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| Posted Date:March 15, 1996 | Go To TechNet Home Page |
MICROSOFT EXCHANGE SERVER MAKES COMMUNICATING EASIER
THE E-MAIL SERVER WITH INTEGRATED GROUPWARE
THE TIME HAS COME FOR MICROSOFT EXCHANGE SERVER
MEETING KEY BUSINESS NEEDS
PUTTING MICROSOFT EXCHANGE SERVER TO WORK
BUILDING A BUSINESS STRATEGY AROUND MICROSOFT EXCHANGE SERVER
SUMMARY
The e-mail server with integrated groupware
White Paper
Microsoft® Exchange Server is the e-mail server with integrated groupware that makes it easy to communicate. It is the first client/server messaging system to integrate e-mail, group scheduling, rules, electronic forms, and groupware in a single system with powerful, centralized management capabilities.
Microsoft Exchange Server provides a complete messaging infrastructure that is scalable for organizations of all sizes. And it provides a solid foundation for building powerful client/server solutions that gather, organize, share, and deliver information virtually anyway you want it. And it was designed from the ground up to provide users and administrators with unmatched open and secure access to the Internet. Native SMTP support and support for UUENCODE and MIME ensure seamless Internet connectivity and reliable delivery of Internet mail attachments.
This white paper offers an overview of how Microsoft Exchange Server can help organizations of all sizes improve their business processes, work smarter, and increase profits through improved communication. The topics to be covered include:
Microsoft Exchange Server is part of the Microsoft BackOffice™ family, the first integrated family of server products designed to make it easier for organizations to improve decision making and streamline business processes with client/server solutions. The Microsoft BackOffice family includes the Microsoft Windows NT™ Server network operating system; Microsoft SQL Server™, Microsoft SNA Server, Microsoft Systems Management Server, and Microsoft Exchange Server.
Information, both from within organizations and from outside sources, is becoming one of the most valuable commodities in business today. Never before has so much information been so readily available. Nor have there been such high expectations for how much individuals will be able to accomplish with this information. To take advantage of this information, businesses are rethinking every aspect of their operations and reengineering business processes to react more quickly, become more responsive, provide better service, and unify groups separated by thousands of miles and multiple time zones.
Until now, organizations looking for a messaging system had two choices: a host-based system that provided powerful administrative capabilities but was costly and didn't integrate well with PC-based desktop applications; or a LAN-based system that integrated well with PC-based desktop applications but wasn't scalable and was less reliable than host systems.
Microsoft Exchange Server delivers the benefits of both options and eliminates their shortcomings. It is the first system to integrate e-mail, group scheduling, electronic forms, rules, groupware, and built-in support for the Internet on a single platform with powerful centralized management capabilities. Microsoft Exchange Server can provide everyone in the organization, from professional developers to administrators to end users, with a single point of access to critical business information. It makes messaging easier, more reliable, and more scalable for organizations of all sizes.
Technology is not only changing how we process and assimilate information, it's affecting how this information is transferred, viewed, and acted upon.
Electronic messaging plays a pivotal role in this process. The annual growth in individual electronic mailboxes is phenomenal. It is projected that there will be an installed base of more than 100 million mailboxes worldwide by 1996. Four key trends have led to this growth:
Anticipating the trends listed above, Microsoft Exchange Server was developed to unify host-based and LAN-based environments that have historically been separate. E-mail originated in host-based environments. Since a host computer could support increases in both the number of users and in the information flow, it was possible to implement a single system for an entire enterprise.
The rise of local area network (LAN) environments produced e-mail systems that were scalable, mostly within workgroups, and were usually not centrally managed. To enable group sharing in these LAN environments, a second type of application-called groupware-emerged. This type of application enhanced workgroup productivity but presented organizations with two complex systems to manage. End users were forced to continually jump between e-mail and groupware to exchange information.
Microsoft Exchange Server incorporates both messaging and information sharing in a unified product architecture, eliminating the need to have separate electronic-mail and information-sharing systems. The Microsoft Exchange product family consists of:
Microsoft Exchange Server supports SMTP, MIME, and X.400 standards to ensure reliable message transfer for systems backboned over the Internet or X.400 systems. And it provides outstanding NNTP and Web access and integration, enabling customers to easily access all types of Internet information.
By taking advantage of client/server technology, organizations receive all the scalability benefits of host-based environments and the flexibility of LAN-based environments.
Microsoft Exchange Server can be used as a platform for an assortment of business solutions, which organizations of all sizes can implement to meet a wide range of key challenges, including:
Microsoft Exchange Server combines the best features of both host-based and LAN-based e-mail systems with some additional benefits all its own. The result is a messaging system that's easy to use and manage and that moves messages and files through your system quickly, securely, and reliably, regardless of how many users or servers you have.
