How a 40-User Engineering Company Saved 72% on Email Subscription Costs with a Hybrid Email System 

Background
A 40-employee engineering manufacturing company was using Microsoft 365 for all users, incurring:

₹3,00,000 per year (approximate cost)(40 × ₹7,500/year)
The company wanted to:
• Reduce recurring software subscription cost
• Retain MS365 only for users who truly needed it
• Keep the same company domain
• Maintain email reliability and data security
• Ensure access from desktops, laptops, and mobile devices

They adopted the Hybrid Email System, which combines:
• MS365 for selected users
• Cost-effective Hybrid Email for the rest
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The Solution: Hybrid Email Deployment
🔹 8 Users on Microsoft 365 (Critical Roles)
These users needed:
• OneDrive
• MS Teams
• Office desktop apps
• Advanced collaboration
Cost: ₹60,000 per year
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🔹 32 Users on Hybrid Email System (General Roles)
These users were shifted to Hybrid Email for sending and receiving emails.
To retain cloud tools like OneDrive, Teams, Office Web:
• Users signed up for free Outlook.com / Live.com accounts
Cost: ₹24,000 per year
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📊 Result: 72% Recurring Cost Savings

Component Previous (MS365 All Users) After Hybrid Email

Component Previous (MS365 All Users) After Hybrid Email
MS365 Licenses ₹3,00,000 ₹60,000
Hybrid Email — ₹24,000
Total Cost ₹3,00,000 ₹84,000
Savings — ₹2,16,000 (72%)

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Hybrid Email System Features that Made This Possible

The company chose Hybrid Email because it offered enterprise-grade features at a fraction of the cost.

1️⃣ 50 GB Mailbox per User (Total 1.6 TB shared across 32 users)

  • Ample space for regular use
  •  High retention window
  •  Helps users avoid mailbox full issues due to shared pool of 1.6 TB across 32 users

2️⃣ IMAP Support (Full Synchronization)

Allows email access from:

  • Outlook
  •  Thunderbird
  •  Mobile devices (Android/iOS)
  •  Webmail
    All folders stay in sync across devices.

3️⃣ Clean, Fast Webmail Interface

Users can:

  • Access mailbox from any browser
  • Manage folders, attachments, signatures
  • Use integrated calendar features

4️⃣ Domain-Level Security

Hybrid Email is protected by:

  • Anti-Spam
  • Anti-Virus filtering
  • Attachment scanning
  • IP reputation checks
  • Brute-force login protection

5️⃣ Same Domain Identity for All Users

  • Both MS365 and Hybrid Email users send/receive as: name@company.com
  • Customers and vendors never notice a difference.

6️⃣ Reliability with Split Delivery

Incoming mail delivery logic:

  • MS365 users → MS365
  • Hybrid users → Hybrid server
  • Outbound mail uses a unified domain, maintaining consistency.

7️⃣Compatibility with Standard Email Clients

  • Outlook
  • Apple Mail
  • Thunderbird
  • Mobile clients
    No feature loss in day-to-day email handling.

8️⃣ Admin-Level Controls

Admins can:

  • Add/remove users
  •  Reset passwords
  •  Email Policy Server

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Outcome Summary
🚀 Savings Achieved
₹2,16,000 saved every year

Same business email identity, lower costs, zero disruption.

⚙️ Scalable for Future Growth
New users can be added at just ₹750/year per user (example rate).
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Conclusion

By adopting the Hybrid Email System, the engineering company:

  • Cut email subscription cost by 72%
  •  Maintained domain consistency
  •  Retained cloud collaboration tools
  •  Gained security through BLACKbox
  •  Improved operational flexibility

This case highlights how a smart, structured hybrid approach delivers enterprise-grade capability without enterprise-grade cost.