Microsoft Exchange Server 2010Customer Solution Case Study

Research Institute Improves Reliability, Reduces Maintenance Time with New Messaging System

OverviewCountry or Region: IndiaIndustry: Scientific Research and Development

Customer ProfileCentral Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CSIR-CIMAP) is a research institute of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). It is engaged in the field of science and business of medicinal and aromatic plants, and employs more than 500 people.

Business SituationTo support its business objectives, CSIR-CIMAP wanted to replace its aging messaging system to increase reliability, decrease the time spent on IT management, and improve communication across employees.

SolutionCSIR-CIMAP implemented Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 to take advantage of high-availability architecture, and new productivity features.

Benefits Superior reliability Improved IT management Increased availability Increased IT staff productivity

“Because more administrative processes are automated and end-user satisfaction is increasing, administrators have fewer issues to address. We’re seeing a 40 percent increase in our administrators' productivity.”Mr. Rakesh Tiwari, Scientist, Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

CSIR – Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CSIR-CIMAP) is a multi-disciplinary, multi-location Research and Development institute dedicated to the cause of medicinal and aromatic plant research, cultivation, and business. The organization needed to replace its aging messaging infrastructure as it was limited in functionality and had minimal vendor support. In addition, IT administrators struggled to manage the solution. To address these challenges, CSIR-CIMAP deployed Microsoft Exchange Server 2010. Since deploying the solution, the organization has increased system availability, simplified management, and improved the user experience for employees. As a result, it expects to boost IT administrators’ productivity by up to 40 percent.

SituationCentral Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CSIR-CIMAP) is a frontier plant research laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Established originally as Central Indian Medicinal Plants Organization (CIMPO) in 1959, CSIR-CIMAP is steering multi-disciplinary high quality research in biological and chemical sciences. The organization extends technologies and services to farmers and entrepreneurs of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) with its research headquarters at Lucknow, and research centers at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pantnagar, and Purara in Uttarakhand.

A little more than 50 years since its inception, today CSIR-CIMAP has extended its wings overseas with scientific collaboration agreements with Malaysia. CSIR- CIMAP has signed two agreements to promote bilateral cooperation between India and Malaysia in research, development, and commercialization of MAP related technologies.

CSIR-CIMAP had invested in the IBM Lotus Domino messaging system, which had been an engine for productivity but now had become an obstacle. “Our previous messaging system had served us well, but eventually we began to face maintenance and integration issues,” says Mr. Rakesh Tiwari, Scientist, CSIR-CIMAP.

From a management standpoint, it became time consuming to manage and consolidate the system. Although CSIR-CIMAP used the Active Directory service in its environment, there were integration issues. “We were spending 50 percent of the administrator’s time in keeping only

the system running,” says Mr. Rakesh Tiwari. “Tasks such as password synchronization integration with Active Directory, etc., were turning out to be a pain to manage.”

The existing solution had become unreliable and unpredictable, and support from IBM and the implementation partner were a major issue. The solution did not scale to meet the company’s growth. Nor did it keep up with the current technology to offer new features or improve mailbox management.

With a complicated management interface and issues with Active Directory Integration, running the existing solution was proving to be a difficult ask.

With all these challenges and poor support from the vendor, CSIR-CIMAP knew it was time for a new solution. It was clear that the organization needed to upgrade its messaging platform, with the goal of making communications easier and manageable.

SolutionBased on market review and Proof of Concept (POC) provided by Pentacle Systems, CSIR-CIMAP chose to deploy Microsoft Exchange Server 2010. The solution provides new collaboration capabilities beyond email and comes with enhanced management and security features. Support from an industry-leading technology vendor, contributed to the decision. “Exchange Server 2010 gave us a great opportunity to reinvent our messaging system,” explains Mr. Rakesh Tiwari. “It is mature, reliable, and has the

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“Uptime was critical for us. We achieved it with Exchange Server 2010. We are hopeful that the solution will remain dependable for us as we continue to grow.”Mr. Rakesh Tiwari, Scientist, Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

rich functionality which helps us meet our business needs.”

With the help of Microsoft Certified Partner, Pentacle Systems, CSIR-CIMAP completed the proof of concept. In the evaluation phase all issues to do with the changeover were addressed.

Pentacle Systems used the Microsoft Transporter Suite, a set of interoperability and migration tools to migrate from Lotus to Exchange Server.

Pentacle Systems had suggested the Hewlett Packard E500 messaging system, a specialized appliance for Exchange Server that delivers high availability. HP E5000 is equipped with Exchange Server specific wizards to accomplish common tasks such as configuration of data availability groups (DAG) in Exchange Server for high availability of mailboxes.

It also enables setting up the Client Access Server (CAS) array that improves failover and reduces downtime for an employee. In addition, the E5000 has hardware monitoring and in-built wizards that reduce deployment time and provide a dashboard on the health of the messaging solution.

