<p>One of the questions raised by some attendees at the recent Exchange Connections conference is the future of on-premises software. Apparently there's quite a few people who think that Microsoft us busily killing off all its on-premises editions of server applications in the rush to embrace the cloud. In other words, products like Exchange 2013 might be the last in the line because Microsoft wants customers to use Exchange Online in Office 365.</p><p>I don't buy this line of argument for many reasons. Here's some of the more obvious that come to mind.</p><p>First, Microsoft would be silly to mess with the large and profitable Exchange installed base that they've been building since 1996. Some of the base will move to the cloud, but if companies lose faith in Microsoft, they might look at the Google alternative. I sincerely doubt that Microsoft would deliberately open up their flank to an attack by Google.</p><p>Second, once customers begin to lose faith in Microsoft's commitment to on-premises software, Microsoft's ability to sell other products into the Exchange installed base like SharePoint, Lync, Project, upgrades to Windows and Office, and so on is diminished. Account control is weakened further by doubts in customer minds, which is never a good situation for a vendor.</p><p><a href="http://windowsitpro.com/blog/why-i-dont-think-premises-exchange-dead">Keep reading...</a></p>