EXMERGE is not nirvana either.  It does not handle inbox processing rules or
the public folders.  Do a search on Google for EXMERGE and read some of the
issues.  

I fully understand why MS does not support bricklevel restore.  Exchange is
just not robust enough for enterprise computing yet.  However, we have what
we have and until MS provides a TDP for SQL database like interface we will
continue to fight this problem.

The rumor is that MS is actually considering moving Exchange to an MS-SQL
server database.  If they do, then maybe they will consider creating a
bricklevel backup interface for the backup vendors to use.