OIT Exchange Email Consolidation Project Milestones

December 14, 2005

UT President's Office & 8th Floor AHT migrated to production exchange system

December 7, 2005

OIT CIO's office migrated to production exchange system

November 13, 2005

First mail boxes created on the production exchange system

October 31, 2005

University Email Consolidation Project Communications Memo to Knoxville Area Faculty and Staff

October 27, 2005

University Email Consolidation Project Communications Memo to University Wide Administration

October 2005

Hardware and Software for the Active Directory and Exchange Servers installed

September 27, 2005

Hands on Outlook classes began for the work group managers

September 22, 2005

Open forum on the E-mail project with the LanMan Group (campus lan and desktop managers)

September 19, 2005

Overview and discussion of the E-mail project was held at the Faculty Senate meeting

I agree that the Faculty Senate discussion was good and we appreciate the input. As was discussed, we welcome faculty input and involvement in the implementation of this standardized communications platform. To that end, I'm interested in identifying other vehicles for faculty participation. Sharing the "lessons learned" from the OIT implementation process is an excellent option and we will do this. We are also open to more active participation. A few ideas for you to consider are:

1. Identification of best practices - Several colleges/departments have implemented innovative communications solutions. We need your help in identifying these best practices for inclusion in the new email system and sharing with the rest of the campus.

2. Evaluation of client tools - several client tools (outlook, entorauge, evolution, etc) have been identified for the new system. We would appreciate faculty evaluation and advice on these tools.

3. Faculty input on advisory committee - a user committee was established last year to provide advice into the services and features of the new system. We welcome additional faculty participation on this committee. Please submit suggested members to Mike McNeil who chairs this group.

These are just a few ideas. Please let us know if you have other suggestions. Thanks again for your support and input.

Brice

September 15, 2005

One on one sessions started with work group managers and departmental IT support staff to install Outlook, Entourage 2004, OWA; provide accounts and get them started using the new client with the test exchange server; also import/convert/view existing contacts/calendar/mail with the new client; experiment with departmental calendars; discuss individual departmental needs

September 14, 2005

E-mail project kickoff and test accounts issued for the AHT Work Group Managers

September 13, 2005

The Faculty Senate ITCOMM (IT Committee) had the communication and collaboration (e-mail) project on its agenda yesterday. There were several points that they wanted to clarify. They included:

Question . Why did the original memos on the project suggest voluntary participation when the current word is that participation is mandatory?

Answer . The simple answer is that the project changed. The original project was an effort by OIT to consolidate services offered by OIT in an effort to reduce cost and/or improve service. This effort was viewed by the President.s staff as an opportunity to improve communications across the state as long as everyone participated. Thus the project scope changed and the participation option became mandatory. (August 19, 2005 - UT President's Standardized E-mail and Collaboration System memo )

Question . What is mandatory about the project?

Answer . Everyone will be expected to use the Exchange system that participates in the statewide system. However, they will have some options as to how they access their mail. The recommended option is to use the Microsoft tools for best functions and features. These tools include Outlook 2003 as an e-mail and calendar client for windows systems, Entourage as a Macintosh client, Evolution as a LINUX or UNIX client, or OWA as a web based client. However, the Exchange servers will support IMAP as a protocol so that everyone using an IMAP client can continue to do so if they are willing to accept reduced service. This choice may depend on what functions and features a required by their department heads or higher leadership. It should also be noted that OIT does not plan to provide support for the IMAP clients.

Question . When will I have to convert?

Answer . The first migrations will happen within OIT around the end of October so OIT can resolve as many problems as possible. The President.s office and related offices have requested to migrate soon there after. Our goal is December. We plan to migrate Workgroup Managers and LAN Managers as they choose to move so they can prepare for their departments. After that, OIT will develop a schedule with each department that best fits their time constraints.

Question . Will we be trained?

Answer . Training was one of the first subgroups to be formed for this project. The training group has been researching training options and has a list of online training materials available today. In addition, they will work with each group to match additional training needs with solutions . including one-on-one training where needed.

Question . Is the web conferencing tool intended as a means of delivering classes?

Answer . The web conferencing tool has not been fully evaluated as a solution for classes. The goal of this tool is to support the need for groups to conference in a non-mission-critical meeting situation. This tool can save the university money if used effectively. It can also be used for student and/or faculty groups to have out-of-class conferences or be used to deliver training resources, but is not to be confused with a distance-learning tool.

Question . Does the web conferencing tool require Windows?

Answer . We have not completed our research on this tool because Microsoft is planning to release a new tool in December 2006. However, it is our understanding that the web conferencing will work with several web browsers as well as a windows based client.

September, 2005 . After getting agreement with the architectural design, the hardware plan was finalized and the first phase of hardware to support the Knoxville area faculty and staff was ordered. In addition, we continue to work with Microsoft to attain grants that will help us address future aspects of this project and are hopeful this will happen.

