Microsoft® Exchange Online—Evaluating Software-plus-Services

Infrastructure Planning and Design

Published: November 2008Updated: October 2010

What Is IPD?Guidance that clarifies and streamlines the planning and design process for Microsoft® infrastructure technologies

IPD:• Defines decision flow

• Describes decisions to be made

• Relates decisions and options for the business

• Frames additional questions for business understanding

IPD guides are available at www.microsoft.com/ipd

Getting Started

Microsoft Exchange Online—Evaluating Software-plus-Services

Purpose and Agenda

Purpose• To provide a technical decision maker with information

about topics to consider when deciding whether to retain existing on-premises email services or to migrate to an Exchange Online solution

Agenda• Software-plus-Services

• Overview of Steps – Categories/Topics

• Sample Topic for Rating/Scoring

• Sample Tally Sheet

• Evaluate Results

• Conclusion

What Is Software-plus-Services?

• Software-plus-services is a model of software development where an application is hosted as a service and combined with locally installed, client-based software for rich interactivity and higher performance

• The software-plus-services strategy is about choice, creating freedom in functionality and delivery

• Exchange Online provides:

• Hosted enterprise messaging solution based on Microsoft Exchange Server

• “From anywhere” access to email for users, including Outlook®, Outlook Web App, mobile devices, and others

Deployment Options

On-Premises Deployment• Server and client software is installed and run on

computers on the premises of the organization using the software

Exchange Online Standard Offering• Provides the core business capabilities of Microsoft

Exchange Server as a hosted service from a shared server, multi-tenancy environment

Exchange Online Dedicated Offering• Provides dedicated servers at Microsoft data centers to

support each organization’s Exchange architecture

Evaluating Exchange Online Decision Flow

Using This Guide to Evaluate Exchange Online

1. Read the introduction to the step.

2. Read the description for each topic.

3. Determine importance of each topic by reading importance rating section and record in the rating table provided.

4. Read the comparisons of on-premises, Standard, and Dedicated offerings in the solutions rating section and rate each solution. Record answers in the rating table provided.

5. Repeat for Steps 2-5.

6. Use the tally sheet in the appendix to tally all scores.Evaluate and make decision.

Exchange Online – Steps and Topics

Step 1: Client Experience● Office Outlook Web App ● Outlook Anywhere ● MAPI● IMAP & POP ● BlackBerry devices ● Mailbox sizes● Macintosh clients ● Single sign-on ● Unified Messaging● Mobile devices using Exchange ActiveSync

Step 2: Impacts to Mail Flow● SMTP relay services ● SMTP smart hosting ● Line of bus. apps integration● Message hygiene ● Connectors to other systems ● Transport rules● Public folders

Step 3: Data Management and Security Implications● Network security ● Network connectivity ● Data isolation● Auditing ● Archiving & journaling ● Signing & encrypting messages● Information Rights Management

Step 4: Ramifications on Business Operations● Service continuity ● Disaster recovery testing ● Service level agreements● Scheduled maintenance ● Adoption rates for new releases

Step 5: Provisioning and Planning Concerns● AD DS integration ● Capacity & performance planning

Step 6: Evaluate Results

Example: Evaluate Signing and Encrypting MessagesSigning and Encrypting Messages description:Secure Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) enables users to send signed and encrypted emails. Importance Rating. Does the organization need to send signed or encrypted emails? Record the importance of this criterion in the table below.Solutions Rating. The list below compares the specific functionalities of each solution:• Standard offering. Provides support for S/MIME certificates. Outlook will publish and

store certificates in Exchange Online. • Dedicated offering. Provides support for S/MIME certificates by synchronizing

certificate information from the customer’s environment to the Microsoft Online Services–managed environment as part of the Active Directory synchronization.

• On-premises solution. Supports signing and encrypting emails with S/MIME.Evaluate how well each of these offerings addresses the business’s requirements for S/MIME, and then record the ratings in the table below.

How to Use the Tally Sheet

1. Transfer the raw scores. Transfer the importance ratings and the Standard, Dedicated, and on-premises raw scores from the individual tables in each section to the tally sheet in the appendix.

2. Calculate weighted scores. Multiply the importance rating by each raw score to find the weighted scores. For example, multiply the importance rating for Office Outlook Web Access by the Office Outlook Web Access standard raw score (5 x 3 = 15) to get the standard weighted score for this topic. Record the standard weighted score in the appropriate box. Repeat for the Dedicated and on-premises solutions.

3. Total each section. After determining each of the weighted scores in a section, add the scores and record them in the Section Subtotals row. Repeat for each section.

