Hi everyone! I'm the IT guy for a small to medium-sized horeca company with around 200 full-time users and a total of about 1000 non-office workers. I've been handling the IT for a few years now, mostly doing Tier 1 helpdesk stuff like helping people restart their PCs. So, I need to find a reliable email hosting solution that doesn't break the bank, specifically with servers located in the EU, preferably in Poland. Currently, I'm almost hitting 6 TB of email storage since I can't find any providers that offer more than 1 TB and most only provide about 300 GB max. I'm using my 9th different email host right now because of the nature of our business, where we have around 200 different domains in use. Given the high volume of both internal and utility emails, paying for Microsoft Outlook or Google Workspace on a per-user basis just isn't financially feasible. I have the authority to make the decision to switch providers and can secure budget for investment. I'm really looking for a better email solution than juggling multiple vendors or incurring high monthly costs. Any recommendations?
4 Answers
You might want to consider hosting your own mail servers since I haven't come across any providers offering 6 TB of storage. With about 200 to 1000 users, you're definitely on the larger side of medium-sized businesses. It could be more cost-effective in the long run.
Have you checked out OVHcloud? They have some good EU-based options that might suit your needs without being too pricey. It’s worth a look!
You mentioned you have the decision-making power; just remember that if you switch to hosting everything through one provider due to management ease, you might end up with costs that aren't unreasonable compared to the chaos of using 9 different hosts. For 200 full-time users, consider going for Office 365's E1 plans and for the other 1000 non-office workers, Exchange Online P1 plans. It may seem like a lot monthly, but it offers a manageable solution and support that could save you hassle long-term.
If you're open to self-hosted solutions, look into Mailcow or Zimbra hosted on a provider like Hetzner. It requires more setup but is EU-based, scalable, and can be more economical than managing multiple email hosts.
If you can combine some of those emails into shared mailboxes or aliases, it could really bring down your costs for MS365! But if you're looking for an on-prem solution, getting a consultant involved is definitely a must.