In de NetOpus van Juli 2009 is een door mij geschreven artikel gepubliceerd over de Business Productivity Online Suite. In het artikel beschrijf ik wat BPOS kan, hoe het gebruikt en geactiveerd kan worden en wanneer je het in kan zetten. Je kunt het blad bestellen op http://www.netopus.nl/.
Wil je een kopie van het artikel, laat het mij even weten.
Tijdens de komende Microsoft Partner Conferentie zal ik verschillende presentaties verzorgen. Eerder al berichtte ik daarover. Een voor mij erg leuke presentatie gaat over IkPraat.nl. IkPraat is een door Wortel ontwikkelde portal die mensen met een verstandelijke beperking in staat stelt op gewoon met een normale computer normale functies te gebruiken als Voicechat, Videochat, Mail en Videomail.
Om dit te kunnen doen hebben wij een systeem gebouwd op basis van SharePoint 2007, OCS 2007 en diverse andere Microsoft producten. Op bij YouTube kanaal staat een IkPraat.nl filmpje.
De sessiedetails waar dieper ingegaan wordt op IkPraat.nl kun je hieronder vinden:
PS004 Improving Organizational Efficiency
Presenter: Bruce Greenstein
Wed 7/15 | 3:30 PM-4:30 PM | 228-230
Collaboration is key to delivering effective care . This session includes an overview of the Microsoft vision for health and explains how solutions in the areas of Collaboration (Portals, Exchange and UC,) can build strong partner revenue streams. Discover the Partner Resources created to help you be successful!
Session Type: Breakout Session
Track: Industry, Public Sector
Competency Focus: Information Worker Solutions, Unified Communications Solutions
Level: Intermediate
Partner Type: Independent Software Vendor, Systems Integrator/Services
Voor iedereen die dat zou willen, en eerlijk gezegd zou ik niet weten waarom, is het mogelijk om de Blackberry aan te sluiten op Exchange Online (onderdeel BPOS). Om dit te kunnen doen dient een aanvulling op de bestaande dienstverlening aangeschaft te worden. Met die uitbreiding op de bestaande dienstverlening is het mogelijk om een Blackberry met Exchange online te configureren.
De kosten voor het opzetten van Blackberry support voor Exchange online bedragen euro 42,60 per account (eenmalig), met een minimum van euro 1000. Daar komen de maandelijkse kosten van euro 8,52 per gebruiker bovenop.
De dienst wordt niet standaard aangeboden maar moet apart worden aangevraagd.
Even ter referentie. Indien Windows Mobile of zelfs de Apple iPhone op Exchange Online wordt aangesloten is het niet noodzakelijk van de Blackberry server (waar uiteindelijk de extra kosten voor betaald moeten worden) te betalen. Dit is geheel gratis en werkt direct.
Voor iedereen die het toch niet kan laten hieronder de beschrijving:
Mobile Device Solutions Feature Summary
|
Device Type |
Exchange |
SharePoint |
Licensing Details |
Special Offers |
|
Windows Mobile |
|
|
|
|
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Exchange ActiveSync* |
|
|
|
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RIM BlackBerry |
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Three Solution Options:
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NOTE: For all solution options, it is the customer's responsibility to procure, deploy, manage, and support mobile client software and compatible devices, and manage relationships with wireless carriers. Microsoft Online Services does not provide end-user device support.
Mobile Device Solutions Cost Estimates
|
Costs |
Windows Mobile Devices |
Exchange ActiveSync Devices |
BlackBerry Devices | ||
|
BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) |
Partner Solution (NotifySync) |
Microsoft Online Hosted Blackberry Service | |||
|
Microsoft Service |
None |
none |
none |
none |
$5/user/month plus $50/user setup fee |
|
Application License (sold by application provider) |
None |
none |
none |
Based on volumes, about $4/user /month |
Based on volumes, about $2-$9/user/ month over three years (server and client licenses and support agreement) |
|
Mobile Data Connectivity (sold by mobile operator) |
$30 per user per month (requires mobile data plan) |
$30 per user per month (requires mobile data plan) |
$30 per user per month (requires BIS data plan) |
$30 per user per month (requires BIS data plan) |
$45 per user per month (requires BES data plan) |
|
Total Estimated Cost |
$30 per user per month |
$30 per user per month |
$30 per user per month |
$34 per user per month |
$53-$60 per user per month |
Microsoft Online Services provides three paths for Research in Motion (RIM) BlackBerry device users to access Exchange Online and SharePoint Online.
