EDPS - Exchange Deployment Planning Services

Many customers I have worked with in the past several months didn't realize what the EDPS offering was and that in many cases it was funded by Microsoft as part of their software assurance.  Attached is an overview of what EDPS is and what it provides.  With Exchange 2010 around the corner, SKT has developed an updated EDPS offering that focuses on that technology as well as Exchange 2007.  There are also several West UC Solutions-Funded and Customer/West UC Solutions Funded packaged services for EDPS for customers without SA.  Contact me at rodney.horton@westucglobal.com if you have any questions on the process or how to leverage your benefits.

http://www.westucglobal.com/storage/EDPS.pdf

Why should you consider upgrading to Exchange SP2

For many longtime Exchange administrators, the return of native backup capabilities for Exchange servers deployed on Windows Server 2008 servers is exciting news. Under Exchange 2003 systems, administrators could make ad-hoc backups using Windows’ built-in backup utility. Much to many peoples’ dismay, this capability did not make its way into Exchange 2007 on Windows Server 2008. With the installation of SP2, Exchange administrators running on Windows Server 2008 receive a VSS plug-in, that enables Windows Server Backup to address this negative situation. In order to deploy Exchange Server 2010 into an existing Exchange 2007 organization, the Exchange servers in the Exchange 2007 organization must be updated to Exchange 2007 SP2. This is mostly due to the fact that, with Exchange 2010, Microsoft is making major changes to the way Outlook clients communicate with Exchange mailboxes. Under Exchange 2007, Outlook clients communicate directly with mailbox servers, bypassing the Client Access server role used by other communications methods, such as Outlook Web Access and IMAP. Under Exchange 2010, Outlook 2010 clients will also communicate with Client Access servers rather than directly with mailbox servers.

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FaceTime Provides Reuters Messaging Import for SEC, FSA Compliance

BELMONT, CA--(Marketwire - August 25, 2009) - FaceTime Communications announced today the availability to import Reuters Messaging communications alongside instant messages (IM) from public, enterprise and other financial IM networks to manage and archive all conversations into a single location. The new capabilities added to IMAuditor, FaceTime's security and compliance software, will allow financial services organizations to meet the stringent compliance requirements for the retention of IMs as set out by regulatory bodies such as the SEC, NYSE and the Financial Services Authority (UK).

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Exchange 2010 Release Candidate [RC]

Microsoft has made available a release candidate of Exchange Server 2010. This version of the messaging platform will become generally available later this year. Exchange Server 2010 supports both the 64-bit version of Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2, which is due out in October. Windows Server 2008 R2 will not support Exchange Server 2007, so IT shops upgrading their OS will also need to upgrade to Exchange 2010.

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