Chapter 6: Planning an Outlook 2003 Deployment

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A close review of your organization’s messaging needs will help you plan the optimal Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 deployment. Among the configuration and installation choices you will make are deciding which e-mail messaging server to use with Outlook, and timing your Outlook deployment to suit your organization’s needs.

Overview of an Outlook Deployment

Every organization’s messaging environment is unique. For example, one organization might be upgrading to the Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 messaging and collaboration client, while another might be installing Outlook for the first time; one needs services for roaming users, another needs support for different languages. A close review of your organization’s messaging needs will help you plan the optimal Outlook 2003 deployment.

Determining your organization’s needs

Your organization’s messaging environment will help shape your Outlook 2003 deployment. Factors to consider include whether you are upgrading Outlook, installing the application for the first time, planning for roaming or remote users, or choosing a combination of these and other factors.

Upgrade or initial installation

If you are upgrading to Outlook 2003 from an earlier version of Outlook, consider whether you will migrate previous settings, modify user profiles, and use new customization options. The Custom Installation Wizard provides options for migrating users’ current settings and for making other customizations, such as defining new Microsoft Exchange servers or customizing new features.

If you are deploying Outlook on client computers for the first time, each user will need an Outlook profile to store information about e-mail messaging server connections and other important Outlook settings. You can define profile settings for your users by using the Custom Installation Wizard.

If you need to migrate data from another messaging application, importers are provided in Outlook (for example, for Eudora Lite) that might be helpful.

Collaboration Data Objects dependencies

If you use Collaboration Data Objects, this feature must be installed to run locally, not on demand. Use the Set Feature Installation States page in the Custom Installation Wizard to specify the installation state as Run from My Computer.

Remote and roaming users

Special customizations are required for deploying Outlook to remote users or roaming users, and for setting up Outlook for multiple users on the same computer.

When you are deploying to remote users, ensure that features are not set to install over the network as they are needed, since users may be using slow access lines. Use the Set Feature Installation States page in the Custom Installation Wizard to specify the installation state for Outlook features as Run from My Computer. For features that you are not deploying and you do not wish to be available, you can set the feature state to Not Available, Hidden, Locked.

You may also want to configure features such as Remote Procedure Call (RPC) over HTTP and Cached Exchange Mode for remote users, to enhance their experience when they use Outlook 2003 over slower or less reliable connections. With RPC over HTTP, you can configure connections that help users connect more securely to Exchange servers in your organization without using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection. Cached Exchange Mode is a new feature that configures Outlook to use a local copy of users’ mailboxes, allowing users more reliable access to their Outlook data whether they are connected to a network or working offline.

Roaming users should have the same messaging environment on each computer to which they roam. This includes the type and version of the operating system, version of Outlook, and the Outlook installation location on the computer.

For multiple users sharing the same computer, use Microsoft Windows logon features on the computer’s operating system to manage user logon verification. Also, make sure that each user runs the same version of Outlook so that conflicts do not arise among shared files. Conflicts can happen when one version of Outlook attempts to write a file to a file folder location that is shared by other versions of Outlook used on the same computer.

Multilingual requirements

Microsoft Office 2003 provides broad support for deploying in international or multilingual environments. Office products such as the Office 2003 Multilingual User Interface Pack and Microsoft Office 2003 Proofing Tools help multilingual groups work with and edit files in a variety of languages and provide support for localized Help and user interfaces.

Outlook 2003 now supports Unicode throughout the product to help multilingual organizations seamlessly exchange messages and other information in a multilingual environment.

Outlook 2003 and Terminal Services

With Microsoft Terminal Services, you install a single copy of Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 on a Terminal Services computer. Then, instead of running Outlook locally, multiple users connect to the server and run Outlook from there.

To achieve the optimal results when you use Outlook with Terminal Services, pay close attention to how you customize your Outlook configuration. Note that Outlook may be part of an environment that includes other applications provided on the same Terminal Services computer.

Client and messaging server platforms

Some features of Outlook 2003 (for example, Cached Exchange Mode) require Microsoft Exchange Server as a messaging platform. While Outlook 2003 works well with earlier versions of Exchange, some features of Outlook 2003 require specific versions of Exchange. Because of this and other enhanced integration with Exchange throughout Outlook 2003, you may gain the greatest benefit by combining Outlook 2003 with the latest version of Exchange.

Deployment customization decisions for Outlook 2003 depend on which version of Exchange Server you are using. If you currently use Exchange Server as your messaging server and have not upgraded to Exchange 2000 or later, consider coordinating your Exchange Server upgrade with your deployment timing for Outlook 2003.

Choosing when and how to install Outlook 2003

You have options for when and how you install Outlook 2003. For example, consider whether it would be best for your organization to:

• Install or upgrade Outlook in stages (for different groups of users) or at one time.

• Install Outlook as a stand-alone application.

