Trend Email Hosted Reputation Services now InterScan Messaging Hosted Security

While we have been implementing Trend Micro's AntiVirus solution at our client sites, a few of them have also expressed an interest in the spam filtering offered by Trend.

Our first client was setup using the Email Hosted Reputation Services (EHRS). The service did help to reduce spam over the Exchange IMF setup.

Recently, Trend went through an update of their antivirus products and the hosted spam filtering. The new filtering is called InterScan Messaging Hosted Security (IMHS).

We switched one of our existing clients over to the new IMHS service and unfortunately have been having nothing but grief since. Spam that was not coming through before is now coming through in spades.

We waited the obligatory 48-72 hours to make sure the MX record changes had taken, and still things have not improved.

The straw that broke the camel's back: A bounce message forwarded by one of their clients saying that the attachment size was too large ... at 4MB ... with Trend's server name listed as the culprit.

Since this client is one of our key clients, we are not about to go any further with the service.

Since the previous EHRS services will no longer be in effect, we will default back to the Exchange IMF for now.

For the most part, things were working fine before EHRS, worked a bit better with EHRS, but have taken a big step back with IMHS.

While we are relatively happy with Trend's A/V, we will no longer be selling what is now the Worry-Free Business Security Advanced which includes IMHS. We will stick with the Worry-Free Business Security product for now.

The other side to this pickle: With the advent of SBS 2008, which will include ForeFront and Windows Live OneCare 120 day trials out of the box, if we choose to install them, we may look at going Microsoft on the entire platform. This reduces our install and configuration time too.

Since we are selling 100% Open Value Agreements to all of our clients, and have been for quite a while now, adding ForeFront and OneCare to our client's Open Value Agreements when it comes time to upgrade their refreshed hardware will be a small step.

We shall see ...

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

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