Against all odds: a successful exchange migration

Abstract

Ten years ago, e-mail was a new technology spreading like wildfire in universities and colleges across the country. Today, it is our official mode of communication and stores vital records for our organization.As our campus grew and departments became decentralized, the need for enterprise calendaring became necessary to collaborate. CorporateTime became the standard for scheduling meetings on campus.Without e-mail and calendar, how would an organization function?The University of Puget Sound recently converted our sendmail and CorporateTime calendar services to Microsoft Exchange 2003. This paper will address the key user support aspects of this major shift in campus technology.We will outline our entire Exchange migration process, from the selection of the server product, to the desktop client upgrade hurdles through our communication, support and training planning progression.As with any major project, there were obstacles to overcome and political support needed to ensure success. In addition to our entire user support and network teams, we utilized the outside services of Seitel Leeds and Associates, SimplerWebb, New Horizons, and Robert Half to provide technology consulting, calendar data conversion, training, and desktop client configuration.This project was a huge step forward for our department in the areas of planning and communication with our constituents.