Microsoft Server Product Portfolio Customer Solution Case Study

Market Leader in Communications Software, Improves Collaboration and Boosts Productivity with New Messaging System

Overview
Country or region: Worldwide Industry: Communications Software Customer Profile Aricent is a communications software company, offering a portfolio of software services and products for the communications industry. It employs more than 8,000 people and has more than 350 clients worldwide. Business Situation The company had been using Lotus Notes messaging solution for some time but could not keep pace with the changing communications needs. It required a more advanced, integrated messaging platform to support its daily operations. Solution To benefit from richer communications, Aricent selected Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 to increase user productivity, security, and reliability. Benefits Anytime, anywhere access to messages Simplified IT administration Real-time communications enhance collaboration Integrated and manageable solution

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 was the perfect answer for our requirements. We have seen a reduction in costs and our communication and collaboration capability is improved.
Mike Webb, Vice President, Chief Information Officer , Aricent

Aricent is the leading pure play provider of high impact, innovative software solutions to the global communications industry. The companys business is unique in its ability to deliver communications solutions that stretch from the core network infrastructure to end user devices. The messaging infrastructure at Aricent was built on Lotus Domino Server and Lotus Notes 6.5 which had become difficult and costly to manage. As the company grew it found that it needed a more advanced and integrated communications and collaboration environment. Aricent replaced its messaging infrastructure with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and also deployed Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. Today, the company has a reliable messaging infrastructure with advanced functionality, including full support for its mobile executives and lowered communications costs. In addition, employees collaborate more effectively thereby improving their productivity.

Situation
Aricent is the market leader in the communications software industry, delivering innovative solutions that help clients change the way the world communicates. The company is committed to powering communications for its clients which includes the world's leading communications equipment manufacturers, device manufacturers and service providers.

requirements grew, the users demanded a more robust, feature-rich e-mail system. To overcome these limitations from a messaging aspect and prepare for future competitive environment, Aricent looked for an alternative infrastructure to accommodate communication and collaboration.

Solution
After looking at several different vendors and messaging environments, Aricent chose to upgrade its messaging infrastructure to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and also deployed Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 brings a rich set of new technologies, features, and services and has been re-engineered to improve the administrative and management experience by using new server roles. In addition, Aricent also recognized the potential for server consolidation. We decided to become an early adopter of Exchange Server 2007 in order to take advantage of several new and enhanced features, including anytime anywhere access and operational efficiency, says Charles Padmakumar, Director IT, Aricent. As part of the new solution, Aricent will deploy the Mailbox Server role, the Client Access Server role and the Hub Transport Server role of the Exchange Server 2007. The Mailbox server role hosts mailbox and public folder databases. It also generates the offline address book. In addition, it provides services that calculate e-mail address policies and address lists for recipients, and enforce managed folders.

We decided to become an early adopter of Exchange Server 2007 in order to take advantage of several new and enhanced features, including anytime anywhere access and operational efficiency.
Charles Padmakumar, Director IT , Aricent

From strategy to implementation, Aricent solves the most complex, high-impact software problems facing communications companies today and in the future. It combines a culture of innovation with the extensive experience of its employees to deliver a full spectrum of service offerings throughout the entire communications business lifecycle. Aricent has more than 125 software products - ranging from complex applications to network core technology - that enable the world's leading equipment manufacturers, device manufacturers and service providers to introduce new experiences, improve timeto-revenue and maximize efficiency. Aricent's proven track record builds on the success of its predecessor, Hughes Software Systems, which was established in 1991. The company became Flextronics Software Systems in 2004 when it was acquired by Flextronics. In 2006, the newly independent company was renamed Aricent, following its acquisition by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Company (KKR) and Sequoia Capital. Throughout this period, Aricent was using Lotus Domino Server and Lotus Notes 6.5 for enterprise messaging. The environment provided basic capabilities such as e-mail, calendaring, and scheduling. However, there were endless problemsincluding stability and capacity, performance, and search with the existing environment. As employee

The main reasons we chose this solution was that Microsoft collaboration software components integrate easily with each other and with our operating environment, and that it would require fewer servers.
Prasanna Rao, Manager IT , Aricent