Users can keep all messages, forms, faxes and meeting requests in the Universal Inbox for easy access.
Universal Inbox for all forms of communication. The Universal Inbox in Microsoft Exchange Client enables users to keep all messages, forms, faxes, and meeting requests in one location, where they can be easily accessed. Users can search and sort these items using a wide range of criteria-such as addressee, topic, or date of receipt-to quickly locate the information they need.
In addition, server-based rules automatically process incoming messages, including those from the Internet, even when the user is out of the office. These rules can be configured to file incoming messages in appropriate folders or to respond immediately with specified actions, such as forwarding messages to another person, flagging them for special attention, or generating a reply automatically.
Tight integration with desktop applications. Because Microsoft Exchange Client is tightly integrated with the Microsoft Windows® operating system and the Microsoft Office family of products, it's easy for users to learn and use. Also, because it maintains a consistent client interface across all the most popular desktop platforms, training costs are minimized.
Fast, secure, and reliable. Microsoft Exchange Server takes full advantage of the robust client/server architecture in Windows NT Server to get messages to their destinations quickly, whether across the hall or around the world. It also provides tools for easily tracking messages sent to other users of Microsoft Exchange Server, and via the Internet to users on other systems, to confirm that they arrived and that they were read. Support for digital encryption allows users to automatically secure messages against unauthorized access, and digital signatures guarantee that messages get to their recipients without modification.
In addition to these security features, Microsoft Exchange Server also takes advantage of the security features built into Windows NT Server to prevent unauthorized users-inside or outside your organization-from accessing your data.
Scalable. Built on the scalable Windows NT Server architecture that supports the full array of Intel®- and RISC-based servers, Microsoft Exchange Server scales to meet a range of requirements-from those of a small, growing office to those of a multinational corporation.
It's easy to add users to existing servers and new servers to an organization as it grows. Routing and directory replication occur automatically between the new and existing servers at each site. Plus, optional connectors are available to connect computers running Microsoft Exchange Server to the Internet and X.400 systems.
In addition to e-mail, which allows users to send information to each other, Microsoft Exchange Server supports groupware applications that offer an easy way to share information by retrieving it wherever it might be-without the traditional complexities of navigating through a maze of network servers or jumping between multiple screens and applications.
A built-in suite of groupware applications in Microsoft Exchange Server gives users a head start with group scheduling, bulletin boards, task management, and customer tracking. And because these applications are designed to integrate tightly with the Windows 95 operating system and Microsoft Office for Windows 95, Microsoft Exchange Server provides an ideal platform for integrating business solutions with desktop applications.
Users can easily access information on a related topic all in one place through public folders.
While the Microsoft Exchange Server applications are ready to go right out of the box, you can also easily customize them using Microsoft Exchange Electronic Forms Designer or popular development tools such as the Visual Basic® programming system and the Visual C++® development system.
With the optional Microsoft Exchange Internet News Connector (planned for release in the first half of 1996) you can make the complete set of Internet newsgroups easily available to users through public folders. And organizations can make information easily available to internal or external users of the Web without storing information in redundant locations or manually reformatting information into HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) format.
Microsoft Exchange Server also enables users to communicate with each other and to share information from any time zone or location. This is especially important for mobile users, who need to break through traditional organizational boundaries to communicate with the enterprise. Group scheduling and public folders help users work together more effectively, whether they're across the hall, across the country, or around the globe.
Group scheduling. Microsoft Schedule+ is fully integrated with Microsoft Exchange Server to provide a powerful tool for scheduling group meetings, rooms, and resources. To schedule a meeting, users can overlay the busy times of all the attendees in a single calendar display, or use the Meeting Wizard to automatically schedule a meeting, conference room, and any other resources required.
Bulletin boards. Support for bulletin boards enables organizations to easily share information throughout the enterprise. Information is organized so that users can easily find what they need, leave messages, and communicate about the topic.
Customer tracking. Microsoft Exchange Server makes it easy to improve customer service and track sales. It enables organizations to organize and track account information, account contacts, and account communications in public folders for easy access by sales or customer service representatives either in the office or on the road.
Public folders. Public folders make it easy for users to access information on a related topic all in one place. Documents can be stored in public folders for easy access by users both inside and outside an organization. These folders are easy to set up without programming; relevant documents can be dragged into the folder.
