Email 365 upgrade - Implications?

[tfc]

I noticed that the server addresses for e-mail now become pop.outlook.com, and smtp.outlook.com.

Looking up outlook.com on Google comes up with the information that "Outlook.com is free modern email service from Microsoft." Certainly the server addresses resolve to IP addresses in the 157.056.X.X range which are owned by Microsoft.

Does this mean that BT have now handed over the whole of their customer e-mail base to Microsoft?

If this is so, how does everyone feel about having every one of their business e-mails potentially being examined and analysed by Microsoft?

Please could someone in BT explain what is happening and what are the implications for business users?

[DaveA]

Hi,

I'm making enquiries.  Will let you know when I get something back.

Dave

[pwcircuits]

I'll be interested in your findings too .... keep us posted ....

[tfc]

DaveA Thank you. I look forward to BT's response.

I have also just noticed that the situation (of Microsoft processing BT's Business customers' mail) seems to have been going on since early October 2011. Since then, all incoming e-mails have been processed via bigfish.com which is another name which resolves to a Microsoft block of addresses and the webisite www.bigfish.com redirects to a Microsoft site Exchange Online - Hosted Email for Business. However, this only affects incoming mail. Outgoing mail is sent out by the BT server directly.

Form the date a customer is upgraded to Email 365, all e-mails incoming and outgoing will pass via Microsoft.

[DaveA]

Hi,

Forgot to post this on Friday:

"The data held by Microsoft on the Office 365 platform is only available to BT. BT does not share the data held with other sites and Microsoft, who manage this service and host the data on behalf of BT, are not allowed to use the data in any way other than to provide the service to BT."

There you go.

Dave