The following sections detail these offerings for Exchange Online. For Sharepoint Online, BlackBerry users can simply use the browser on their BlackBerry device to access SharePoint Online sites.
BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) is available through mobile operators around the globe and enables push e-mail to your BlackBerry device at no additional cost beyond the BIS connection from your mobile operator. Other Exchange Online information – such as Contacts and Calendar – are not pushed to the device through BIS. You can update this type of information on your device using a wired connection.
To set up BIS to use with Exchange Online, your mobile operator, will request your Outlook Web Access (OWA) address, which is determined by the storage location of your Microsoft Online Services data. The storage location is generally the one closest to your company headquarters. The following table provides URLs for storage locations.
Exchange Online Addresses for BIS Setup
|
Location |
Address |
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Asia Pacific (APAC) |
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Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) |
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North America |
For information on BIS capabilities and fees, please see your mobile operator.
For customers who already have or prefer to purchase their own BlackBerry client and server licenses, Microsoft Online offers a Hosted BlackBerry service.
With the Hosted BlackBerry service, customers bring the BES licenses they have already purchased to Microsoft to provide hosting and operational support within the Microsoft Online Services data centers. The customer has the following responsibilities:
Microsoft has the following responsibilities:
This delivery model may evolve with customer needs and Microsoft capabilities.
The Hosted BlackBerry service features encompass the most commonly requested BlackBerry capabilities for Microsoft Online Services customers.
As with other Microsoft Online Services, Hosted BlackBerry is a standardized service and is not customized per customer. All service policies and settings are as listed in the Policy Reference Guide at http://na.blackberry.com/eng/deliverables/3801/Policy_Reference_Guide.pdf with the exception of the choice of password and no-password policies. Settings for these policies are detailed here:
The Hosted BlackBerry Service is purchased and billed separately from Exchange Online Standard or the Business Productivity Online Suite Standard through a separate month-to-month auto-renewing agreement. Pricing is $5.00 (USD) per user per month. There is a $50 per useruser one-time setup fee and a minimum of 20 users.
Customers must purchase their BlackBerry server and client licenses and support agreement separately from RIM.
To purchase the Hosted BlackBerry Service, contact your Microsoft representative or Microsoft Online Services partner to request a Hosted BlackBerry service agreement. If you do not have a Microsoft partner or representative, you may request a Hosted BlackBerry service agreement through customer service for Microsoft Online Services. See http://www.microsoft.com/online/support.mspx for contacts.
Many of our customers ask us the question in which country BPOS is hosted for the EU. Next to this we often get the question under which country legislation / jurisdiction is arranged for the Microsoft Online Services.
For the European Countries BPOS is hosted in Ireland. There is a backup environment in Holland.
Legislation / Jurisdiction would be the country where provisioning occurs. For European countries this would therefore be Ireland.
Why is this so important? The largest impact is the European privacy law. This law differs greatly from the American law. A good article about the main differences can be found here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15221111/
Today the new Exchange 2010 beta was released. After implementation we noticed the possibilities to integrate Exchange Online with an on Premise Deployment.
See the below screenshot:
Currently BPOS (Sharepoint, Exchange, Office Live Meeting and Office Communications Online) is available in several languages. Of course Dutch isn't one of them. As fa as I know now Dutch will not be supported in the near future. However, Exchange Webmail (OWA) is available in Dutch. Next to this there is always a possibility to create a Dutch SharePoint site (at least the content).
Most presumably Microsoft decided on this because the Dutch market isn't large enough and most Dutch people speak English.
