What is Outlook / Exchange?

For most businesses today, e-mail is the mission-critical communications tool that allows their people to produce the best results. This greater reliance on e-mail has increased the number of messages sent and received, the variety of work getting done, and even the speed of business itself. Amid this change, employee expectations have also evolved. Today, employees look for rich, efficient access—to e-mail, calendars, attachments, contacts, and more—no matter where they are or what type of device they are using.

Microsoft Exchange is a computer server that centrally stores a company's email, files, task lists, calendar and contact information. Here are a few reasons Exchange is the world’s most popular business messaging platform: If you come from the IT/engineering world, you are likely familiar with Microsoft Exchange Server, the most popular messaging and collaboration server in the world. Business users, on the other hand, are more familiar with Outlook, the e-mail client. Microsoft Exchange Server is the engine that powers all those wonderful e-mail and information-sharing features in Outlook, so let's take a closer look.