The Client Access server role accepts connections to the Exchange Server 2007 from a variety of different clients. Software clients such as Microsoft Outlook Express and Eudora use POP3 or IMAP4 connections to communicate with the Exchange Server. And, hardware clients, such as mobile devices, use ActiveSync, POP3, or IMAP4 to communicate with the Exchange Server. The Hub Transport server role handles all mail flow inside the organization, applies transport rules, applies journaling policies, and delivers messages to a recipient's mailbox. It stores all the configuration information in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory. Because this information is stored in Active Directory, users can configure settings one time, and then those settings are applied by every Hub Transport server in the organization. It intends to implement new features in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 such as the Unified Messaging Server role; which will make it possible for employees to access

voice, fax, and e-mail data from wherever they are, and use the telephone to manage their e-mail, calendar, and personal contacts. It will provide more options for the improved use of mobile devices. Exchange Server 2007 also provides updated administrative functions to consolidate mailbox sites onto fewer, centralized server computers for easier management. The main reasons we chose this solution was that Microsoft collaboration software components integrate easily with each other and with our operating environment, and that it would require fewer servers, says Prasanna Rao, Manager IT, Aricent. Aricent also deployed Office Communications Server 2007. We had heard positive things about Office Communications Server 2007 from other IT professionals: good voice quality, strong integration with other Microsoft software, and features that enabled users to keep track of the presence of their team members and initiate contact with them from a variety of devices, says Charles Padmakumar, Director IT, Aricent. Office Communications Server 2007 helps users to communicate and collaborate in a unified and highly flexible environment, which makes operations more efficient. Aricent is convinced that the new solution was the best choice for a new messaging environment.

Manage Clustered Mailbox Server Wizard

Benefits
The solution has not only improved collaboration and communication across the organization, but has also helped the company reduce server hardware.

Anytime, Anywhere Access to Messages With the new solution in place, employees can read and respond to messages more conveniently, resulting in improved productivity. One of the interesting things about Exchange Server 2007 is the potential to access the system at any time, from any place, using almost any device, says Charles Padmakumar, Director IT, Aricent. This results in higher productivity and greater user satisfaction. Simplified IT Administration Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 provides Aricent with more efficient IT administration. The administrators are reducing day-to-day administration with new Exchange Server 2007 features. For example, the Exchange Management Console which combines all management tasks into one user interface and lets the IT staff to easily manage all of the organizations messaging servers, recipients, and organizational components, is benefiting the IT department. Exchange Server 2007 is easy to deploy and use, says Prasanna Rao, Manager IT, Aricent. It makes it easier for the center to manage its messaging infrastructure. Real-Time Communications Enhance Collaboration Aricent expects to see real-time communications boost collaboration among employees. Office Communicator 2007 provides the fastest, most practical means possible for contacting our colleagues, says Charles Padmakumar, Director IT, Aricent. With Office Communications Server 2007, its difficult to miss the person youre trying to reach because you can check their availability and contact them through their preferred method at that moment. Integrated and Manageable Solution

According to Aricent, the Exchange Server 2007 system is more manageable and more reliable than the previous system. New graphical and command-line interfaces offer improved manageability and increased automation while integrated tools simplify maintenance. In addition, Aricent also evaluated the capability of Office Communications Server 2007 to integrate with other Microsoft Office and line-of-business applications. Office Communications Server 2007 integrates communications into our software-driven business processes, which streamlines the project work.

For More Information

For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 4269400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 5682495. Customers who are deaf or hard-ofhearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to: www.microsoft.com For more information about Aricent products and services, call (1) (650) 391 1088 or visit the Web site at: www.aricent.com

Microsoft Server Product Portfolio

For more information about the Microsoft server product portfolio, go to: www.microsoft.com/servers/default.mspx

Software
Microsoft

Hardware
Mailbox

Exchange Server 2007 Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007

- Dell 2950, Quad core CPU 3.0 Ghz X 2 with 2x4Mb cache, 8 GB RAM, 146 GBx4 HDD Hub transport + Client Access server - Dell 2950, Quad core CPU 3.0 Ghz, 2x4Mb cache, 4GB RAM, 146 GBx4 HDD Edge server - Dell 2950, Quad core CPU 3.0 Ghz, 2x4Mb cache, 4GB RAM, 146 GBx4 HDD Backend Storage - Dell/EMC CX3-10 with 300 GB 10 K RPM x15 SCSI HDD

2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. Document published June 2008