Just as cool as building it from scratch – why an email platform is your new best friend – Halon

For those of you working with larger amounts of traffic, which solution is better; building an email platform from scratch, or using an email security and delivery platform (ESDP) service? In this blog post, we describe both solutions so you can determine which one suits your company best.

For many companies, an MTA is simply something required for handling your email processes. Some might look for the cheapest solution, others that seem to be the easiest to implement as soon as possible. Regardless of your needs, you want to look for a solution suitable for the volume of emails you handle, and the scalability you might experience. Here are some pros and cons of solutions suitable for larger amounts of traffic.

If you are looking for an email platform that can be implemented quicker than you think, check out this post. 

Building from scratch (on-premises MTA)

An on-premise MTA is a software that sends and receives emails, usually open-source software, running on the company’s servers. When running an on-premise MTA, a few or just one person is responsible for the platform and has all knowledge about the platform and all its functions.

PROS 

• The license cost, usually based on open source, is low. 
• You get the flexibility to customize the platform as you like.
• You get full control over the software.

CONS 

• Running an on-premise MTA may lead to problems with scalability and performance.
• There are comprehensive hardware requirements. 
• The costs for development, servers, and maintenance are high.
• Time-consuming procedures like support are required.

Email security and delivery platform (ESPD) 

An ESDP MTA is an email platform that functions as a smart combination of both worlds; it has the flexibility of building a platform yourself with open source software, and the advantages that a commercially supported product brings. 

PROS 

• You get the flexibility to customize the platform to your needs and requirements.
• Both server cost and time-to-market are reduced.
• Less development and maintenance are required compared to other solutions, and updates are continuously enhancing your platform.
• The ease to scale up as traffic increases.

CONS 

• This solution is not suitable for small amounts of traffic.
• The initial investment cost might be substantial.