Issue 2 | July 2010

At last they’ve got it right

New IT solutions and services are changing user behaviour and fuelling demand for a new kind of thinking from IT departments, says Alan Twigg, Technical Support Specialist at a&o.

‘Over the past 12 months we’ve seen an explosion in new products and solution updates from Microsoft,’ says Alan. ‘In the main, these have been aimed at increasing user productivity, simplifying information access and enhancing security.’

This can be seen with the release of Microsoft Exchange 2010, which has evolved in principle from an email storage solution into a comprehensive, collaboration-enabling toolset. Its features now include integrated message archiving, full Unified Messaging (UM) capabilities, enhanced security and, at last, the unique and much talked about business continuity offering, in the form of Database Availability Groups (DAG).

Although adoption of Microsoft Exchange 2010 has been slow, interest has been high, says Alan. ‘Migrations are seen to be costly in terms of licensing, process and the new hardware requirements, but this is not the case. Exchange 2010 is one of the first Microsoft products that can be virtualised, with the exception of the UM role. This enables companies to leverage the investments they’ve already made in their data centres. Exchange 2010 has a simplified storage requirement, which can significantly reduce the storage costs of hosting an on-premise solution.’

He points out that although Exchange 2010 demands server platforms that are 64-bit capable, this has become the de facto standard for most hardware vendors and the server costs are low in comparison to 12 months ago. ‘The migration process can be complicated, but a&o has the experience to guide customers, using a best practice approach. This ensures a smooth transition with minimal impact to end-user productivity.’

Collaboration is rapidly becoming the next big thing on company agendas, but still suffers from the stigma of being a young persons’ plaything and extremely expensive. However, as Alan explains, ‘Microsoft Office Communication Server 2007 R2 provides a number of key features and services that can reduce IT costs and increase user productivity. By enabling users to access features such as internal, secure instant messaging, presence and on-site conferencing facilities, companies can improve internal communications, adopt a faster to-market strategy and reduce the costs associated with telephone conferencing. Then, by integrating Communications Server with Microsoft Exchange 2010, Microsoft Office 2010 and Microsoft SharePoint services, a complete collaboration solution can be achieved.’

He adds: ‘Windows 7 was quickly adopted as the standard for IT departments, but not really deployed out to end-users. Why is this, when it enables user productivity gains, is widely adopted in the home market space and is stable? The answer is simple: the migration process from Windows XP is painful and often fraught with complications. So many IT departments have elected to wait and consider alternative delivery mechanisms – whether a conventional server-based computing model, a VDI delivery mechanism or, in some cases, a radical approach with virtualised applications hosted in data centres and published directly to the client workstation. It’s a pity that the adoption rate has been slow – at a&o we’ve seen a lot of advantage in deploying Windows 7 at the desktop, with enhanced security, a simplified user interface and the ability to support any application or device. But the migration process need not be overly complicated. New capabilities in Microsoft Systems Management platforms have meant that Windows XP and Windows Vista migrations can be automated and controlled from a single centralised platform.’

Alan says that, despite these compelling success factors, customers frequently exclaim:

‘This will cost a fortune!’, ‘We don’t have the budget!’, ‘We don’t have the time!’ or even ‘We cannot afford the downtime!’

Alan’s response is that although these are all valid arguments, they should not get in the way of IT bringing innovation through the services it offers end-users. ‘Hiding behind the cost argument can be damaging to business growth and, in some cases, hinder user productivity.’

If you'd like to know more or want to set up a meeting, please contact Alan here.