Symantec Enterprise Vault vs. Microsoft Exchange Server Archiving

Koen Vermoesen — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 18:38:13 +0000

Earlier on today Symantec tweeted an article comparing archiving features offered by both Symantec Enterprise Vault and Microsoft Exchange Server. They might call it a

Great article

but I’m not sure I agree. From my point of view the article reveals nothing that isn’t known for months. Exchange 2010 is RTM for half a year already. What I really would like to see (and so are others) is a detailed comparison between both Enterprise Vault and Exchange Server. So far I’ve not been able to find such a comparison anywhere on the public internet, so let me have a shot at it myself:

	Microsoft Exchange Server 2010	Symantec Enterprise Vault 9
Archiving Targets	Exchange Server	Exchange Server Lotus Domino Sharepoint Server File Servers
Prerequisites	SP1 to store primary and secondary mailboxes in separate databases OWA or Outlook 2010 to access the archives	Support for E2K10 from SP1 onwards Support for E2K10 ≠ Support for Outlook 2010 Additional client software required
Integration	Seamless integration, both client and server side; pst-like Mailbox search and conversation view work across both mailboxes	Training required for both the Administrator and the end user Additional technology “Stubs”, Archive Explorer look “different” to the end user. Virual Vault looks just like a pst
Offline Archive Support	None	Offline Vault
Storage	Exchange databases No SIS	SIS Special options like WORM, lots of choice
Legal Position	Weak	Strong
Migration	Easy (?) In place upgrades not supported, need to do swing migrations	Hard (?) Cannot skip major versions. Need to pay attention to compatibility both for client and server side software
Cost	Enterprise CAL’s (Client Access Licenses) required Possibly additional server licenses	Additional software to license Additional hardware Training
Conclusion	Low end alternative for pst-files for the first time ever	If you want to archive… … for legal reasons … multiple targets … to specific storage solutions

Note: This info is preliminary. Both products are in need for E2K10 SP1 before they can be taken seriously. Enterprise Vault 9 is still in beta at the moment and will only support E2010 from SP1 onwards. Exchange Server 2010 will allow separating primary and secondary mailboxes starting with SP1. This highly anticipated Service Pack will probably be released somewhere around Q3 of this year.

Apart from that I’m convinced we’re actually seeing the trusted Microsoft strategy of entering the market with a basic feature set. They feel the temperature and then gain market share gradually. Release after release.

Whether you agree or not, or just want to contribute to the discussion; feel free to comment.

Filed under: Messaging, Software Tagged: EnterpriseVault, Exchange

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Symantec Enterprise Vault vs. Microsoft Exchange Server Archiving