HomeMy WebLinkAboutContract No. 2013 2513 1 - .
CITY OF COLUMBIA HEIGHTS
DATE: May 3, 2013
TO: Joseph Kloiber, Finance Director
FROM: Aleksandr Chernin, IS Director
RE: Migration from Novell GroupWise to Microsoft Exchange
I recommend upgrading our email and collaboration software from Novell GroupWise to Microsoft
Exchange. The approximate total cost of the upgrade is$21,000.
The City of Columbia Heights has been using Novell GroupWise email and collaboration software
since 2000. Since 2008 the City was not renewing annual support agreements with Novell, because
the potential benefits (support and upgrades) did not justify the costs (about $4,000 per year).
GroupWise is a reliable and low-maintenance messaging platform, but its market share and
popularity has been steadily decreasing over the last decade due to several factors:
• Insufficient support for mobile devices (smartphones and tablets). Before GroupWise 2012
was released, users could use either very basic Web-based interface, or few third-party
solutions to access their GroupWise mailboxes and calendars from their mobile devices.
GroupWise 2012 supports Microsoft ActiveSync- de-facto standard for mobile devices
synchronization.
• Increasing prevalence of Microsoft solutions, including Microsoft's messaging server
(Exchange) and its front-end client (Outlook). Exchange and Outlook used to be not very
stable and feature-rich platform, requiring significant maintenance. However, the latest
versions of Exchange are rather stable and reliable. Outlook also gained more features and is
pretty close to GroupWise.
• Growing popularity of feature-rich Web-based messaging platforms for business users,
especially Google Gmail.
• Decline and stagnation of Novell. After several years of diminishing market value the company
was purchased by Attachmate in 2010, and has been in obscurity since then.
• As a result of declining GroupWise popularity,fewer software vendors are providing
integration of their products with GroupWise. Also, very few of the new City employees have
previous experience with GroupWise.
Since 2012, IS Department has been researching possible ways to improve the City's email and
collaboration system. We looked at the following options:
• updating to Novell GroupWise 2012
• using Google Gmail
• using VMware Zimbra
• using Outlook with hosted Microsoft Exchange service
• using Outlook with on-premises Microsoft Exchange servers
Novell GroupWise 2012
Approximate cost: $19,000: 190 user licenses @ $87 (including 1-yr support) + 14 hrs labor @ 150
Pros:
• No need to re-train City employees
• Minimal involvement of outside consultants during the upgrade
• No need to migrate existing emails and calendars
Cons:
• Almost all negative factors continue to apply
Google Gmail
Approximate cost: $10,000 per year: 190 users @ $50/annually
Pros:
• No need for on-premises servers
• Support is provided by Google
• Internet browser is used as a client
• Identical experience for on-site and remote users
Cons:
• User interface is not familiar to many City employees
• Google constantly makes changes to user interface and functionality
• Access to emails and calendars always requires working Internet connection
• Need to migrate existing emails and calendars
• Google occasionally has service outages
• Google customer support is mediocre at best
• Integration with third-party software is difficult
VMware Zimbra
Approximate cost: $20,000: 200 user licenses (sold in 25-packs) @ $70 (including 1-yr support) +40
hrs labor @ $150
Pros:
• Vendor is a stable company
• Feature-rich clients - installed and browser-based
• License includes message archival
Cons:
• User interface is not familiar to City employees
• Need to migrate existing emails and calendars
• Need to support on-premises servers (few companies offer hosted Zimbra services)
• Zimbra is not a key product for VMware. It started as an open source, was purchased by
Yahoo! In 2007 and then by VMware in 2010. Zimbra is still available in the Open Source
Edition, with community support. Professional support is available for other editions, but our
experience with technical support during the evaluation was not encouraging.
• While VMware claims wide support for Zimbra by third-party software vendors, it is almost
never listed in compatibility notes by those vendors, and almost none of the City VARs heard
about it.
2
Outlook with hosted Exchange service
Approximate cost: $18,000 per year: 190 users @ $96/annually
Pros:
• User interface is familiar to City employees who have used Outlook elsewhere
• Support is provided by the hosting company
• No need for on-premises servers
• No need to pay for upgrades
Cons:
• Need to migrate existing emails and calendars
• Some system settings are locked by the hosting provider
Outlook with on-premises Exchange servers
Approximate cost: $21,000: 2 server licenses @ $462 + 190 user licenses @ $51 +$10,500 labor
Pros:
• User interface is familiar to City employees who have used Outlook elsewhere
• Full control over the system settings
Cons:
• Need to migrate existing emails and calendars
• Need to install and support on-premises servers
• Eventually will need to pay for Exchange upgrades
Given the abovementioned costs, pros and cons, I recommend implementation of the Outlook with
on-premises Exchange servers.
Other recommendations:
• Purchase licenses for the Microsoft Exchange 2013, but install Exchange 2010. System
integrators agree that currently Exchange 2010 is more proven and stable platform. We can
upgrade to Exchange 2013 next year and stay on this platform for at least 5 more years.
• Purchase and implement email archiving solution prior to migration to Exchange. By using this
solution we can simplify migration - users will archive all their GroupWise emails and
appointments, then access them from Outlook clients and retrieve from archive as necessary.
Archiving solution will also simplify retention of email messages according to the City records
retention schedule, and email retrieval in case of data discovery requests.
• Use Sovran to assist the IS Department with migration project. I've received three quotes for
the same project scope:
o Sovran: $10,500.
o Solbrekk: $16,060.
o Secure ITnet: $21,000.
• Purchase Outlook 2010 Quick Start Cards ($4.80 per user).
• Provide Outlook 2010 overview lectures by an instructor from the Science Museum of
Minnesota, using Quick Start Cards as training material. All users should attend a lecture
(2 hrs, with three choices of date and time). Each lecture is $1,195 for up to 60 users (regular
SMM class price is $75/user).
3
B-System Functionality Agreement
As mutually agreed per City of Columbia Heights and Sovran Inc.,the project tasks listed in the Statement of
Work(SOW)for the GroupWise to Exchange 2010 have been completed and implemented accordingly.
Sovran has made the following statement,and City of Columbia Heights acknowledges:
Exchange 2010 has been configured and is functional.
Exchange 2010's high availability features have been configured.
An Outlook client is available for deployment to workstations.
City of Columbia Heights and Sovran Inc.agree that the project has been completed and that City of Columbia
Heights assumes responsibility of their equipment.
Agreed too If of Sovran, Inc` Agreed to on ibe f"C" of of is Heights
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Sovran,Inc./Confidential Page-8 City of Columbia Heights Exchange SOW