A Database Mail profile is an ordered collection of related Database Mail accounts. Applications that send e-mail using Database Mail specify profiles, instead of using accounts directly. Separating information about the individual e-mail servers from the objects that the application uses improves flexibility and reliability: profiles provide automatic failover, so that if one e-mail server is unresponsive, Database Mail can automatically send mail to another e-mail server. Database administrators can add, remove, or reconfigure accounts without requiring changes to application code or job steps.

Profiles also help database administrators control access to e-mail. Membership in the DatabaseMailUserRole is required to send Database Mail. Profiles provide additional flexibility for administrators to control who sends mail and which accounts are used.