Exchange Server 2007 and Active Directory at Impact - CRESCENDO

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Exchange Server 2007 and Active Directory at Impact

15 May Exchange Server 2007 and Active Directory at Impact

Posted at 07:21h in STUDII DE CAZ by Silvia 0 Comments

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“As developers, we operate valuable information and the additional assurance on information security that the new communication solution brings us is very important. Furthermore, this solution is a modern instrument to activate teamwork. When employees become more efficient, company’s profitability is higher. You can not be competitive if you do not have competitive solutions, IT Manager with Impact Aurelian Lungu says.

Initial Situation

Aurelian Lungu, IT Manager at IMPACT, joined the company in May 2002. He recalls: “At that time we also conducted building activities. We were a total of overall 300 – 400 employees, however only 40 of theme were using the e-mail. Impact grew a lot in very short time. We grew from 60 to over 300 TESA employees only in Bucharest in less then 2 years. And the development in Constanta was beginning. The real estate grew very much those times”.

As Impact was also growing, the company’s old IT system needed to be developed. “IT activity started to become more complex at the beginning of 2002. We needed an additional Active Directory, we had to find a VPN and communication solution between the two sites we had back then. Afterwards we started to develop furthermore. Everything was happening via Internet, and the offices we developed become independent and communicated with headquarter only via e-mail, using a Linux server,” Aurel Lungu says.

When Impact gave up the construction activity and became a developer instead, although the number of employees has decreased, a growing of communication was paradoxically recorded. Impact had already begun to develop more and larger projects, with more IT involved. In addition, Impact had already begun to develop new locations in Romania. Thus it is clear why Impact needed an advanced communication solution.

Aurelian Lungu explained: “We organized on projects and project teams, and working with several others the amount of communication increased: communication between the project manager who was here, the architect who was in Constanta, the people running the company’s management … and so on”.

The size of projects developed as a major real estate player required not only a complex coordination of various activities, based on additional communication, but also to maximize the security of communication. “As developers, we handle important and confidential information such as, for example, where is located a new construction building. Information is critical, especially in this competitive market. First we had a security audit, after which we found the system vulnerabilities. Last year we took the decision to change the communication solution, Aurel Lungu says.

Marius Turlea is Managing the Advanced Infrastructure Solutions Software Team with Crescendo, the company to develop and implement the new solution to Impact. He says: “First we needed an analysis of the existing situation because the gradual development of IT system had as a result an irregular structure. The Internet access and internal network were not designed as a thorough from the very beginning, to meet specific standards. Internal infrastructure based on Active Directory with Windows 2000 did not integrate with the original messaging system and therefore an extra work for managing was necessary.

Daniela Chibac, Senior Product Manager with CRESENDO, says: “Company managers wisched to receive access to various tools for organizing, such as meeting requests, program, shared calendars, an easier way to schedule meetings, a new message warning system or when a previously scheduled task becomes imminent, and so on. Such modern tools could be provided only by latest technology as Microsoft, which we implemented.”

Solution

Solution Implementation started in fall of 2007 and ended in April 2008. Aurelian Lungu briefly explains: “We changed network topology and we migrated from Linux messaging to Exchange Server 2007, which is the most modern communication and collaboration solution. We also needed an Active Directory secondary server – Windows Server 2003 for back-up.”

Marius Turlea says: “Infrastructure needed to be adjusted first: restructuring the network and Active Directory, DNS and so on. Thus, after the analysis we stated a series of recommendations where appropriate – a sort of code of best practices – including upgrade to Windows 2003 Active Directory. We recommended a strategy of user groups and allocation of rights and permissions, as recommended by Microsoft such as the type AGDLP (A for account, G for global group, DL for domain local group, P for permissions). This strategy was to be used for permission allocation on file-servers.

In a moment of stable infrastructure, after implementation of our recommendations, we started to upgrade the messaging and collaboration solution based on Microsoft Exchange 2007. At the end of the project, we together with the customer made the acceptance tests in order to verify functionality of the solution once again and provide security. We also provided them with a consistent set of documentation which also contains very important procedures for backup and restore.”

Migrating to Exchange Server 2007 actually took place only after this solution was implemented and tested on a pilot phase. After installing Microsoft ISA Server 2006, used as a proxy server as well, CRESCENDO’s specialists also published Outlook Web Access services, RPC over HTTPS and ActiveSync. This allows Impact users to communicate anywhere and anytime, as if they are inside the company. Impact mobile teams already use terminals with Windows Mobile to connect to their email box and send messages. OWA (Outlook Web Access) facility is used when the user is remote, working with a different computer than his own, and needs to communicate with the organization or its customers and partners.

