Emailing is one of the earliest forms of digital communications over the internet. Yet email is still the most preferred communication medium in business. Over 360 billion emails are sent and received every day. This popularity is in part due to email’s simplicity and flexibility.
Email appears to be so simple, in fact, it's tempting to host your own email server. You could easily set up what, for all intents and purposes, would be a functional email server using some readily available hardware and software.
Imagine not relying on email services such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace or Zoho. The premise of self-hosted email is quite tempting. But is it really worth it?
Sadly, "no." While it might appear simple, the modern email landscape adds significant risk and complexity to running your own email server. Let's discuss what makes self-hosted business email servers such a bad idea.
The Advantages of Self-Hosted Email
Let’s start on the brighter side. Here are three main reasons why you’d want a private email server:
You own your data
With an on-premise email server, you can be sure that your email data never leaves your business. No email service providers could snoop around your data or use it to train AI (although note that the commercial offerings from Microsoft, Google and Zoho do have stronger privacy policies than the corresponding free editions)
Freedom from email service providers
A private email server frees you from the bureaucracies of big email service providers. No more storage limitations, bills at the end of the month, or features you don’t even need.
Control over email security
An on-premise email server gives you complete control over your email data and security. You can decide what security measures to implement, and your data never goes through third-party tech companies. However, as you’ll see later, this is a sort of double-edged sword.
The Problem with On-Premise Email
So, what’s so bad about hosting your own email?
Self-hosted email comes with its own set of issues, many of which may not be worth tackling. These issues include:
It requires dedication and technical knowledge
In this blog's introduction we may have oversold how easy it is to set up and run an email server. While it’s true you could run it from a typical laptop, configuring and running the server correctly calls for skill and dedication.
It takes expert-level knowledge in networking, database management, server administration, and coding to build a working email server from scratch. You may even need to hire a dedicated expert to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Email security is on you
Email security is no joke. Even big players like Google and Microsoft cannot guarantee 100% email security. Cybercriminals are always finding new and more sophisticated ways to compromise business emails.
Between April 2022 and April 2023, Microsoft Threat Intelligence investigated 35 million business email compromise (BEC) attempts. That works out to 156,000 attempts daily. And according to the latest data from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), in just the first half of 2021, BEC scams resulted in $26 million in reported losses.
Are you still confident about securing your own email server?
It’s difficult to maintain uninterrupted server uptime
The server’s uptime will depend on many factors outside your control. For example, the strength and availability of your internet connection, the available ports on your network, and your hardware’s reliability will all play a role in keeping the server online.
The slightest issue can render your email server unavailable for hours or even days. Unless you’re prepared to build expensive redundancies around anything that could go wrong, the server may never achieve 100% uptime.
Email deliverability may not be guaranteed
An email server's reputation matters when it comes to deliverability. Other email servers may flag your very unique email server as suspect, especially if you do not have SPF and DKIM set up properly. If this happens, most of your outgoing emails will end up in spam folders or might not be delivered at all.
Alternatives to Self-Hosted Email
Clearly, the trouble of running an on-premise email server is not worth it. The cons far outweigh the pros. So, what should you do instead?
Why not select an established managed email services provider such as Microsoft, Google or Zoho? You’ll still get a custom domain and unlimited control over your data. But you won’t have to worry about the server’s security, uptime, or maintenance.
Even better news: Highway 99 Technology Solutions can make that happen. Talk to us about your email needs, and we’ll help you find a fitting, hassle-free solution.
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