Re: Reliable?
"Can anyone tell me when the Internet went from an interesting source of information and asynchronous communication to a reliable data link with a 24/7 SLA with all the parties between your company and Redmond?"
It didn't - but then you don't have to go via the Internet to reach Microsoft: http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/expressroute/
And anyway, Exchange 2016 is usually an on premise solution. Are you thinking of Office 365?