Public folder replication. One of the key strengths of Microsoft Exchange Server is its ability to distribute and synchronize shared information through the Microsoft Exchange Server replication system. This supports having multiple synchronized copies of folders in different locations regardless of whether users are connected over a LAN or WAN, or Internet or X.400 backbone.
Replicating information in this way means that synchronized copies of a public folder can reside on multiple servers, distributing the processing load and improving response time for users accessing information within the folder. It also means synchronized copies of a public folder can reside at several geographically separated sites, dramatically reducing the amount of long-distance WAN traffic necessary to access information. And if a server holding one copy of a public folder becomes unavailable, other servers holding synchronized copies of the same folder can be accessed transparently, greatly increasing the availability of information for users and resulting in a highly reliable system.
Microsoft Exchange Server offers users the unique benefit of location-independent access to shared information. With replication, the physical location of folders is irrelevant to users, and Microsoft Exchange Server hides the sophistication of public-folder replication. Users need not be aware of where replicated folders are located, the number of replicated copies, or even that replication occurs at all. They simply find information more easily than ever before.
With the optional Microsoft Exchange Internet Mail Connector you can replicate public folders and groupware applications throughout a distributed organization, even if you don't have a WAN.
Managing public folder replication is very easy. Using the graphical Microsoft Exchange Server Administrator program, system managers need only select the servers that will receive replicas of the public folders. Microsoft Exchange Server does the rest.
Off-line folder synchronization. Microsoft Exchange Server enables users to automatically perform two-way synchronization between a server folder and a copy of that folder on a local PC. For example, a user can create an off-line folder-a snapshot or "replica"-of a customer-tracking application to take on a business trip and update it based on interactions with customers during the trip. Then, when the user reconnects to the server-either remotely by modem or by connecting to the LAN upon returning to the office-the folders can be bidirectionally synchronized with the server. Changes, including forms and views, made on the local machine are updated to the server, and changes to the server-based folders automatically show up on the user's PC. Off-line folder synchronization enables users to maintain up-to-date information without having to be continuously connected to the network.
Creating an off-line folder is different from simply copying a server folder to the hard disk, because an off-line folder remembers its relationship with the server folder and uses that relationship to perform the bidirectional update. Only changes-not the whole folder-are copied, which helps minimize network traffic.
Microsoft Exchange Server supports multiple simultaneous off-line folder synchronization sessions from many different locations. Built-in conflict resolution for public folders ensures that all the changes are added. The owner of the folder is notified if there is a conflict and can choose which version to keep. With the powerful server-to-server replication technology in Microsoft Exchange Server, this information can then be automatically replicated to users of your system around the world.
Extensive built-in support for the Internet in Microsoft Exchange Client, as well as the optional Microsoft Exchange Internet Mail Connector and the Microsoft Exchange NNTP Connector (planned for release in the first half of 1996), makes it easy for organizations to use the Internet as a communications backbone and to make Internet newsgroup data available to their users through public folders.
The Microsoft Exchange Internet Mail Connector provides high-performance multithreaded connectivity between Microsoft Exchange Server sites and the Internet. It also supports UUENCODE and MIME to ensure that attachments arrive at their destinations intact. Built-in message tracking helps ensure message delivery. Digital encryption and digital signatures ensure message security.
These capabilities make it possible for organizations to use the Internet as a Virtual Private Network to connect Microsoft Exchange Server sites over the Internet and to route messages using TCP/IP or X.400 protocols. You can easily control who sends and receives Internet mail by rejecting or accepting messages on a per-host basis.
Integrated Internet support. The Microsoft Exchange Client includes built-in Internet mail standards to allow users, connected locally or remotely, to reach other Microsoft Exchange Server sites and virtually anyone else using any Internet service provider. Native MIME support allows files to be transported reliably over the Internet. Support for Post Office Protocol, Version 3 (POP3), SLP, and PPP ensures compatibility with all SMTP e-mail systems.
The Microsoft Exchange Inbox-a version of Microsoft Exchange Client that doesn't include Microsoft Exchange Server-specific functionality-is built into the Windows 95 operating system. This feature makes Internet mail easy to set up and access. Any user with an Internet mailbox via POP3 can use the Internet Mail Driver for Windows 95 in the Microsoft Exchange Inbox.
This driver offers full editing and transmission features for Internet mail. It is available as part of the Microsoft Plus! add-on product for Windows 95 and is included with versions of Windows 95 that ship with new computers. This driver enables the individual user to send and receive Internet mail without being a network user, having a mail server, or a full gateway.
