Microsoft Office 365 Email and Collaboration Services

in the Cloud

Maria HishikawaIT Specialist

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

ATF Email in the CloudPre-Migration• 7500 Users (95% 100MB mailboxes)• Exchange 2003• Personal archives on local hard drives

Migration• Kick-off: July 2012• Deployment: May 2013

Post-Migration• 7500 Users @5GB Mailboxes• Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Lync Online• Proofpoint Archiving with 3 year retention policy

Challenges and Triumphs• Service Terms Agreement

– Personnel Security Requirements– IT Security - FISMA

• Identity Management– Directory clean up– Identity Federation

• Network Architecture– Dedicated network connectivity– Complex layers of nodes and zones– Firewalls, proxies, ports, routing….

• Paradigm Shift of Cloud Service Management– Opposing forces of resistance vs. impatience– Redefine policies and processes– From ad-hoc reactive to formalized proactive mode– Multiple service provider relationship management– Incident triage and escalation methodology

Moving into Cloud Computing is like…..

Assess the Situation

What you have• Amount of data• Types of data• Data sensitivity• Access points• Bandwidth• Records Policies• Procurement options/limits• Long-term plans• Security, security, security

What they offer• Subscription models• Feature options/limitations• Storage growth costs• Mobile device compatibility• Connectivity options• Records features• Integrators and partners• Service roadmap• Security, security, security

Find the Right Fit

• Finances• Features• Geography• Past relationships• Other customers• Recent news and

changes

Manage Expectations

With Vendor• Performance Measures • Penalties• Frequency of Reviews• In/Out of Scope Services

Within Organization:• Clearly Articulate Purpose

and Goals• Define Roles and

Responsibilities Early• Assess Skill Gaps• Develop HR/Training Plans

Don’t Expect to Micromanage

• Don’t expect detailed inventories

• Don’t expect to install agents

• Some logs may not be available to you

• Change Requests in queue with other customers

Don’t Bury Your Head in the Sand

• Know where your data is• Know who has access to

your data• Know your SLAs• Know what changes are

planned• Keep lines of

communications open• Ask questions

Let Go

Find the Equilibrium• Monitor services not hardware• Monitor SLAs not daily tasks• Know your boundaries and thresholds• Advocate for changes of mutual benefit• Know what changes are planned and how they

impact your organization

Know Your Exit Strategy

• Extend agreement• Find another vendor• Take it back on-premises• Hybrid solution• Data Retention/Destruction