August 19, 2005 -UT President's Standardized E-mail and Collaboration System memo

August, 2005 . A grant from Microsoft allowed us to bring in a Microsoft consultant to review the architectural design developed at the university. The consultant reviewed our plans and talked with representatives from the technical groups across the state. He was able to reassure everyone that we could implement a solution that met the statewide needs of the President.s staff while allowing the local needs to be met. Some changes would have to happen, but they were limited.

June . August, 2005 . An architectural design was developed for Active Directory and related tools. The Active Directory design is critical for the foundation of an Exchange system, but Active Directory has many additional uses. The design being developed needed to support a statewide communication system, but allow local administration of local services. The design also supported a phased implementation that would allow individuals and groups to be moved at different times. In general terms, the e-mail and calendaring implementation plan defined three major sub-phases: faculty/staff, students, special. The special group was composed of admitted students, retirees, friends, and others that need e-mail, but may be temporary or do not fall in the faculty, staff, or student category.

OIT also began breaking the project into smaller pieces and forming groups for each. The groups have statewide participation, but also have a local focus. The original groups include Licensing, Functions/Features, Active Directory, Training, Exchange, Desktop (clients), Migration, Security, and Networking. Additional groups will be established as needed.

June . August, 2005 . An architectural design was developed for Active Directory and related tools. The Active Directory design is critical for the foundation of an Exchange system, but Active Directory has many additional uses. The design being developed needed to support a statewide communication system, but allow local administration of local services. The design also supported a phased implementation that would allow individuals and groups to be moved at different times. In general terms, the e-mail and calendaring implementation plan defined three major sub-phases: faculty/staff, students, special. The special group was composed of admitted students, retirees, friends, and others that need e-mail, but may be temporary or do not fall in the faculty, staff, or student category.

June, 2005 . Four people from OIT attended the Microsoft Tech Ed conference (at a reduced conference rate) to gain a better understanding of the products and to understand trends and directions. We attended sessions and had several one-on-one conversations with experts who provided additional insight. We also evaluated the conference for future participation.

May 27, 2005 - UT Knoxville Chancellor's Unifying Campuswide E-mail Software memo

May, 2005 . A memo from the Executive Vice President was sent stating the intent for the university to have a single communication and collaboration system. This e-mail had a limited distribution with the expectations that each entity (campus) would notify their constituency.

Microsoft also provided a class for Active Directory basics in May. This free class was offered to people across the state. People from the Knoxville and Chattanooga areas participated along with IPS and the AG Institute.

April . August, 2005 . Contracts and licenses were being pursued and established to allow for the acquisition software and consulting services. As of today, parts of this effort are still active, but should be completed very soon.

During this time, several decisions were made on the approach to this project. It was determined that we wanted to implement in late fall. To meet this goal, we restricted the scope to e-mail and calendaring for the first phase. The other four functions would be added in later phases, so the focus for 2005 is e-mail and calendaring.

February . April, 2005 . Planning and discussions took place to determine the best course of action for this project. Participation by each campus was solicited, but the university leadership was still being formed with new Chancellors and Vice-Presidents being installed. Groundwork was being laid to make sure the university leadership was committed and that IT across the state could over come technical and political issues.

January, 2005 . A final report recommending Microsoft was written. The Microsoft products were chosen because they met the basic needs, but he differentiators were:

1. There is potential for cost savings for the other Microsoft expenditures that already existed across he state,
2. There is potential for some desktop standardization because of the volume of Microsoft desktop operating systems and products already in use,
3. It is perceived that training will be easier (I.E. . cost less) because the Microsoft products look and feel similar and because some many Microsoft products are already in use.

October . December, 2004 . OIT researched six vendors who had products that covered the breadth of the functions mentioned as desirable. OIT evaluated data we gathered from each vendor as well as information provided by Gartner. OIT was able to reduce the six to two that were best fits for the university needs.

Also around December, the President.s staff.s interest in this project grew. They saw a need for improved communication and collaboration across the entire university and suggested that a solution become a statewide decision and implementation.

August . October, 2004 . A survey was developed to validate the recommendations gleaned from the individual interviews to determine what the university wanted and needed. This survey was made available to all Knoxville area students, faculty, and staff. Four thousand responded and the results were analyzed. The consensus was that e-mail and calendaring were most important, file sharing and instant messaging were also highly desirable, and web conferencing and discussion forums were also deemed valuable.

June . August, 2004 . A group of 20 individuals were designated to help define the scope of the consolidation project. Each of these people represented various aspects of the Knoxville area. They were each interviewed to get ideas and to help form a vision of what could and should be.

May, 2004 . A decision was made to consolidate all the e-mail and calendar systems that OIT supports for the Knoxville area into a single offering. This effort was planed to simplify OIT support and introduce economies that should result in cost saving as well as improved service.