Direct connections over the Internet for mobile users. The Microsoft Exchange Inbox and Microsoft Exchange Client can also leverage the Internet in another exciting way. When users' e-mail accounts are hosted on Microsoft Exchange Server, they typically use remote-access services (RAS) to connect remotely. However, RAS can involve expensive telephone-connection charges, and it can sometimes be difficult to access a RAS connection in certain locations.
To address these issues, Microsoft Exchange Client and Microsoft Exchange Server both have built-in support to connect to each other securely over the Internet. Mobile users can use a local Internet service provider to connect to the Microsoft Exchange Server site located back in their organizational headquarters. Once this connection is established, users have full access to all server-based functionality, including directory services, digital signature and encryption, group scheduling free/busy checking, and public-folder applications.
Support for Internet newsgroups and discussion groups. The Microsoft Exchange Internet News Connector can bring a USENET news feed to Microsoft Exchange Server, from which you can distribute the feed to users through the public-folder interface in Microsoft Exchange Server. Items within a newsgroup are assembled by conversation topic-the view preferred by most discussion group users. Users can then read the articles and post replies to be sent back to the Internet newsgroup.
Using the standard Microsoft Exchange Client Post Note feature, users can post a new article or a follow-up to an article or send a reply to the author of an article. And users have all the composition features of the Microsoft Exchange Inbox for composing posts to discussion groups. As with e-mail, however, the extent to which these composition features can be viewed by other users depends on the encoding format they use.
The Internet News Connector automatically uses UUENCODE or MIME to encode outgoing and decode incoming post attachments. Thus, when users see an attachment in a post, they need only double-click and watch the attachment pop up. There's no waiting for the decoder to process the file.
The Microsoft Exchange Internet News Connector can bring a news feed to Microsoft Exchange Server, which you can then distribute to users using the public folder interface.
Easy, powerful centralized administration
While Microsoft Exchange Server offers the tight integration with desktop applications previously available only with LAN-based e-mail systems, it also offers the centralized administrative capabilities previously available only with host-based systems. Its easy-to-manage, reliable messaging infrastructure gives administrators a single view of the entire enterprise.
Easy-to-use graphical administration program. Microsoft Exchange Server includes a number of tools that help administrators reduce administration time while keeping the system running at peak performance. The graphical Administrator program enables administrators to manage all components of the system, either remotely or locally from a single desktop. Built-in intelligent monitoring tools automatically notify the administrator of a problem with any of the servers and can restart the service or the server if necessary.
Administrators can manage all Microsoft Exchange Server components either remotely or locally, from a single desktop.
Microsoft Exchange Server integrates tightly with Windows NT Server monitoring tools as well. You can even create new user accounts and new mailboxes for those users in one simple step.
Information moves reliably. To keep the right information flowing to the right people, users need to be able to count on reliable message delivery. Using powerful monitoring and management tools, Microsoft Exchange Server helps ensure that the entire organization enjoys uninterrupted service. It even seeks out and corrects problems based on administrator guidelines.
If a connection goes down, Microsoft Exchange Server automatically reroutes messages as well as public folder and directory changes, balancing them over the remaining connections. This greatly simplifies administration and ensures reliable and efficient communication.
Works with you what you have. Microsoft Exchange Server supports clients running the Windows 95, Windows 3.1, Windows® for Workgroups, Windows NT, MS-DOS, Macintosh®, and UNIX® operating systems so that users work within a familiar environment. In addition, its network-independent messaging protocol enables Microsoft Exchange Server to work cooperatively with existing network systems such as Novell® NetWare®.
Manage all Microsoft Exchange Server components from a single seat. Because the connectors for Microsoft Mail, the Internet, and X.400 systems all function as core parts of Microsoft Exchange Server rather than as add-on applications, they take advantage of the message routing, management, and monitoring features built into Microsoft Exchange Server. They also integrate with the administrative tools provided in Windows NT Server.
Easy migration. Built-in migration tools make it easy to convert user accounts to Microsoft Exchange Server. These tools work with the existing system and the Administrator program to copy and import addresses, mailboxes, and scheduling information from existing systems. It's also easy to automatically upgrade client software from the server.
Making your business communications easier. Whether an organization is small and growing or spread across the globe, regardless of which desktop operating system or network operating system is used, and regardless of which outside mail systems need to be communicated with, Microsoft Exchange Server can make an organization's communications easier.
The real test of Microsoft Exchange Server capabilities is in real-life business solutions. The following are just a few of the solutions that can be implemented using the Microsoft Exchange product family.
Customer-support systems. Organizations have always struggled with the costly problem of duplicating efforts because individuals don't know that others have already tackled the same issues. A customer-support system can remedy this problem by allowing support technicians to document and share their experiences and acquired knowledge with their colleagues in other support centers. This sharing helps keep organizations from "reinventing the wheel," because all employees can see and use the information and ideas generated by others. It also allows technicians to automatically route product bug reports to the engineering staff at the home office.
