Rackspace Email Division Hires Microsoft 'Exchange Ranger'

Former Dell Infrastructure Specialist Brings Breadth of Microsoft Exchange Knowledge to Mailtrust

BLACKSBURG, Va.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Mailtrust™, a leading business-email specialist and a division of Rackspace® Hosting, (NYSE:RAX - News), the world’s leader and specialist in hosted IT services, today announced the company has hired David Bjurman-Birr as the senior manager of engineering, custom solutions. In this new role, Bjurman-Birr will be responsible for helping the Mailtrust engineering team maintain and grow the architecture of the company’s Hosted Exchange solution. Bjurman-Birr will be responsible for working closely with some of Mailtrust’s largest Microsoft Exchange customers, and architecting solutions that meet the needs of this very complex customer base. He is a Microsoft Certified Architect – Messaging (MCA-M), what some colloquially call ‘Exchange Ranger.’

“David’s background with Dell and his wealth of Microsoft training makes him a perfect addition to an already knowledgeable and technical engineering team that has created our Exchange infrastructure,” said Pat Matthews, president, Mailtrust. “As an ‘Exchange Ranger,’ he has received the most up-to-date and extensive training on Microsoft Exchange and has been certified by his MCA-M peers. Given there are less than 100 ‘Rangers’ worldwide, David has a unique perspective and knowledge that will be greatly beneficial to our customers. He will also focus on finding deeper ways to integrate our Noteworthy platform with Exchange, creating a seamless hybrid solution that is customizable for any business.”

“As more and more businesses outsource their email services to us, Mailtrust will require continuous infrastructure evolution and maintenance to adapt and align with our customer’s business requirements, and I am excited to be a part of the talented team here at Mailtrust,” said Bjurman-Birr. “Microsoft Exchange is the standard when it comes to business communication and collaboration. My training and access to the ‘Exchange Ranger’ community will help our team take the Mailtrust platform to the next level as we strive to increase reliability, interoperability, and most importantly support.

“Microsoft has created a great software product in Exchange that we deliver with a rock-solid service commitment. As Microsoft steps into the hosted Exchange market, it indicates that the software-as-a-service market is reaching a critical mass where it is becoming the clear choice for messaging and collaboration and Microsoft sees the potential there. But as I expect them to be primarily product and license focused, Mailtrust’s 10-plus years in the email hosting business has allowed us to create a dependable service and support focus; built on a reliable and easily scalable infrastructure. As Rackspace continues to offer more diverse hosted solutions through Cloud and SaaS, we expect our Hosted Exchange to be at the forefront of the email market.”

Prior to joining Mailtrust, Bjurman-Birr lead the Microsoft Infrastructure Consulting Practice for Dell where he had worked since 2005, leading the planning, analysis, and implementation of enterprise messaging and unified communications solutions that directly support his customers’ strategic initiatives. He has delivered sessions for Microsoft TechEd, Dell TechSummit, and numerous regional technical conferences and seminars.

About Mailtrust

Mailtrust™, a division of Rackspace, provides small, medium, and geographically dispersed companies with business-class email hosting. The company manages and maintains the email service and hosting infrastructure, freeing up IT resources and eliminating the need for customers to purchase email-related hardware, software, and security services. The company’s mission critical email systems are housed in Rackspace’s carrier-grade data centers to help ensure uptime. Founded in 1999, and acquired by Rackspace in 2007, Mailtrust is headquartered in Blacksburg. To learn more, please visit www.mailtrust.com.

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