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Upcoming change to e-mail systems to require spring cleaning by George Spain Information Services We've discussed it for years, but now it's for real. MUSC will soon switch to a single e-mail platform and, eventually, eliminate both GroupWise and IMAP e-mail servers.   The single enterprise e-mail platform will be built around Microsoft Exchange servers, one of the most widely used server solutions for businesses around the world.   “We've been investigating retiring GroupWise for three years now and it's just time to do it,” said Christine Williamson, customer services manager for Information Services (IS) Infrastructure Systems group. IS reports to Frank C. Clark, Ph.D., vice president for Information Technology and CIO.   “Final changeover is expected by year's end; however, beta testing is already well under way for some first-adopters, which include both IMAP and GroupWise users,” Williamson said.   GroupWise users, who nearly exclusively run the Windows operating system, will migrate first. They are more familiar with integrated e-mail with calendaring and should be able to decipher the features of the Windows Exchange client, Outlook.   Outlook offers integrated e-mail, calendaring and address book, with notes and tasks. It will be the primary application for Windows users on Exchange.   While users will be notified individually when it's their time to migrate, there are two things they can do now. The most important first step, Williamson said, is to, “clear out the closet of the clutter.”   GroupWise users are not restricted as to the size of their archived e-mail files (as are IMAP users), but under the new Exchange system, they will be. They will be restricted both by time and size of their archived mail files. Williamson said that the size quota would be about 200 megabytes.   “To give you an example of what we're facing, more than 80 percent of GroupWise users are under the proposed 200 MB quota right now. However, those 20 percent that are above, are way above...in one case an archive GroupWise file tops out at 7 gigs!” Williamson said. “We are asking all GroupWise users to clean house beginning now. If you can't see ever needing the message again—like correspondence about projects long completed—please delete it.”   The speed and ease with which the transition will take place will be directly tied to the amount of archived messages that will have to be migrated. The more “old junk” there is to move, the slower the transition.   The second action GroupWise users can take now is to visit the OCIO-IS Web site, http://www.musc.edu/infoservices, and complete a short but important survey about how they use the system. The transition is a complex one, Williamson admits. Interlinking calendars, address books, To Do items, scheduling and the like require a delicate approach. The survey will also be available on the MUSC Medical Center intranet site, http://www.musc.edu/medcenter/, under News You Can Use.   “Getting specific information about each user will help enormously in setting the migration schedule, as well as providing pre- and-post migration support. In addition, as part of the self-audit survey, participants will receive migration information related to their needs,” Williamson said.   Behind the scenes Help Desk personnel are undergoing training to serve as a first line of support when the system goes live. Various levels of classes on using Exchange are planned, but they are, as of now, for training the trainers. Class schedules, printed documentation, and other helpful Web site information will be printed in the following weeks.   “IMAP users, which include virtually all Macintosh users, will be scheduled immediately following GroupWise retirement. Issues unique to the IMAP user community, such as new and returning students, shared Mulberry resources, using IMAP clients, and a change in mail retention strategies, are being actively examined by the migration team,” Williamson said.     Friday, March 30, 2007 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.