Exchange Server 2007 emphasizes security

Microsoft will add new built-in protection features to the next version of its Exchange messaging server in an effort to provide a more secure user environment for business customers, the head of Microsoft's Exchange division said Thursday.

Exchange Server 2007 will be in final beta release before September and should be released to manufacturing in late 2006 or early 2007. It will include enhancements to give users broader access to their e-mail anywhere from multiple devices, as well as provide better operational efficiency for network managers, said Dave Thompson, corporate vice president of Exchange at Microsoft.

Thompson was on a press tour in the U.S. this week to promote Exchange Server 2007 and also provide an update on the Exchange business at Microsoft. Exchange has been in a battle with IBM's venerable Lotus Notes/Domino software for years, a battle Exchange appears to be winning. Analyst firms including Gartner and IDC put Exchange ahead of Lotus in both market share and growth rates. According to Gartner's 2004 numbers, Exchange revenue growth outpaced Lotus/Domino revenue growth 15.7 percent to 5.4 percent.

New built-in protection features in Exchange Server 2007 include the ability for customers to purchase either on-premise antivirus software or a hosted version. As part of a new enterprise Client Access License (CAL) for the product, customers can purchase Microsoft's Antigen for Exchange antivirus software or Exchange Hosted Filtering services bundled with the Exchange CAL. Antigen and Exchange Hosted Filtering both came in acquisitions Microsoft made last year -- the former from Sybari Software, the second from FrontBridge Technologies. Microsoft's server products include both per-server enterprise licensing and CALs, which are required for corporate users.

Another area that is of particular focus in Exchange Server 2007 is compliance. Microsoft will provide the ability to set e-mail folder policies in Exchange to support compliance across the organization. For example, server administrators can set up policies to prevent employees from different groups in the company -- brokers and financial analysts, for example -- from exchanging e-mail with one another, he said. Administrators also can set up policies that automatically archive e-mail messages pertaining to certain topics, or automatically delete other e-mails.

The new software also will allow users to send encrypted mail between servers running the product. Previously, extra set-up had to be done for this to happen. "Any pair of servers, no matter how they are connected, if they are Exchange Server 2007 they can automatically encrypt traffic between them," Thompson said.

Exchange Server 2007 also will include a host of unified messaging features, such as the ability to play voice-mail messages directly from an e-mail through an embedded version of Windows Media Player. Users also can retrieve e-mail messages by calling into Exchange Server on a telephone and have their e-mail messages read to them by an interactive voice response (IVR) system, Thompson said.

Exchange users also can access information from their calendar through the IVR system, and have Exchange automatically send a message to meeting attendees if he expects to be late to a meeting.