To make it easier for IT to spot problems quickly, vendors are adding visual features such as graphics of the network and e-mail traffic flows, she adds.

For example, Con-way's Bueffel uses the Topology Viewer feature in Spotlight on Exchange. Data collected by Spotlight -- such as the SMTP and MAPI connections, the available storage, and response time of the mailbox store -- is displayed in both a diagnostic console and graphical topology viewer. "You can see where there is a bottleneck," says Bueffel. He uses the MessageStats reporting tool to help him identify trends and forecast Con-way's future Exchange capacity needs. The reporting and modeling capabilities also help him stay ahead of demand, Bueffel says.

University Health System Inc. (UHS) in Knoxville, Tenn., employs DYS Analytics Inc.'s Control to manage its Exchange servers and diagnose problems with e-mail delivery or configuration issues. UHS also uses Argent Software Inc.'s Guardian database monitoring product to watch for bottlenecks in the e-mail databases and queues.

"If the server stops, it will restart it for me or page me for other problems. It's like having an extra employee keeping an eye on things," says systems manager Jerry Hook.

Managing the volume