are either in the Microsoft Office suite, or there are more products or services integrated with Microsoft Exchange Online, and I'd like to just focus on one.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Microsoft Exchange Online for more than ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Microsoft Exchange Online is a stable product, in particular, when it's on the cloud. It's stable when it's dependent on the cloud, but if it's deployed on-premises, Microsoft Exchange Online is not stable.
It's a very old product with the same code, even on Windows. Nothing's changed, and my company is using Windows NT for Microsoft Exchange Online with Unix as the code.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Microsoft Exchange Online is a scalable solution.
How are customer service and support?
We haven't used the technical support for Microsoft Exchange Online.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Microsoft Exchange Online is the first service I've used, and all the new services in the market are a little bit different from this solution. Microsoft is a very old company, and almost all of my colleagues started with Microsoft products, so it's just natural to continue using Microsoft Exchange Online.
How was the initial setup?
Microsoft Exchange Online is easy to install.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is a license for Microsoft Exchange Online and I have information on that, but there have been so many changes to the licensing and it's a completely different story nowadays. Microsoft has been pushing users to buy a package of products under one license. Users are becoming more dependent on Microsoft rather than independent, that you can't decide anymore, and from my point of view, that is bad.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
My company evaluated Qualitas, Unix, HP, and IBM.
What other advice do I have?
In my company, Microsoft Exchange Online is deployed both on the cloud and on-premises.
More than two thousand people use Microsoft Exchange Online in my company of four thousand employees.
At the moment, there's no plan of increasing usage of the product because of the current crisis.
In terms of whether I would recommend Microsoft Exchange Online to others, with the integration it has, it depends on the focus of the company. For small markets, Microsoft Exchange Online is "too big" because it has a lot of services and you'll be paying for services provided in the package, with some you don't get to use. For end users, this would be difficult, but for companies, especially bigger ones that would have a choice, Microsoft Exchange Online is a good product. My recommendation would depend on the case because every user is different, for example, the purpose is different, the business is different, etc.
My rating for Microsoft Exchange Online is seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Assistant Manager Technical at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Features like SharePoint Online allow for collaboration between our team members
Pros and Cons
- "We also create technical presentations, so most of the time we are dealing with MS Word and Excel. Sometimes, we also use Visio for diagramming. Our overall experience is good."
- "They should tighten their cloud security."
What is most valuable?
We use SharePoint Online for the collaboration of our team and for other desktop applications we are using in-house.
We also create technical presentations, so most of the time we are dealing with MS Word and Excel. Sometimes, we also use Visio for diagramming. Our overall experience is good.
What needs improvement?
They should tighten their cloud security. If you are using Microsoft Office 365, the responsibility of backup is not on the part of Microsoft. It is on the part of the customer. Microsoft Office should give some kind of built-in solution with the Office 365 subscription regarding the backup of their online mailboxes.
For how long have I used the solution?
My company has been a Microsoft Gold partner for the last 12 years. As soon as we became a Gold partner, we started to use Office 365.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We can have different plans. If we are scaling, then obviously we can go for the enterprise plan and add an unlimited number of users to our Office 365 plan.
How are customer service and support?
Overall, technical support is very good. My colleagues reached out to Microsoft technical support many times for queries. They are very responsive.
How was the initial setup?
Setup was really simple. We migrated our customers from a different platform to Microsoft Office 365. There is a separate technical team. I designed the solution only.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
They have raised their prices, and obviously, it hits our customers. Some of them are deciding to step back from Office 365. For customers who have bought the annual subscription, they are moving to the monthly subscription.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution 8 out of 10.
I would recommend Office 365. It's a global product, and overall they have a larger footprint in the world. We're a Microsoft Gold partner, so as soon as the customer moves to Office 365, obviously our business will also grow.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Program and performance manager at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Simple, easy to use, scalable, and easy to install
Pros and Cons
- "Microsoft Exchange Online is very simple and easy to use."
- "For non-technical people, some configurations might be a little bit difficult. We can use it on our laptops or our portable devices like mobiles and others gadgets, but we have had repeated problems with syncing. That is, when using different gadgets and devices, there are issues with syncing. The configuration could definitely be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We use SharePoint and Active Directory, meaning that all telecom users and customers are authenticated. We use it as a gateway.
What is most valuable?
Microsoft Exchange Online is very simple and easy to use.
What needs improvement?
For non-technical people, some configurations might be a little bit difficult. We can use it on our laptops or our portable devices like mobiles and others gadgets, but we have had repeated problems with syncing. That is, when using different gadgets and devices, there are issues with syncing. The configuration could definitely be improved.
Technical support is needed for any log-in credential problems and other related issues.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using it since 2008.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable. We have around 16,000 users in our company.
How was the initial setup?
There are no problems with the installation, but when you finish the installation and get to the authentication part of the log-in, there may be problems. It needs improvement.
A team of not more than ten is needed for deployment and maintenance.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have yearly licensing costs.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Microsoft Exchange Online at eight on a scale from one to ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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Updated: January 2026
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