If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard a thousand times – “If you can’t beat them, join them.” And Microsoft is one of those companies that nobody can beat – at least not when it comes to the streamlined integration of hardware and software. And when it comes to their hosted exchange services, Microsoft delivers several flavors of awesomeness, that’ll jack you up in ways you might not have even thought of.

But maybe you’ve never heard of hosting – and we’re not talking about your grandma’s dinner parties here. When I say “hosting,” I’m talking about using services owned, operated and (most importantly) backed up by another person or company, in a different physical location from your business.

As small business owners, we need to recognize that there’s more to a business than just slashing costs and driving sales. I’d never discount the importance of those things, mind you, but here are a few things hosted exchange can do for you:

It can protect you from spam and malware, for one thing. Microsoft’s hosted servers (definitely the most popular, and quite possibly the best) aren’t just a hobby project gathering dust in some dude’s garage. These are some of the best servers money can buy, and they’re staffed by serious professionals and kept in climate-controlled, secure buildings. These people work every shift, through most holidays, to ensure that no Trojan horse, worm, virus, or whatever is going to penetrate their armor – and if some incredible viral ‘wunderkind’ actually succeeds in doing so, its lifespan will likely be measured in nanoseconds.

These days, a lot of data has to be saved for compliance issues. You already know that it’s a good practice to scan and digitally store all your receipts (if you didn’t, just pretend you did) – but did you know that a frequent practice among successful businesses is to save EVERY communication to or from their offices, at every level?

See, everybody knows you’re going to put your best face forward when your CEO gives a telephone interview to a major news source. But what happens when one of your sales reps is playing text tag with a client, and that client later tries to sue your whole company because of a purportedly scandalous remark your sales rep may or may not have said? If you don’t have records, you don’t have a case. You know the old saying: “The truth shall set you free. But only if you remember to keep records of it.”

Encryption isn’t just a buzzword anymore. If you have competitors, you have the possibility of some malicious hacker trying to gain access to your information. Unless you want to dedicate a significant part of your resources to fighting off this immortal albatross, you’d better use hosting.

And what do you plan to do when something happens to your main office? Yes, I said when, because sooner or later bad luck strikes everyone. And they say that fortune favors the well-prepared. If you want to keep access to your e-mail and backup files, again, you’d better use hosting services. And from what I’ve read about them, Microsoft offers some of the best.

This is guest post made by’ Gavin’ , If you also wish to write guest post for us write me at amol@seobloggingtips.com