Hey guys,
In work we've recently began discussing centralizing all our exchange mail servers to our head office - obvious benefits in control and cost. I thought it would be interesting to hear the opinions of outsiders on the subject of complete centralization of mail on a corporate level.
For a long time now I've been a supporter of the hub approach and up until recently I've been largely ignored on the subject - the planning required to centralize, the man hours, etc etc etc (glass half empty point of view essentially). It's taken some major exchange problems in our remote sites for some recognition of my point.
It's quite a scary thought, and one I've been trying to get across for some time, we have 15+ exchange servers dotted around with only our major sites having contingency in place for these servers - clustered. So that leaves about 8 servers that - god forbid - would be dead in the water if there was a major problem.
Up until recently there has been a constant ‘small business mentality’ in our IT management. We have 60+ offices, so clearly this approach doesn’t really fit.
Anyway, I’d be really interested to hear what you guys think. Have you experienced a similar situation? What were your main stumbling blocks? Have you worked in a completely centralized exchange network?
In work we've recently began discussing centralizing all our exchange mail servers to our head office - obvious benefits in control and cost. I thought it would be interesting to hear the opinions of outsiders on the subject of complete centralization of mail on a corporate level.
For a long time now I've been a supporter of the hub approach and up until recently I've been largely ignored on the subject - the planning required to centralize, the man hours, etc etc etc (glass half empty point of view essentially). It's taken some major exchange problems in our remote sites for some recognition of my point.
It's quite a scary thought, and one I've been trying to get across for some time, we have 15+ exchange servers dotted around with only our major sites having contingency in place for these servers - clustered. So that leaves about 8 servers that - god forbid - would be dead in the water if there was a major problem.
Up until recently there has been a constant ‘small business mentality’ in our IT management. We have 60+ offices, so clearly this approach doesn’t really fit.
Anyway, I’d be really interested to hear what you guys think. Have you experienced a similar situation? What were your main stumbling blocks? Have you worked in a completely centralized exchange network?