Exchange Management Tools Compared

Executive Summary: Microsoft Exchange Server management tools can help you find out which parts of your system are being overused and which are being underused. Quest Software MessageStats 4.0 is a comprehensive Exchange management tool that provides all the functions needed in an enterprise environment. PROMODAG Reports 8.4, better suited to small-to-midsized business (SMBs) provides a functional but less versatile solution. Sirana AppAnalyzer 4.01 ranks between the other two in terms of functionality, but it has some problems the other two don't.

One of the most critical systems in business environments is the messaging infrastructure. Many businesses depend on Microsoft Exchange Server to provide email and unified communications services for users who work both inside and outside the office. Although Exchange has mechanisms for monitoring and reporting on local processes, it doesn't come with a comprehensive presentation layer or easily assembled organization-wide reports for deployments with multiple Exchange servers. You might require dependable reporting on Exchange usage to charge departments or companies for their share of resources, assess server capacity, or identify trends in server use to anticipate further needs. Reporting can help identify power users or abusers of the corporate email server or verify that service level agreements are being met. Exchange reporting can also identify resources that aren't being used, including public folders, distribution groups, and resource mailboxes. In short, reporting functionality contributes to reduced costs and better policy management and helps you meet compliance requirements.

Many third-party applications are designed to report on Exchange. The power of reporting applications is evident in consolidated reports generated for organizations with multiple Exchange servers. I've reviewed three competitors in the realm of Exchange reporting. Sirana AppAnalyzer for Exchange, PROMODAG Reports, and Quest Software MessageStats are all mature third-party products that work with multiple versions of Exchange. All three of these products separate functionality into tasks, which gather data and configuration input, and reports, which present sorted and filtered information. Each application pulls Exchange information from the organization and stores that information in a separate database for manipulation and analysis.

Exchange information comes from multiple sources and includes static information about the organization and activity information from stores and connectors. The products get configuration and recipient information from Active Directory (AD) if you're using Exchange 2000 or later. They gather messaging patterns from Exchange's message tracking and other logs, and they derive Outlook Web Access (OWA) data from the Microsoft IIS logs when OWA is installed. All three products tested well in a virtual environment (Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 on Windows Server 2003), but companies considering these products should make their own assessments, especially with regards to Microsoft SQL Server performance.

All three products tested require installation on a second system, not directly on an Exchange server. Small-to-midsized businesses (SMBs) often deploy a management server or administration server to centrally manage network resources such as antivirus clients or Windows Server Update Services. Exchange reporting applications would fit well on such a server.

Managing Exchange servers is complicated enough without having layers of challenging third-party applications consuming excessive computer and administrator resources. Reporting applications for Exchange should be relatively simple to deploy and manage. Great software companies provide comprehensive online information about their applications in addition to prompt and competent support personnel to address urgent problems that customers experience in using the software. All three companies I reviewed solidly back their products and are listed on Microsoft’s Partner Solution Finder site, solutionfinder.microsoft.com.

Sirana AppAnalyzer for Exchange 4
Sirana Software was formed in May 1999. NetIQ acquired the company in early 2000 and released NetIQ AppAnalyzer. In April 2003, Sirana was spun off as an independent company and licensed AppAnalyzer back from NetIQ. Sirana AppAnalyzer 3.5 was released in late 2006 and won a readers’ choice award at MSExchange.org. AppAnalyzer 4.0 was a major upgrade from the previous release.

Installing AppAnalyzer was simple. The process includes a preinstallation system check. Although running the system check is mandatory, you don't need to wait for it to finish; clicking Next bypasses the uncompleted portion of the system check. Some of the checks are for required components, such as .NET Framework 3.5. Other checks, such as for RAM allocation, give warnings but don't prevent installation. The system check is useful for ensuring that your system meets the prerequisites for AppAnalyzer. For example, I installed SQL Server 2005 Standard to use for AppAnalyzer storage. In SQL Server 2005, the Agent service is set to manual and stopped by default. Because AppAnalyzer requires this service, the system check gave instructions on how to apply the correct settings to the service.