Initiation Phase: Defining the Scope and Goals

Upgrading to Exchange Server 2003 can be a simple process for basic messaging environments, or as challenging as a complete network operating system upgrade for more complex organizations. In most environments Exchange is implemented on multiple servers, and an upgrade will affect a number of other software applications. In fact, changes to the Exchange environment may affect the daily lives of the employees to a much greater extent than moving from NT to Windows Server 2003 (or even more than an upgrade from a non-Microsoft environment), because they will most likely receive a new Outlook client and change the way they access email remotely. With an operating system upgrade, the end-users often don't even know that anything has changed.

The upgrade process is also a great opportunity to help the business achieve its business objectives by leveraging the messaging components of the technology infrastructure and to help justify the never-ending IT expenses. Messaging, in essence, enables the sharing of information and access to data and other resources within the company to help the company deliver its products or services. With this critical purpose in mind, it makes sense to engage in a structured and organized process to determine the goals of the project, control the variables and risks involved, and make sure that a clear definition of the end-state has been crafted. The Statement of Work is the key deliverable from this phase that paints the overall picture of the upgrade project and gains support from the key decision- makers (and allocates an initial budget).

The Scope of the Project

Before the entire Statement of Work can be written, time should be allocated to define the scope of the project. The scope of the project simply defines what is included in the project and what is not. For a simpler environment this may be very easy to define ”for example, an environment in which there is only one Exchange server used for email and scheduling, with a dedicated backup device and virus protection software. If this organization has not migrated to Active Directory yet, the scope might expand to include the upgrade of additional servers or simply upgrade the single server. A desktop upgrade might be included in the scope of the project if the features and benefits of Outlook 2003 are desired. In any case, it's important to clarify this level of detail at the beginning of the planning process. "Scope creep" is a lot more manageable if it can be predicted in advance!

NOTE

An example of a scope of work for a small organization is

• Upgrade the Exchange 5.5 NT 4 Server to Exchange Server 2003 with Windows Server 2003.

• Upgrade the Tape Back-up and Virus Protection software to Exchange Server 2003 “compatible versions.

• Upgrade the Outlook client to Outlook 2003 on all workstations.

• Provide OWA access to all remote users.

In a larger company, "what's in" and "what's out" can be correspondingly more complicated. A company with multiple servers dedicated to Exchange functions ”such as front-end and back-end servers, bridgehead servers, or servers dedicated to faxing or conferencing ”requires the scope definition to get that much more detailed. Multiple sites and even different messaging systems complicate the scope, especially if the company has grown via mergers over the last few years .

NOTE

An example of a scope of work for a larger organization is

• Upgrade the four Exchange 5.5 NT 4 Servers to two Exchange Server 2003 cluster pairs on Windows Server 2003, and upgrade the six NT file and print servers to two Windows Server 2003 cluster pairs.

• Upgrade the Enterprise Tape Back-up and Virus Protection software on all servers to the latest versions that are Windows Server 2003 “compatible and Exchange Server 2003 “compatible.

• Upgrade the Outlook client to Outlook 2003. Provide OWA access to all remote users.

The scope of work might change as the initiation phase continues and in the more detailed planning phase as the Design and Migration documents are created and reviewed. This is especially true for more complex migration projects after the detailed planning phase is completed and the all-important budget is created. At this point, the scope might need to be reduced, so that the budget requested can be reduced.

Identifying the Goals

As a next step in the initiation phase, it helps to spend time clearly identifying the goals of the project before getting too caught up in the technical details. All too often everyone runs up the whiteboard and starts scribbling and debating technology before agreeing on the goals. Although this conversation is healthy and necessary, it should be part of the planning phase, after the high-level goals for the project and initial scope have been defined. Even if there is a very short timeline for the project, the goals ”from high-level business objectives, to departmental goals, to the specific technology goals ”should be specified.

High-Level Business Goals

The vision statement of an organization is an excellent place to start because it tells the world where the company excels and what differentiates that company from its competitors . There will typically be several key objectives behind this vision, which are not so publicly stated, that can be related to the Exchange Server 2003 upgrade. These should be uncovered and clarified, or it will be difficult, if not impossible , to judge whether the project succeeds or fails from a business standpoint.

NOTE

High-level business goals that pertain to an Exchange Server 2003 upgrade can include better leveraging company knowledge and resources through efficient communications and collaboration, controlling IT costs to lower overhead and enable products to be more competitively priced, or improving security to meet governmental requirements.

Although this process sounds basic, it might be more difficult if the company hasn't documented or updated its business objectives in some time (or ever ). Different divisions of larger companies might even have conflicting business goals, which can make matters more complicated. High-level business goals of a company can also change rapidly , whether in response to changing economic conditions or as affected by a new key stakeholder or leader in the company. So even if a company has a standard vision statement in place, it is worth taking time to review and ensure that it still accurately reflects the opinions of the key stakeholders.

This process helps clarify how the messaging upgrade fits into the overall company strategy and should help ensure that support will be there to approve the project and keep its momentum going. In this time of economic uncertainty, a project must be strategic and directly influence the delivery of the company's services and products; otherwise , the danger exists of a key stakeholder "pulling the plug" at the first sign of trouble or shifting attention to a more urgent project.

