Microsoft 365 Mail Adoption in Switzerland - Statistics
How widespread is Microsoft 365 and its Exchange Online (mail service) around Swiss domains? To answer that question, I have analyzed a sample of around 24,000 Swiss .ch and related domains using public DNS records (MX), Microsoft AutodiscoverV2 endpoints. It should represent a snapshot of the Swiss mail landscape.
All percentages are relative to the analyzed sample, not the full population of 2.6 million registered Swiss domains. Statistical uncertainty is about ±0.6 percentage points (95% confidence).
Overview - Domains in relation to Mail
The table gives a high-level picture of the entire sample, including domains that have no mail infrastructure configured at all.
| Percentage | Detail |
|---|---|
| 100.00% | Total sample (not the full 2.6M Swiss domains) |
| 65.23% | Domains with MX records |
| 34.77% | Domains without MX records (No MX) |
| 6.33% | Domains with MX records pointing to Microsoft 365 / Exchange Online |
| 11.40% | Domains potentially using Microsoft 365 as destination (non-unique tenants) |
Detailed - Domains with MX Record
Filtering to domains that actively could receive mail (MX record) gives a better picture of the actual mail landscape.
| Percentage | Detail |
|---|---|
| 100.00% | Total domains with MX records |
| 17.48% | Category: Microsoft 365 as destination (cloud-only or hybrid) |
| 9.71% | Microsoft 365 with MX pointing to Exchange Online (EXO) |
| 6.93% | Microsoft 365 detected via AutodiscoverV2 (hybrid indicator) |
| (0.83%) | AutodiscoverV2 indicates Microsoft 365, but no Microsoft 365 MX |
| N/A | Category: Exchange Server (on-premises only) |
| 13.48% | Category: Cloud mail services (without Microsoft 365) |
| 3.85% | Google Cloud (Google Workspace) |
| 3.11% | Gandi |
| 2.61% | Ionos |
| 0.82% | Infomaniak |
| 0.63% | Hostpoint |
| 0.57% | Proton Mail |
| 0.46% | Cloudflare (MX & DNS Protection) |
| 0.37% | Amazon AWS |
| 0.33% | Category: Cloud email security (SaaS, standalone) |
| N/A | Category: On-premises email security (appliance) |
The categories below are not mutually exclusive, a domain can appear in the category and product entry itself.
Mail Security Standards (DNS-Based)
To secure mail delivery, five DNS-based standards are commonly evaluated:
| Standard | Purpose | Swiss Adoption |
|---|---|---|
| SPF (Sender Policy Framework) | Specifies which servers are authorized to send mail on behalf of a domain. | Widespread (misconfigured records common) |
| DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) | Uses cryptographic signatures to verify that messages from a domain are authentic. | Growing (weak enforcement) |
| DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) | Builds on SPF and DKIM to provide a policy for handling unauthenticated mail. | Rising (not yet universal) |
| DNSSEC (DNS Security Extensions) | Protects DNS records from tampering and enables cryptographic validation. | Low adoption |
| DANE (DNS-based Authentication of Named Entities) | Uses TLSA records in DNS to bind TLS certificates to mail servers, preventing downgrade attacks. | Minimal (academic/gov only) |
External statistics on these standards for Swiss domains are tracked by:
- dns-resilience.openintel.nl - Ongoing statistics on SPF, DMARC, DNSSEC, and DANE for global and regional domains.
- Swiss Domain Security Report - Periodic reports on DNS security adoption specific to Swiss domains.
Summary
This analysis shows that Microsoft 365 is currently the leading cloud mail platform in the Swiss domain sample, with clear signs of continued hybrid coexistence between Exchange Online and on-premises Exchange.
On the mail security side, SPF and DKIM are moving forward, while DMARC enforcement (quarantine or reject), DNSSEC, and DANE still show significant room for broader adoption.
The data is a snapshot in time and based on a sample, not a full population scan.
I hope this overview gives you a useful baseline for your own domain and mail security assessments.
Wishing you a great week!
Reference:
- Open data on domain names - Health Report (sample)
- Holders of .CH Domain Names
- DNSSEC, DMARC/SPF and DANE Statistic