Achieving seamless exchange migrations

“Notes Migrator for Exchange ensured the migration had minimal impact on our users. No user was left without e-mail and not one item of user data was lost”
-Declan Ivers, Messaging and Workflow Manager, Vodafone Ireland

Vodafone is Ireland's leading mobile phone operator in a market with one of the highest levels of penetration in Europe. As part of Vodafone's global initiative to standardise its infrastructure to Microsoft Active Directory (AD) and Exchange Server e-mail, Vodafone Ireland needed to migrate its 2,200 e-mail boxes from Lotus Notes to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003.

The Challenge

In its deployment to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, Vodafone wanted to shield its users from as much impact as it could. "We wanted to ensure that when our users logged in after the deployment, all e-mails, distribution lists, personal addresses, calendar appointments and task information were in place exactly as they were previously," explained Declan Ivers, messaging and workflow manager, Vodafone Ireland.

As part of Vodafone Ireland's need for a low-impact deployment, a quick, successful migration without unplanned downtime was imperative. To achieve this, Vodafone knew that the safest approach was to invest in a solution to help with the migration.

Critical Need: Solution to seamlessly migrate Lotus Notes e-mail to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 with minimal impact on users

The Quest Solution

Vodafone evaluated three solutions and conducted a proof of concept for each. The company selected Quest Software's Notes Migrator for Exchange as the most favourable, due to its breadth of functionality. To validate its decision, Vodafone also talked to a couple of Quest customers.

Quest Notes Migrator for Exchange provides a reliable, high-performance migration from Lotus Notes to Microsoft Exchange Server. It converts users' mail, calendars, tasks and personal address books to the Exchange platform and stores them in new mailboxes on the Exchange server. The solution enables administrators to manage the migration process with confidence using its project management and reporting capabilities.

Following a smooth pilot deployment to 40 users across the organisation, Vodafone performed a phased migration, in batches of 300 to 500 mailboxes over six evenings.

Vodafone is also very satisfied with the service it has received from Quest. "In particular, we've found Quest's support staff to be excellent, responding to our queries quickly and providing us with the information we needed," added Ivers.

Results:

• Provided a seamless migration with minimal impact on the users, no lost data and no unplanned e-mail downtime
• Delivered time savings by eliminating need for post-migration support
• Delivered deployment time savings of at least 75 percent
• Delivered cost savings through reduced overtime
• Achieved ROI of at least 100 percent

The Bottom Line

Vodafone Ireland's deployment of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 was completely seamless to its users with no periods of unplanned downtime. "Notes Migrator for Exchange ensured the migration had minimal impact on our users," said Ivers. "No user was left without e-mail and not one item of user data was lost."

Notes Migrator for Exchange provided Vodafone with time savings of at least 75 percent during the deployment, freeing up IT support staff to undertake their regular duties. "Each of our six migration batches ran during an overnight session; even the larger batches planned for the weekend only required one night," said Ivers. "Without the Quest solution, we would have had to perform the migration in approximately 20 smaller batches, each of which may have required more than an overnight window. I would guess that it would have taken us at least four times longer."

The success of the migration provided Vodafone with time savings after the deployment as well. "The fact that the support desk received no calls after the migration and that we didn't have to deal with any individual user issues has saved us valuable time," said Ivers.

The shortened migration period also provided Vodafone with cost savings because it did not have to pay IT staff significant overtime wages to manage the migration. "Not only was the migration much faster than anticipated, we were also able to leave it to run unattended through the night, thanks to the reliability of Notes Migrator for Exchange," said Ivers. "Both factors contributed to a significant reduction in overtime expenses."

Vodafone achieved over 100 percent ROI from its investment in Notes Migrator for Exchange. "The time and cost savings indicate that the Quest solution had certainly paid for itself by the time the migration was complete," noted Ivers.

Vodafone is currently planning its global deployment of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. "When the time comes for us to move to Exchange 2007, we will have no hesitation in approaching Quest to help us out," commented Ivers.

About Vodafone Ireland

Vodafone is Ireland's leading mobile phone operator with a customer base of 2.17 million and a total of 1,800 employees. The company was established in 1984, and operated Ireland's first mobile phone service as part of the former state telco-Telecom Eireann. Operating under the separate brand- Eircell-it enjoyed huge expansion in the late 1990's as mobile telephony was embraced in Ireland. In May 2001, Eircell was acquired by Vodafone in the largest deal ever in Irish corporate history. The company is now part of the world's largest mobile community. Vodafone holds 47% of the market share in Ireland, with mobile penetration in Ireland now standing at 111%.

About Quest Software, Inc.

Now more than ever, organisations need to work smart and improve efficiency. Quest Software creates and supports smart systems management products-helping our customers solve everyday IT challenges faster and easier.

At Quest, we focus on our customers first. Our products and people are dedicated to helping customers manage their critical applications, databases, Windows infrastructure and virtual environments. The combination of our award-winning software and strong customer relationships makes Quest a smart, reliable technology partner.

Quest is a stable, global company that has been in the systems management market for more than 20 years.

For more information or to get started with your migration solution, visit www.quest.com/BMME-2010.