Scandic, een grote europese hotelketen met ondermeer een hotel in Nijmegen, gaat gebruik maken van Microsoft Online Services. De organisatie onderzoekt momenteel de mogelijkheden van BPOS (met name Sharepoint Online en Exchange Online). Op basis daarvan wil ze haar standaard server kosten naar beneden brengen.
Migrating Exchange mailboxes to Exchange online is a relatively straightforward process. After trying this in the testlab several times everybody should be able to migrate mailboxes.
A whole different issue however arises when migration mailboxes from an (externally) hosted environment to an Exchange online environment. Most hosters will not allow you to install software on their servers which is needed to migrate mailboxes. Next to this the current Active Directory connector synchronizes all users in the Active Directory to the Exchange Online environment in order to use GAL synchronization.
Although hosters hate to see you leave to another hoster (which Microsoft is with the BPOS offering), they are normally helpful with exporting your data. However, since this is not always the case, you should check into this when signing up with a hosting provider for Exchange.
At one of our clients this is currently the case. They currently have 70 mailboxes at a hosting environment which need to be migrated to Exchange Online.
In order to do this we examined the following scenarios:
Use AD synchronization tools
Using the actual synchronization tools (which are found under the Migration tab) is by far the best option. This scenario will only take an hour or so (apart from the actual copying process). The biggest pitfall is however that most hosters will not allow you to install software on their hosting environment. Therefore this is not really an option.
Use hoster exported mailboxes and import them automatically
In this scenario we will set up an temporary Exchange 2007 environment and import the exported data into this Exchange 2007 environment. After that we will use the automated import tools to import the mailboxes.
Exporting mailboxes from an Exchange 2007 environment is actually very simple. This article on technet explains which steps need to be taken to export Exchange mailboxes: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb266964.aspx.
Although the article describes the steps, normally a hoster should supply all Exchange mailboxes so you wouldn't have to worry about these steps.
After all mailboxes are present an Exchange environment should be set up in which all new mailboxes can be imported. In order to do this you would need an Active Directory Server and an Exchange Server. The software is available via the following links:
After the Exchange 2007 environment has been set up an import could be done of the earlier exported mailboxes. The following powershell command should be used in order to do this:
Import-Mailbox –Identity hew –PSTFolderPath: c:\PSTs\hew.pst
Please note that the users have to available on the environment and a mailbox must already be present.
Because this process can also take a long time there is also a way to import mailboxes in bulk. In order to do this you could have a look at the following tutorial: http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2007/management-administration/exchange-2007-sp1-mailbox-management-part1.html
After this process has been completed the normal Exchange synchronization tasks can be performed.
The time needed to perform this scenario:
Note: You can only perform this scenario if the hoster supplies you with the actually exported Exchange mailboxes.
Use hoster exported mailboxes and import them manually
If you don't have the experience or knowledge to set up an Exchange environment, importing all PST files manually is also an option. However in order to do this you would need all usernames and passwords for the users you will be importing. Next to that all users will have to be logged on at least once and their automatically created passwords will have to be changed.
Next to that you will need to sign into the environment and need to perform multiple actions by hand.
In order to import PST files by hand perform the following actions:
These steps must be repeated for all users.
The time needed to perform this scenario:
User operated import / export
In this scenario the user performs the actual task of exporting and importing mailbox data. This scenario will be the quickest scenario for an administrator but will take by far the most time for users. However this scenario could be used not only for scenario's in which e-mail is hosted by a Hoster but also in scenario's where e-mail is stored in Outlook 2007 and another mailserver is used.
Because BPOS will use a different profile for Outlook 2007 it is not possible to just copy all mail from the old Outlook 2007 profile to the BPOS Outlook 2007 profile. Therefore the user will need to export data to a pst file, after which this pst file can be imported into the new BPOS Outlook 2007 profile.
Exporting e-mail to PST
First the user will have to export all mail to a PST file. In Outlook 2007 this task can be performed as following:
Importing e-mail to PST
Start up Outlook 2007 with the BPOS profile
The time needed to perform this scenario:
Note: Some users will probably need help using this option.
As you see importing mailboxes can give you quite some headaches. I personally think using the temp Exchange environment is by far the best option.
