Mastering Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP1

You need to ensure that two sets of specific responsibilities are assigned to staff. First, you have to assign a set of responsibilities related mostly to planning and design. Then you have to assign a second set of responsibilities that deal with ongoing management of key aspects of your Exchange Server 2007 system when it is in place.

Assigning Responsibilities for Planning and Design

Microsoft has identified 14 different roles that must be filled in planning, designing, and, to some extent, implementing and operating an Exchange Server system. That doesn't mean that you need 14 staff members to fill these roles, but it does mean that you need to assign each of these roles to a staff member. In a very large organization (tens of thousands of users), each of these roles may well be assigned to a different staff member. If you're the only staff member responsible for Exchange, then you will hold all of these roles. Good luck! However the roles are assigned, the responsibilities for each of the roles must be covered.

Here's a list of the 14 roles and their related responsibilities.

• Product manager Sets objectives, coordinates schedules, manages external relationships, and sets the budget

• Program manager Has overall responsibility for Microsoft Exchange network design and implementation and specifies Exchange messaging system functional requirements

• Exchange engineer Determines technical configuration of all components of Exchange servers

• Testing and QA engineer Ensures that the Exchange messaging system conforms to functional requirements and corporate standards as well as planning acceptance or sign-off testing

• