MX-Folders is an Outlook Add-In product that allows you to utilize existing Exchange Server Public Folders, along with their custom Outlook forms, but store the data directly in SQL Server, rather than in the Public Folders. This enables one to maximize the investment already made in customizing these forms but at the same time have the data stored in a true relational, scalable database, namely SQL Server, with its corresponding advantages, namely easier reporting, data integration and backup.

MX-Folders is an adaptation of ExchangeWise’s highly successful Outlook-based CRM system known as MX-Contact. MX-Contact is architected identically to MX-Folders, in that it uses Outlook forms that store data directly into a back-end SQL database, but is focused specifically at meeting the needs of customers looking for CRM functionality. MX-Folders on the other hand, can be used for any application or business process whatsoever, and this used in any department of the company, whether it be sales, marketing, financial, manufacturing, IT, operations or legal.

	Use Existing Outlook Forms You can continue to use your existing Public Folder forms as they are, or modify them to add for example a multi-page control to see other entities that are related/linked to an existing Outlook/Exchange item.
	Create New Folders and Custom Forms You can add any number of new folders, and publish a custom form to the folder as you would normally do. MX-Folders will automatically add the equivalent table to the SQL database, using the same Outlook and custom field names as used on the form. You can add both VBScript on the form and custom triggers on the database tables to perform specified business logic (for example notifying the record owner when the Status of an item changes, or updating related items when a certain data field in the parent item/record changes).
			Track Interactions MX-Folders can automatically link e-mails, tasks, appointments, journals and documents to your existing entities if this is required. The Outlook activity items are automatically synced from each user’s Exchange mailbox folders and copied into the SQL database, such that they can be linked to and therefore seen against the relevant contact/entity.
			Add Folder Relationships MX-Folders allows you to link one entity to any number of other entities or activity folders (e-mails, journals, tasks, appointments, documents). So for example if you have an existing Issues folder, you can add Companies and Contacts folders and link an issue to any number of companies, contacts, e-mails, journals, etc. These relationships can be one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many.
	Create Reports With the data in SQL Server you can now easily create reports using SQL Reporting Services, Crystal Reports, or any other report writer. You can even write reports using Microsoft Excel (which can link directly to SQL).
	Create Fully Comprehensive Business Applications Just as the MX-Folders architecture has been used a fully comprehensive CRM system, comprising over 100 related folders, it can also be used to create a full personnel, operations, financial or other application.
	Integrate with other SQL Databases Given that MX-Folders stores its data directly in SQL Server, you can now easily integrate your Public Folder application with any other SQL, Oracle or other database application in the company.
	Add other Folders for Sales, Marketing and/or Support MX-Folders has over 100 folders covering the full spectrum of Customer Relationship Management. 3 Add-On Modules are available, namely Sales, Marketing and Support. The Sales Folders include Opportunities, Projects, Orders, Transactions, Targets and Sales Plans. Marketing comprises Events, Surveys and Campaigns. And Support covers Incidents, Issues, Registered Products and Service Contracts. Any or these Modules or even individual folders can be added to your existing system to complement or extend its functionality.
	Take the First Step in Migrating Public Folder Content Notwithstanding that Microsoft has stated that it will support Public Folders for 10 years after the release of the next version of Exchange Server (Code named E14), it makes sense to gradually migrate your Public Folder data into a platform that will be around indefinitely, namely Microsoft SQL Server. Aside from this being a strategic move in the long term, we’ve already noted that SQL Server brings with it many significant advantages.