For example, a consulting organization might have a stated vision of providing the latest and greatest processes and information to its clients , and the internal goal could be to make its internal assets (data) available to all employees at all times to best leverage the knowledge gained in other engagements. The Exchange environment plays a key role in meeting this goal, because employees have become so dependent on Outlook for communicating and organizing information and many of the employees rely on portable devices and Pocket PCs.

A different company, one which specializes in providing low-cost products to the marketplace , might have an internal goal of cost control, which can be met by Exchange Server 2003 through reduction in the total server count and more cost-effective management to help reduce downtime. For this company, user productivity is measured carefully , and the enhancements in the Outlook 2003 client would contribute positively.

High-Level Messaging Goals

At this point the business goals that will guide and justify the Exchange upgrade should be clearly defined, and the manner in which Exchange Server 2003's enhanced features will be valuable to the company are starting to become clear. The discussion can now turn to learning from key stakeholders what goals they have that are specific to the messaging environment that will be put in place.

The high-level goals tend to come up immediately, and be fairly vague in nature; but they can be clarified to determine the specific requirements. A CEO of the company might simply state "I need access to my email and calendar from anywhere ." The CTO of the same company might demand "zero downtime of the Exchange servers and easy administration." The CFO may want to "reduce the costs of the email system." If the managers in different departments are involved in the conversation, a second level of goals might well be expressed . The IT manager might want 4-node clustering, the ability to restore a single user's mailbox, and reduced user complaints about spam and performance. The marketing manager might want better tools to organize the ever-increasing amount of "stuff" in his employees' in-boxes and mail folders.

Time spent gathering this information helps ensure that the project is successful and the technology goals match up with the business goals. It also matters who is spearheading the process and asking the questions, because the answers might be very different if asked by the president of the company rather than an outside consultant who has no direct influence over the career of the interviewee.

NOTE

An example of some high-level messaging goals include a desire to have no downtime of the Exchange Servers, access to email and calendars from anywhere, better functionality of the OWA client, and increased virus and spam protection.

A specific trend or theme to look for in the expression of these goals is whether they are focused on fixing and stabilizing or on adding new functionality. When a company is fixated on simply "making things work properly," it might make sense to hold off on implementing a variety of new functionality (such as video conferencing or providing Windows- powered mobile devices such as Pocket PCs) at the same time.

Business Unit or Departmental Messaging Goals

After these higher-level goals have been identified, the conversations can be expanded to include departmental managers and team leads. The results will start to reveal the complexity of the project and the details needed to complete the statement of work for the migration project. For an Exchange upgrade project to be completely successful, these individuals, as well as the end-users, need to benefit in measurable ways.

Based on the business and technology goals identified thus far, the relative importance of different departments will start to become clear. Some organizations are IT-driven, especially if they are dependent on the network infrastructure to deliver the company's products and services, Others can survive quite well if technology isn't available for a day or even longer.

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An example of some departmental goals include a desire to ensure encrypted transmission of human resource and personnel emails, an OWA client that has the same functionality as the Outlook client, and support for SmartPhone and Pocket PC devices. The IT department might also like better mailbox recovery tools and Exchange-specific management tools that can be used from MOM.

All departments use email, but the sales department might also receive voicemails through the Outlook client and updates on product pricing, and thus need the best possible reliability and performance. This includes ensuring that viruses don't make it into employee in-boxes and that spam be reduced as much as possible.

Certain key executives are rarely in the office and aren't happy with the existing Outlook Web Access client. They also carry BlackBerry wireless devices and need to make sure that they remain fully functional during and after the upgrade.

The marketing department uses the email system for sharing graphics files via public folders, which have grown to an almost unmanageable size , but this enables them to share the data with strategic partners outside of the company. This practice won't change, and the amount of data to be managed will continue to grow over time.

The finance and human resources departments are very concerned about security and want to make sure that all email information and attached files are as safe as possible when traveling within the organization, or being sent to clients over the Internet.

The IT department has a very aggressive service level agreement (SLA) to meet and is interested in clustering, reducing the number of servers that need to be managed, and improving the management tools in place. In addition, Exchange Server 2003's integration with Active Directory will facilitate the management of users and groups and additions and changes to existing user information.

In the process of clarifying these goals, the features of the Exchange messaging system that are most important to the different departments and executives should become apparent.

A user focus group might also be helpful, which can be comprised of employee volunteers and select managers, to engage in detailed discussions and brainstorming sessions. In this way the end-users can participate in the initial planning process and help influence the decisions that will affect their day-to-day work experience. New features offered by the Outlook 2003 client include the Exchange Cached Mode, optimized network traffic with data compression, and an improved Outlook 2003 client and OWA capabilities.

Other outcomes of these discussions should include an understanding of which stakeholders will be involved in the project and the goals that are primary for each person and each department. A sense of excitement should start to build over the possibilities presented by the new technologies that will be introduced to make managers' lives easier and workers' days more productive.