4. Tally cumulative total. Finally, after using the formula to rate and score each topic throughout the “Tally Sheet” job aid, add up all of the totals from each section to obtain the cumulative scores. These cumulative totals should provide a definite picture of the solution that best fits the organization.

Example: Tally Sheet

Note This Tally Sheet example is for illustrative purposes only and does not include all of the steps or topics in the Exchange Online―Software-plus-Services Guide

Next Steps

• If, after evaluation, it is determined that Exchange Online meets the needs of the organization, consider implementing as a:

• Pilot project, or

• Hybrid solution (coexistence with on-premises solution)

• The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit can help assess your environment to determine its readiness for Exchange Online.

• MAP is available at http://technet.microsoft.com/MAP

Summary and Conclusion• The software-plus-services strategy is about choice

• The guide was designed to provide a technical decision maker with information about offerings and topics to consider when deciding whether to retain existing on-premises email services or to migrate to an Exchange Online solution

• Use the guide to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each mode of delivery against the organization’s priorities

• At the conclusion of the evaluation, the organization has an individualized appraisal to assist in deciding whether to move email services to Exchange Online

Provide feedback to satfdbk@microsoft.com

Find More Information

• Download the full document and other IPD guides: www.microsoft.com/ipd

• Contact the IPD team: satfdbk@microsoft.com

• Access the Microsoft Solution Accelerators Web site:www.microsoft.com/technet/SolutionAccelerators

Appendix

Notes to presenter

The following slides contain additional details on the topics so

that you can customize the presentation to your own needs.

The steps have been broken out into separate slides, and the

tallying process has been described in more detail.

Step 1. Client Experience

The Client Experience step addresses messaging capabilities that most significantly influence the client experience

The topics covered in this step are:• Office Outlook Web App• Outlook Anywhere • MAPI • IMAP and POP• Mobile devices using Exchange ActiveSync®

• BlackBerry devices• Macintosh clients• Single sign-on• Unified Messaging• Mailbox sizes

Step 2. Impacts to Mail Flow

The Impacts to Mail Flow step addresses some of the impacts to mail flow resulting from changing to an Exchange Online environment

The topics covered in this step are:• SMTP relay services• SMTP smart hosting• Line-of-business applications integration• Message hygiene• Connectors to other systems• Transport rules• Public folders

Step 3. Data Management and Security Implications

This step explores some of the data management and security implications of storing data either on premises or under someone else’s control

The topics covered in this step are:• Network security• Network connectivity• Data isolation• Auditing• Archiving and journaling• Signing and encrypting messages• Information Rights Management

Step 4. Ramifications on Business Operations

Before deciding whether to use online services, existing on-premises email services, or a combination of email services, it is important to carefully examine the ramifications of this decision on business operations

The topics covered in this step are:• Service continuity• Disaster recovery testing• Service level agreements• Adoption rate for new releases• Scheduled maintenance

Step 5. Provisioning and Planning Concerns

Provisioning is the creation and modification of mailboxes, distribution groups, and contacts within a system

Capacity and performance planning is a related activity that can be a challenge for IT departments as they try to balance future needs with budget limitations

The topics covered in this step are:• Active Directory Domain Services integration• Capacity and performance planning

Step 6. Evaluate Results

• Weighted Scoring – Multiply the importance rating by each offering’s original (raw) rating score to find the weighted score. Weighted scores provide a comprehensive view of the comparisons between offerings.

• Analyze Results – If one offering’s score is significantly higher than the rest, this offering will best meet the needs of the organization. However, a set of similar scores may indicate that a particular offering does not necessarily better fit the needs of the organization than other offerings.

Example: Tally Sheet

Standard DedicatedOn-

Premises

Weighted

Cumulative Totals

How to Use the Tally Sheet• Transfer the importance ratings and the Standard, Dedicated, and on-

premises raw scores from the individual tables in each section and for each topic

How to Use the Tally Sheet (continued)• Multiply the importance rating by each raw score to find the weighted scores.

For example, multiply the Office Outlook Web Access Importance Rating by the Office Outlook Web Access Standard raw score (5 x 3 = 15) to get the Standard weighted score for the topic. Record the Standard weighted score in the appropriate box.

How to Use the Tally Sheet (continued)

• After determining each of the weighted scores, add the scores and record in the Section Subtotals row.

How to Use the Tally Sheet (continued)• Finally, after using the formula to rate and score each topic throughout the “Tally Sheet” job aid, add up

all of the totals from each section to get the cumulative totals. These cumulative totals should provide a definite picture of the solution that best fits the organization.

Standard DedicatedOn-

Premises

212 230 124Cumulative Totals