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Making the Most of Notes-to-Microsoft Migration
With Frank Curry, Avanade, and Scott Andersen, Microsoft Corp.
"Transfer 1,000 e-mail users per day and complete your multi-national migration in just six months!" It sounds like a get-rich-quick scheme dreamed up by some slick marketer – but in fact, there’s real hope for these kinds of results. Avanade and Microsoft Consulting Services (MCS) have helped customers with thousands of employees undertake large-scale messaging and collaboration migrations.
Companies are reviewing their messaging and collaboration infrastructure, either for opportunities to centralize, consolidate and control costs, or in response to changing business requirements. For Fremap, a Spanish insurer, an upgrade from its legacy e-mail and collaboration platform promised not only greater functionality, but also the ability to integrate with other systems and incorporate new business processes that would streamline users’ daily work experience. For another Avanade customer, an institutional investment bank, migration from Notes/Domino to Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server and ASP.NET promised a common architectural services framework for future application development.
Another reason companies make the change is that Lotus Notes customers are facing a transition to IBM Workplace and IBM WebSphere. The prospect of transition usually prompts IT executives to scrutinize their options, including migrating to another platform. Microsoft Outlook 2003 and Microsoft Office System – including Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 – have especially compelling features and capabilities for remote users, and strong appeal for decision-makers. Companies looking to rationalize their IT environments may revisit messaging and collaboration systems in search of server consolidation or centralization of cost and support. The cost basis for this decision is quite significant, with analysts estimating the Microsoft environment to be as much as $120 less expensive, per desktop, per year.
Finally, given changes in the business environment – from globalization to mergers and acquisitions, we’re seeing companies looking for even more tightly integrated solutions to link enterprise applications and extend beyond the enterprise.
Despite all the benefits, upgrading an e-mail and collaboration system is one of the most challenging projects an IT department can undertake. The difficulty is compounded by the fact that business conditions and IT environments have evolved, and so have messaging and collaboration systems. Based on our experience, planning and communication can help smooth the way to a successful project.
Keep It Simple, Not Simplistic
When it comes to planning, given the complexity of application and e-mail migration, it’s easy to underestimate – or overestimate – what it takes to do the work. And simply replicating the existing messaging and collaboration systems on a new platform is, well, too simplistic. Migration presents an opportunity to think about current business needs and which of the legacy system’s applications and functionality fulfill those needs. We find that companies who skip that review process simply delay the decision over which applications to keep or cut, stretching out the duration of the project and losing key benefits of migration such as improved, more efficient business processes.
Our assessment for Fremap, the Spanish insurer, illustrated how the company might meet its business goals and improve employee productivity. The evaluation included a validation and design analysis of Fremap’s current messaging architecture. Fremap was able to weigh the Notes and Microsoft platforms, and gain expert technical insight into the limits of its existing systems, including possible means to extend capability.
That’s why Avanade and MCS typically begin work with an analysis that might comprise either an application migration proof-of-concept or a pilot focused solely on e-mail – and in some cases, both. In joint projects we often use both Microsoft tools and assessment tools that Avanade has developed, to rank applications by their complexity and to determine the degree of difficulty involved in moving them. This helps us identify which are candidates for retirement, for example, to eliminate complexity as quickly as possible.
When customers break down their application assets in terms of impact on business function, they can decide what they really need, and how applications and infrastructure can accomplish that function in the new environment.
Our customer, the institutional investment bank, is a case in point. The company had identified Notes applications it wanted to migrate, along with a goal of standardizing future application development and establishing a Microsoft-based intranet architecture. To establish a foundation for a common set of development tools, Avanade and MCS designed and implemented an infrastructure based on Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server and SQL Server Reporting Services. In addition, a collaboration team site for program management support was set up using Windows SharePoint Services.
Speak Their Language
Since migration has a longer lifecycle than other IT initiatives and proceeding too slowly can doom a project’s completion, we try to pace work according to stakeholder acceptance, taking the time to answer application owners’ questions and get their buy-in on the migration.
Communication is key, and we find a couple different formats are particularly effective for engaging with end-users. One format is to show how tasks were completed in Lotus Notes and how they are executed in the Microsoft environment. The classic framework style works as well, starting with top-level objectives and vision, and drilling down into functionality. Ultimately, IT teams want to avoid situations where end-users have to chase after content or instructions.
When it comes to benefits, it’s extremely helpful to focus on communicating the business rationale for the decision to change. Otherwise, end-users are prone to insist on and expect the new system to replicate the existing environment, feature for feature. In addition, the promise of cost savings holds greater appeal when accompanied by service enhancement; we find that customers who focus solely on cost have had a harder time getting employees on board with migration. For example, while migration was expected to save Fremap 54,000 to 82,000 hours annually, the more important benefits for users were simplified navigation, single log-on for multiple corporate applications, and remote access to personal information such as messages, scheduling and tasks.
It’s important to acknowledge the distinct audiences for communications about messaging and collaboration, too. The people who maintain applications will be seeking technical information, and can benefit from a map of function in one system to function in the other, along with any extra features that make the change even more advantageous. For department heads with business function requirements, communication regarding value proposition – including savings – can help this group make decisions around the necessity of applications.
Application owners are another important group and need insight into how the new environment will help them be successful. For the investment bank’s personnel, for example, migration included a strategy for mapping existing applications to new environments. And because we know from experience that application owners need to get training and comprehensive programming tools, as well, the customer’s plans include a common tool-set for future application development, as well as hands-on technical training to better-position IT staff to provide application support for the new environment.
Timing Is Everything
Given the degree of consideration for "where" to begin migration, the question of "when" to begin can seem daunting. It’s a great time to make the transition with the start of rationalization of systems and centralization of function. The timing allows IT departments to incorporate greater functionality and richer features into centralized applications that offer better service levels to the organization, tighter integration with Microsoft Office Systems, and so forth.
For companies using Microsoft productivity applications, there’s no doubt that migrating to the Microsoft messaging and collaboration platform provides a host of capabilities that weren’t possible before. Users can interact with Microsoft Office System 2003 applications from within Microsoft Outlook; they can work in cached mode, and IT staff can help with remote troubleshooting. If Microsoft Exchange 2003 is part of an enterprise agreement, it makes sense to begin planning to take advantage of those capabilities today.
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