NextStep IT

Interactive Group, Inc. Project Case Study

History

Two ERP software companies merged putting their total employee count at over 1000 employees. The company is using similar technology but their messaging systems are not integrated and they don't have the ability to share data using Exchange public folders, shared schedules, and meeting scheduling.

Business Requirement

They needed to combine their technology infrastructure together. Our consultants were responsible for helping the company's IS Staff combine their two e-mail systems together without negatively impacting the company's working environment.

Solution

Our first step was to analyze the current e-mail server topology of each of the separate organizations. After analyzing the existing two company's Microsoft Exchange topologies, a new topology was created, migration plans were written, and an implementation schedule was drafted.

The new Microsoft Exchange organization which we designed, needed to take into account such factors as expansion and increased traffic. Nextstep IT also recommended that the company take advantage of some of the other features that were not previously being used before the integration. Web Outlook access was added so employees could access their e-mail from anywhere on the Internet using a web browser.

The newly designed organization was split into four separate sites based on geography. In some sites there are multiple servers in order to provide additional functionally and load balancing.

Results

After the project was completed, they were running on one integrated messaging backbone which allowed easy flow of e-mail, group collaboration between previously separate companies, and added functionality to enable users to access e-mail over the Internet.

Technology Utilized

Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5, Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0