• Install Outlook before, with, or after Office 2003.

Each organization has a different environment and might make different choices about timing Outlook 2003 upgrades. For example, you might have a messaging group that is responsible for upgrading Outlook and a separate group that plans deployment for other Office applications. In this case, it might be easier to upgrade Outlook separately from the rest of Office, rather than attempting to coordinate deployment between the two groups.

Note

Outlook 2003 cannot coexist with previous versions of Outlook. If you choose to keep previous versions, do not install Outlook 2003.

Customizing Outlook settings and profiles

You can customize your Outlook installation to handle Outlook user settings and profiles in several ways. For instance, you can:

• Capture Outlook settings in an Office profile settings file (OPS file), then include the OPS file in a transform (MST file) that is applied during Setup.

• Specify Outlook user settings in the Custom Installation Wizard.

• Specify options for managing new and existing Outlook profiles in the Custom Installation Wizard.

For example, you can allow Outlook users to migrate their current profiles and settings while defining default profiles and settings for new Outlook users. Or, you can modify existing profiles as well as establish new default profiles for new Outlook users.

After you customize Outlook using these options, you save your choices—along with other installation preferences—in a transform (MST file) that is applied during Setup. Later, you can update settings and profile information by using the Custom Maintenance Wizard.

Migrating data

In your Outlook deployment, you might choose to migrate data from other mail clients to Outlook.

If your organization currently uses a different mail client, you might need to migrate data from that program to Outlook 2003. If you need to migrate data from another messaging application, importers are provided in the product (for example, for Eudora Lite) that might be helpful in your situation.

Limiting viruses and junk e-mail messages for your users

Outlook 2003 comes with features designed to help minimize the spread of viruses. You can use the Outlook Security Template to configure these security settings to support the needs of your organization. For example, you can modify the list of file types that are blocked in e-mail messages.

You can also configure Outlook 2003 to display users’ Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) e-mail messages in plain text to limit the exposure to potential viruses and scripts that might be contained in those messages.

Outlook 2003 has several features to help users avoid receiving junk e-mail messages. Outlook 2003 includes a new Junk E-mail Filter for users that replaces the rules used in previous versions of Outlook to filter mail. Messages that are caught by the filter are moved to the Junk E-mail folder where they can be viewed or deleted later. In addition, Outlook 2003 reduces the likelihood that users will become targets for future junk e-mail by blocking (by default) automatic picture-downloads from external servers. Junk e-mail senders can include a “Web beacon” in HTML e-mail messages that includes external content. When users open or view the e-mail, their e-mail address is verified as being valid which increases the likelihood that they will receive more junk e-mail messages.

Configuring cryptographic features

Outlook 2003 provides cryptographic features for sending and receiving security-enhanced e-mail messages over the Internet or local intranet. You can customize features in your Outlook 2003 deployment to set cryptographic options appropriate for your organization. New buttons in the user interface make it easy for users who have cryptographic capabilities enabled on their computers to quickly sign and encrypt their e-mail messages.

You can also implement additional features to help enhance security in e-mail messaging. For example, you can provide security labels that match your organization’s security policy. An Internal Use Only label might be implemented as a security label to apply to e-mail messages that should not be sent or forwarded outside of your company.

Restricting permission on e-mail messages

Information Rights Management (IRM), a new feature in Office 2003, helps users prevent sensitive e-mail messages and other Office 2003 content, such as documents and worksheets, from being forwarded, edited, or copied by unauthorized people. In Outlook 2003, users can use IRM to mark e-mail messages with “Do not forward,” which automatically restricts permission for recipients to forward, print, or copy the message. In addition, you can define customized Office-wide IRM permission policies for your organization’s needs and deploy the new permission policies for users to use with e-mail messages or other Office documents.

Resources and related information

You can configure a number of options when deploying Outlook 2003. For more information about Outlook configuration choices, see “Options for Installing Outlook 2003” in Chapter 7, “Deploying Outlook 2003.”

The Office Custom Installation Wizard provides a straightforward way to configure and install Outlook 2003. For more information about Outlook configuration choices, see “Customizing Outlook Features and Installation with the Custom Installation Wizard” in Chapter 7, “Deploying Outlook 2003.”

You can stage your Outlook 2003 deployment to install Outlook with Office, before Office, or after Office, depending on the needs of your organization. For more information about staging an Outlook deployment, see “Determining When to Install Outlook” in the next section of this chapter.

Careful planning can help your upgrade to a new release of Outlook go smoothly. For more information about planning an Outlook upgrade, see “Planning an Upgrade to Outlook 2003” in Chapter 9, “Upgrading to Outlook 2003.”

Planning and implementing an appropriate security plan for your organization is key to a successful Outlook installation. For more information about security in Outlook 2003, see Chapter 11, “Administering Cryptography in Outlook 2003.”