The migration to Exchange Server was smooth. There was some expected downtime during which a secondary email server was set up to capture the emails until the deployment was complete. This ensured there was no loss of emails. 424 email accounts were migrated from Lotus Domino to Microsoft Exchange Server 2010. The solution was deployed within 3 days, including migration of all user

accounts and data from the old mailing solution.

The new solution gives IT administrators the tools to manage the messaging environment effectively. It is ideal for multi-site enterprises with branch offices and offices in remote locations.

CSIR-CIMAP employees rely on Outlook Web App in addition to Outlook 2010. Outlook Web App enables users to access their inboxes using any major web browser without the need to log on to the network.Employees have a better experience when using Outlook or Outlook Web App as it provides the familiar Microsoft Office user an interface. The integrated system provides better productivity.

Active Directory integration is seamless. The issue of password updates to Active Directory is automated, thus ensuring a single sign-on for all employees across the organization.

The deployment at CSIR-CIMAP uses Database Availability Groups (DAG) to ensure that the mailboxes are always available to users even in the event of a server failure. The CAS array ensures connectivity to Outlook clients. The Outlook Web App is load balanced to provide a high availability for end users. The Exchange Management Console (EMC), Microsoft’s Exchange Management tool, provides a convenient and easy interface to manage the deployment of the Exchange Server environment within the customer’s organization.

CSIR-CIMAP believes that new features in Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 have

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helped it create a reliable messaging environment that is simpler to manage and provides enhanced functionality for its users.

In the future, CSIR-CIMAP plans to deploy Microsoft Lync Server for enterprise voice that combines IM, presence, audio, and video calls from any device with internet access.

BenefitsCSIR-CIMAP now has a messaging system that provides a high level of reliability and easy management, which contributes to increased employee productivity and improved communication.

Superior ReliabilityCSIR-CIMAP has noted the improved reliability of its new messaging system, which is because Exchange Server 2010 is better able to scale to meet the organization’s growth requirements. “Uptime was critical for us,” says Mr. Rakesh Tiwari, Scientist, CSIR-CIMAP. “We achieved it with Exchange Server 2010. We are hopeful that the solution will remain dependable for us as we continue to grow.”

Improved IT ManagementThe management capabilities of Exchange Server 2010 help facilitate IT administration and support. IT employees get more done, as they now use Exchange Management Console and Exchange Management Shell, which help them to manage the Exchange Server 2010 deployment with ease and get more done in less time.

Increased Availability

Database Availability Groups deliver the high availability features that CSIR-CIMAP needs to support its employees, who rely heavily on email to do their jobs.

CSIR-CIMAP is able to manage complex tasks easily. For example, large message size, multiple attachments, size of mail archives, and access to any mobile device is no longer a complicated process.

Deployment time was cut by 90 percent with the systematic wizards offered by HP E5000 Exchange Server appliance.

Increased IT Staff ProductivityCSIR-CIMAP’s IT team has seen an increase in its own productivity because of the move to Exchange Server 2010. “We had outgrown our old environment and had to spend several hours each day on its maintenance,” says Rakesh Tiwari. “The new solution is more stable and easier to manage.”

He continues, “Because more administrative processes are automated and end-user satisfaction is increasing, administrators have fewer issues to address. We’re gaining 40 percent increase in administrators’ productivity.”

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Microsoft Exchange Server 2010Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 can help you achieve better business outcomes while controlling the costs of deployment, administration, and compliance. Exchange Server 2010 delivers the widest range of deployment options, integrated information leakage protection, and advanced compliance capabilities, which combine to form the best messaging and collaboration solution available.

For more information about Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, go to:www.microsoft.com/exchange

For more information about Microsoft unified communications, go to:www.microsoft.com/uc

About Pentacle SystemsEstablished in 1996 in Lucknow, Pentacle Systems, a Microsoft Certified Partner, provides consulting, design, implementation, and integration of Information Technology products and services. It has branches at Kanpur and Noida. Pentacle Systems’ services portfolio includes implementation services, post-sales support services, datacenter design and consulting services, facility management services and remote managed services.

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For More InformationFor more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers in the United States and Canada who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:www.microsoft.com

For more information about Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants products and services, call +91 – 522 – 235 9623 or visit the Web site at: www.CSIR-CIMAP.res.in

For more information about Pentacle Systems products and services, call +91 – 522 –302 0549 or visit the Web site at: www.pentacle.in

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published January 2011

Software and Services Microsoft Server Product Portfolio− Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

Enterprise− Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2

Enterprise Edition

Hardware HP E5300 Messaging Appliance for

Exchange Server 2010 2 x Virtual Machines running Windows

Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition for Active Directory Domain Services on HP Blade System

1 x Virtual Machine running Windows Server 2008 R2 as witness server

1 x Virtual Machine running WindowsServer 2008 R2 and Exchange Server 2007 SP2 as a Migration Server