MessageStats uses a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in for its administration interface, shown in Figure 3, making it flexible in Windows environments and adaptable to custom-built MMCs. The reporting interface uses web-based output, which requires Active Server Pages to either be enabled for the site or set to active in IIS running on Windows 2003 or Windows 2008. Figure 3 shows the output is being viewed within the MMC, but it can be presented outside of the interface as well.
After installation, MessageStats shows instructions in the console's right pane detailing the steps needed to compile initial reports. Like the competing products, MessageStats has to collect information from the Exchange organization and save it to its own SQL Server database. For a larger organization, this is a significant step that will require planning. For the initial connection to Exchange, the product's dependence on NetBIOS names seemed a little dated to depend on NetBIOS names, but it worked well.
MessageStats
PROS: Comprehensive reporting options; granular custom report capabilities; flexible, with separate roles that can be installed independently
CONS: No integration with other applications; no extensibility
RATING:4.5 out of 5
PRICE: About $10-$12 per mailbox ($12,000 for 1000 mailboxes across 2 Exchange Servers)
RECOMMENDATION: MessageStats is the best choice for large enterprises that need reporting for Exchange and related technologies such as Blackberry Enterprise Server and Office Communications Server.
CONTACT: Quest Software • 949-754-8000 • www.quest.com/messagestats/ |
By default, MessageStats opens to a page titled Exchange at a Glance. This page shows a summary of the previous day’s activity in your Exchange organization, which seems to be a good place to start the day for an Exchange administrator. MessageStats was very responsive, even for larger reports. It touches many objects and renders reports the fastest of the three products I reviewed. It also uses detailed progress indicators for active reports. For a large, multifaceted task such as the initial information gathering, it provided progress information as a percent completed for individual steps and for the task as a whole. MessageStats also provides an extensive—even exhaustive—selection of reports. However, it also has the highest licensing cost.
The interface to input parameters for the reports, such as start and finish dates, resides on a single page. I didn’t have to move through different tabs to configure various settings for a single report. Reports for OWA require the separate Report Pack for OWA to be installed. Report Packs get their own folder in the report tree. My only nitpick with reporting is that the report interface could provide additional means of organizing the different reports in the tree menu. It was a challenge to locate a report that could fit in multiple categories: With all folders expanded, most of the report tree is out of view of the current page.
Quest Software maintains an extensive selection of management, migration, and reporting solutions for different environments, with or without Exchange. If you already use Quest products, it might make sense to incorporate MessageStats into your environment. For example, MessageStats has an optional report pack with reporting templates for use with Quest Archive Manager.
Different Situations, Different Tools
You can alleviate the demands of administering Exchange Server with the help of detailed and timely monitoring and reporting. Administrators can better anticipate resource requirements and identify messaging trends with quality reporting on Exchange server usage. Exchange reporting can help companies and their messaging administrators ensure that their Exchange organization is performing in a manner appropriate to their specific needs.
Each of the products considered in this review is a solid reporting solution for Exchange. They all provide the standard reporting that I expect, such as individual mailbox statistics. Each of them collects information from Exchange and assembles it in its own database tables, which the applications then use to generate reports. Each product uses a hierarchal Windows Explorer–like tree to navigate report templates. To some extent, the format of these reports might dictate which product administrators prefer: AppAnalyzer and MessageStats use a web browser to show reports generated from the local web server; PROMODAG Reports incorporates reporting into its administration console. However, report output from all three applications can be directed to other devices or locations. Sirana offers one other application and PROMODAG offers only this reporting application.
A good reporting system can ensure that your messaging platform is being used in the most efficient manner. It can also be an auditable resource for maintaining compliance goals, allocating chargeback for departmental usage and storage, and identifying trends that influence server capacity decisions.
SMBs will probably find PROMODAG Reports the best fit for their reporting needs. However, MessageStats is the most comprehensive solution in terms of breadth of reporting and integration with other Quest products. Large companies and those that need information from both Exchange and other, similar technologies would be better off with MessageStats. AppAnalyzer falls between the two in terms of its functions, but watch out for a few weaknesses.
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