Microsoft is still in the process of testing Office 14, which will likely coincide with the next release of Exchange Server.  Microsoft already offers a hosted version of Exchange 2007 for some customers, but the next release of Exchange Server, currently known as E14, will include improvements to make Exchange Server more suited for a fully hosted version.

This is good news for Microsoft, considering that recent research form Forrester shows that services like Google’s Gmail cost 1/3 that of traditional on-site email solutions.  According to Forrester, it costs around $25.18 per month per user for on-site, hosted email vs. $8.47 for Gmail to operate.

Email is one of those services that I still say is easier to convert to SaaS than others.  It’s one I’d really love to see more companies adopt.

Filed under: Enterprise Web, Google, Microsoft, SaaS