Exchange 2013 also has features to simplify the management of email messages that need to be kept indefinitely in a "tamper proof" manner. Instead of having to move these messages to a separate system, Exchange 2013 administrators can keep them in the same system as the other messages by applying "hold" policies to them, either at the end user, group, mailbox or individual message level.

The new Exchange also has expanded e-discovery features, including the ability of compliance officers to not only search for Exchange messages, calendar entries and contacts, but also SharePoint documents, sites, files, wikis and blogs, as well as Lync instant messaging conversations, Atalla said.

As in other areas of enterprise messaging and collaboration, Microsoft faces a variety of competitors like IBM Lotus, VMware's Zimbra and Google's Apps, which is in the process of gaining native email security, archiving and compliance features via an ongoing integration of Postini services and technology.

Google remains the main competitive threat to Microsoft in enterprise email. "The only other email vendor we see being consistently successful in landing new enterprise email business is Google," Cain said.

The IDG News Service