Boss wants to now what BANG we get for the bucks moving

[Prodigus]

from Groupwise 6.0 to Exchange 2000. Anyone have any ideas on what the answer to this question is?

She is a Die Hard Novell person and will not review this is a non-partisan manner. The move to exchange/Outlook is coming from WAY above her and is not a welcome thing based on the fact that if we move to Exchange then Novell for file and print would be next.

In my personal opinion I like the Outlook client a lot better therefore would welcome moving back (previous company) to Exchange/Outlook. The other major benefit is that if we go totally MS (There's no way to go totally Novell) then the server team can all be working on the same NOS therefore improving effeciency of the team.

Anyway...... what advantages or disadvantages for that matter do you get by moving to Exchange 2000 ( or perhaps 2003) from Groupwise 6.0 or 6.5. I already realize the cost is significantly more for Exchange.

Thanks for any input.


-Prodigus

 

[peter405]

The most obvious advantage to moving to Exchange 2000 (or 2003) is it's integration with Windows Active Directory. Exchange no longer has to store it's own directory information, as that is maintained on the AD controllers and in the global catalog. This allows all directory information to be maintained/updated only once, but used throughout the environment.

This would not be an advantage in your situation if you are running Novell Directory Services (NDS) on Windows OS computers. As a matter of fact, just as you could not run Groupwise without NDS, you CANNOT run Exchange 2000 (or 2003) without running Windows 2000 Active Directory. Even if you created an Active directory forest specifically for Exchange, you would have to find a way to link it to your Novell directory for your Novell users to access them. (You wind up maintaining 2 directories and constantly ensuring they are in SYNC).

If you want to justify Exchange, you'll need to justify migration from NDS to Windows Active Directory.

 

[Prodigus]

Yes, Actually I am already in the process of planning the Active Directory deployment for May. We will then actually have 2 directories in house. E-Directory and Active Directory.

I would much rather just have one NOS....