I thought it would be good to point out that Managed Hosting and Dedicated Hosting can sometimes be different things for those new to dedicated servers.
You can have dedicated hosting where are you full root access to the server but are responsible for all of the maintenence, patches, and support yourself. Whereas with a fully managed hosting relationship everything is taken care of by the hosting company.
Both are sometimes used interchangeably and there are varying degrees of support and maintenance. Rackspace and NetNation Managed Hosting are good examples of fully managed hosting.
Hi Akwasi,
Their are a number advantages of using a Hosted Exchange provider for small- to medium sized businesses, but it really depends on your personal preference, available IT Resources, and budget.
For most the advantages of a hosted solution lie in it's significantly lower TCO (total cost of ownership), its included technical support and no long term commitment.
Managing an In House Microsoft Exchange server is an optimal solution for larger companies, but it can sometimes be cost prohibitive and difficult to manage for smaller enterprises.
This is a good idea for an additional section to add to my guide.