Background:
We currently have an in-house SBS 2011 with Exchange server. We have a small home office, with staff around the world.
Due in a large part to an inconsistent electricity supply at our headquarters, email reliability has been a constant problem. Our building does not have capacity for a proper data center or backup power generator. When the power goes out here - a fairly frequent event - staff worldwide loses the ability to use email.
This unpredictable communications system has been a serious problem for us. We have been exploring other options to manage email, and have received conflicting opinions on whether we can use SBS without Exchange.
We need to keep a solution for keeping computers at the headquarters office up to date with anti-malware solutions, and to provide shared storage and backup functions. Currently, staff not based at headquarters do not have access to shared storage or backup, just email. I think Active Directory is active, and that the server also acts as domain controller. In addition to whatever firewall SBS may have, we have a hardware firewall.
Question:
Is it possible to move to a remote, cloud-based email service for all our staff, while retaining the SBS 2011 to handle anti-malware updates and storage functions?
I found these related topics which seem to indicate this split should be possible, but since this is outside my expertise I am not certain of my interpretation. I am a software developer, and don't have a lot of exposure to Microsoft server administration or network management. If you need further information in order to help me, please ask and I'll find out.
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/smallbusinessserver/thread/7622dbc5-be76-40e8-9e83-9cf8554cdd76
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/smallbusinessserver/thread/99e38629-19a3-4c5f-afe6-d1291555087b