Benefits

The current Microsoft communication solution therefore brings several advantages, such as capabilities offered by the new technologies to facilitate communication and remote access to resources. With Direct Push Email the user can keep a constant and continuous connection with Exchange Server 2007, via a mobile device. The user can synchronously read his messages through this device, since the server generates the messages in real-time. With OWA, an authorized user can even access shared resources remotely, from a computer located anywhere, only on his account.

Aurelian Lungu says: “It is very important for us to communicate from wherever, since people travel a lot. We have mobile teams, we have Bucharest and Cluj teams and elsewhere working together, there are Canadian, American, English people, so there are a large number of people coming and going. Now, with Exchange Server 2007, we also have Active Sync solution for synchronizing mobile devices with the server. This solution provides us with calendar, tasks, e-mail. In addition, remote access to resources is now possible due to the perfect integration of solution for communication and collaboration with other servers.

Another feature available now, due to the new solutions with Active Directory, is that the user can change password when necessary without asking the IT administrator.”

Additional earnings because of cost cut

The additional communication brought by Microsoft solution to those remote from headquarters automatically leads to more effective team work, resulting in significant time gains. The period to develop a new project may even decrease now, by eliminating or reducing delays in communication and collaboration within Impact Company.

The regular user may also receive other significant time savings. “It is hard to quantify. However, I consider that every user becomes by 30-40% more effective in communicating, because it has lower response times and can use its time more efficiently. In terms of communication costs, fewer papers are needed, and you communicate and do a better teamwork. The phone costs may also have decreased,” Aurel Lungu says.

Maximization of security to possible outside attacks brought by the communication solution Exchange Server 2007 with ISA Server 2006, is another additional gain of Impact. Besides, as Daniel Chibac highlights, “Security was one of their explicit requirements regarding the implemented solution and out activity at Impact. The technical solutions proposed and implemented for the benefit of Impact SA will help them in keeping all data safe and secure.”

Easier management, faster return of investment

Users can access more easily the resources now, emails are on the server and back-up is centralized. This implies a greater potential volume of emails stored, but also the possibility to set limits on the volume of messages stored on user groups.

With the introduction of Exchange 2007, the effort to manage users and passwords halved. Also, organization of email accounts and users, of access and usage rights is easier and less expensive. Therefore, the new communication solution based on Microsoft technology to Impact requires a simpler and less expensive management and thus, with increased efficiency.

IT manager with Impact Aurel Lungu is now sure that he will have a quick return on investment with this cost cut. He says: “This Microsoft solution streamlines our work; therefore we benefit of an added-value that we actually recover the initial costs to implement the solution.”

An investment in the future

Daniela Chibac predicts: “If we consider Impact’s activity, it is clear that they need solutions to support them. We’re talking about people who need rapid communication and collaboration, shortly coordination of various activities, even when, or especially when, they are remote from one another. Based on the current communication solution with Exchange Server 2007, they will further wish to develop opportunities for collaboration. The future investment will not be high because the basis has already been made.”

The next step for Impact would be to implement Unified Communication solution, with its multiple communication and collaboration facilities: tele-conferencing, video conferencing, chat, application sharing, and desktop-sharing.

Aurelian Lungu already knows and thinks about the next step: “You can not be competitive in a market like ours, if you do not have competitive solutions. We plan to budget the development of this solution in the next stage, as a collaborative and communication environment. As I have already said, not everybody in a team is in the same location and, if a meeting starts, if a certain subject is discussed, it is necessary that the remote people to hear and discuss as well. This means that important people in the company could be present in two different places at the same time: at the meeting – with virtual Microsoft technology – and physical, in one certain location.”

The customer company

Impact Developer & Contractor SA is a limited company with private capital, working in the field of integrated mixed developments. It was founded by public subscription in 1991 and it is listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange since 1996, being the first representative of the real estate development and construction market promoted to the first tier of BSE.

Initially, the company’s core business was rental and maintenance of luxury villas in residential and central areas of Bucharest. In 1995, Impact Developer & Contractor SA introduced on the Romanian market the notion of “residential”. Over the 17 years of existence, the company has developed 18 residential buildings, a class A business center (office space), over 2,500 residential units constructed on western quality standards, areas for trade, and logistics platforms.

The company offers financial solutions and expert advice to contract company’s products. In 17 years of existence, the company focused on diversifying its types of services, with the main areas to offer housing solutions in residential areas and office space. Impact has expanded nationwide, in Constanta, Oradea, Ploiesti and Cluj in recent years.

The amount of electronic communication of this major developer grew rapidly and could not be supported by initial messaging solution.

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IMPACT, Tehnologie Microsoft

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