I have the same question. For those of us that work for companies that haven't updated exchange since 2003, we can only use activesync and get our mail on iOS devices and can't on the mac computer. So now I am wondering with all of this Cloud stuff going on, what is going to happen between my mail app on my computer and my iOS mail? Mail on the computer didn't support activesync and this has been a huge problem for many of us.
I'm fairly sure iCloud means your @me.com email will be pushed to each device, not any mail client you have on your phone. This service would be the same as it is now, having the device push/pull the email in the same sense it does now, not like the way music/photos/etc would work. Now you might be able to find less than awesome ways to sync your corporate mail to your @me.com address after this, and get it to your device using forwarding and what not, but that will either be denied by your work environment or frowned upon, and any composed emails would be from your @me.com, which also wouldn't be preferential.
Exchange 2003 users again can still communicate with their corporate servers without VPN if their mail admins have decided to enable it. Just because it's an old version does not mean it isn't capable. You should ask your mail admins about RPC/Outlook anywhere and see if they've enabled it, or if they would. Even with Exchange 2003 it's a feature rich protocol, unlike setting up your corporate email as imap or pop. One caveat to note is that programs such as Outlook 2011 or the new Mail.app do not support Exchange 2003 if they support Exchange 2007/2010. (Outlook 2011 does not support Exchange 2003 at all) Microsoft changed from webdav to EWS with 2007, and most clients don't support both. Hell, even Microsoft's product, Entourage 2008, needs to be patched to a EWS version, which breaks compatibility with 2003.
I guess what I'm saying is that all that you are asking is perfectly capable, but you might be at the mercy of your mail admins or IT policy.