Customer account tracking. Providing great customer service with distributed sales teams requires excellent communication among all team members and a shared history of customer contact. Inconsistent communication with customers is one of the main reasons companies lose customers to competitors. An account-tracking system improves the management of customers by enabling account managers to see at a glance whenever anyone in the company has made contact with a customer account.
A customer-tracking system also helps identify solid new sales opportunities and pinpoint customer problems that require immediate attention. Because many account managers travel extensively, this information must be accessible both from the office network and from remote locations such as hotel rooms, airports, or home.
Sales tracking. Today every organization that manufactures a product worries about the high cost of carrying large inventories of finished goods and supplies. A sales-tracking application can help businesses make better manufacturing planning decisions by helping sales managers and marketing executives get up-to-the-minute information, including sales volumes by region, product, and customer. This information makes it possible to identify regions or products that require special attention and to make more informed projections of demand for each product.
This online library must contain a variety of interrelated information, including word-processing documents, spreadsheets, presentation graphics slide shows, e-mail messages from product managers, and, increasingly, multimedia elements such as images, sound clips, and videos. Sales reps can have read-only access to this library, while product managers at any location can change and modify those items that pertain to their particular products.
Such an electronic library of product information eliminates the need to continually distribute new printed product information to the sales force, which in turn eliminates the problem of disposing expensive inventories of obsolete brochures and data sheets when products change.
A market and general information newswire. Today's rapid business pace requires that managers stay in constant touch with business trends that will affect their markets and customers. A newswire application provides an easy way for employees to stay in touch with important trends, the needs of customers, and their competitors without a separate specialized application.
Businesses of all types and sizes can implement Microsoft Exchange Server as their information infrastructure. It will support all the e-mail, information-exchange, and line-of-business applications that help them use information to greater business advantage. Microsoft has worked closely with customers throughout the development of Microsoft Exchange Server to help ensure that it meets the needs of even the largest and most complex systems. The following are some common examples of how customers plan to implement Microsoft Exchange Server.
Downsizing. Many large organizations will migrate their e-mail systems from a host mainframe to a client/server system based on Microsoft Exchange Server. Microsoft Exchange Server provides the security and robust operations capabilities of the mainframe in a more flexible, inexpensive, scalable, and manageable implementation. It also includes migration tools that make it easy to move users from existing LAN-based and host-based e-mail systems. Customers who are downsizing operations are excited by how easily they can develop applications for Microsoft Exchange Server using popular languages and development tools not applicable for mainframe computers.
Connecting multisystem environments. Customers with multiple personal computing and network platforms can use Microsoft Exchange Server to link all their users together. Organizations can benefit from the simplified administration of having just one server and a single client interface that supports all popular computing platforms. In addition, Microsoft Exchange Server enables organizations to use the Internet as a communications backbone to connect to and share information with other geographic locations of their own organization as well as with other companies.
Upgrading current Microsoft Mail systems. Many customers have built powerful messaging systems-including electronic forms and mail-enabled applications-with Microsoft Mail. All of their existing messaging investments will seamlessly migrate to Microsoft Exchange Server, allowing them to gain the new capabilities that Microsoft Exchange Server offers without losing access to their mission-critical applications already in place.
By integrating a powerful e-mail system, group scheduling, rules, groupware applications, Internet connectivity, and centralized administrative tools all on a single platform, Microsoft Exchange Server makes messaging easier, more reliable, and more scalable for organizations of all sizes. Microsoft Exchange Server is also a highly extensible and programmable product that allows organizations to build more advanced information-sharing applications or extend existing applications easily, based on existing knowledge. And it provides the centralized administrative tools to keep the enterprise running securely behind the scenes. As a result, it can help organizations save time and improve all forms of business communications, both within and beyond the enterprise.
Microsoft Exchange Server is part of the Microsoft BackOffice integrated family of client/server applications, which includes the Microsoft Windows NT Server network operating system; Microsoft SQL Server for managing and storing data; Microsoft Systems Management Server for managing PCs and servers; Microsoft SNA Server for host connectivity; and Microsoft Exchange Server for making it easier to communicate.
© 1996 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date publication.
This document is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Companies, names, and/or data used in screens and sample output are fictitious.
Microsoft, BackOffice, the BackOffice logo, MS-DOS, Visual Basic, Visual C++, Windows, and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. NetWare and Novell are registered trademarks of Novell, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company, Ltd.
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