The new Exchange Online Protection is high on the list of enhancements Microsoft will talk about this week. This cloud-based service provides malware and spam detection and protection. It also offers back-up email queueing for on-premises servers and usage analytics data, such as reporting, auditing and message tracing. Exchange Online Protection, which is an upgrade to Forefront Online Protection for Exchange, also features inbound message blocking, content filtering and transport rules.

Both Google and Microsoft are embedding hosted email hygiene services into their core mailbox services, which is generally a good idea, said Gartner analyst Matthew Cain. "Organizations which need additional services such as targeted phishing attach prevention or rich data loss protection will need to turn to third-party hygiene suppliers," Cain said via email.

The new Exchange comes with a data loss prevention (DLP) capability that automates the detection, monitoring and protection of sensitive content and data on email based on pre-established policies, rules and exceptions. The DLP functionality can trigger a variety of actions, including stopping an outbound message or placing it in a moderation queue. It can also inform end users about potential violations of company policies regarding the type of data and content they're allowed to send via email, to promote awareness among employees.

"This is an entirely new category in the new Exchange," Atalla said.

Cain said that DLP is increasingly important for organizations and that Microsoft is taking a good first step with this feature, which will mainly target the protection of personally identifiable information. "Some organizations, however, will require a more comprehensive DLP service from third parties," Cain said.