Exchange Migration Plan and Schedule

Microsoft Exchange Platform Migration Plan and Schedule

In order to ensure a smooth transition, it is planned to carry out the migration to the new Microsoft Exchange platform in three phases; paving ahead for users to enjoy the rich features and powerful messaging & collaboration environment.

Phase I - Pilot Testing [February - May 2012]

Extensive testing was performed within ITSC. ITSC colleagues were migrated to the Microsoft Exchange platform with the intention to help tease out potential problems for a large-scale campus-wide deployment.

Briefing sessions were held for IDLPs (Inter-departmental Liaison Person) and departmental technical support colleagues in April, to make them aware of the upcoming email server migration exercise. They were introduced to the benefits that will be brought by the new Exchange server and the possible impacts of the migration.

IDLPs, departmental technical support colleagues and individual early adopters of MS Outlook were invited to opt-in to be Exchange pilot users for an early try-out of the new email system.

Phase II - "Enabling" Step [mid-May - July 2012]

Phase II aims at preparing our users for full-blown deployment of the Exchange platform without inducing too much changes and disruptions. In this phase, ITSC will coordinate with IDLPs and migrate staff colleagues (department by department) from the existing Email server across to the new Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, laying the foundation for them to enjoy the "collaboration" capabilities (e.g. calendar, tasks, notes, etc.) at a later phase when they feel ready or appropriate.

Colleagues may continue to use the email client they are currently using. The migration exercise is designed to be as transparent as possible and should cause minimal impact to most users.

Phase III - Full Deployment [July onwards]

The extensive, rich and powerful collaboration features available on Microsoft Exchange platform will be introduced to users. Training sessions would be held to explain how these features could help users improve productivity and collaboration in their daily business operations. It is anticipated that effective deployment of collaborative features will pick up gradually according to the actual needs of individual units or groups of users.