Microsoft has recently introduced a cost-effective Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS) Essentials option. Looking closely at this model, it is basically SBS Standard without the Exchange and SharePoint options. So why would you want such a bare-bones server?
There are several reasons. It allows you to use cloud technology to augment and complete your IT infrastructure. It integrates with Office 365’s Cloud backup and management solutions. And if you are crazy about the Microsoft Cloud options, you can run it with Google Apps for the email portion, allowing yourself Cloud email feature (please see the post titled “Google Apps Benefits”) with a local server for fast access to your data.
Why is this combination so powerful? Having your entire infrastructure in one basket reduces your stress. Things are spread out hence a single point of failure – essentially the all-in-one server is not a worry.
The cost is also an important factor. A hybrid setup like this will incur a monthly cost, but combining Google Apps with a simple local-server setup is a quick, powerful, and affordable setup for a beginning company.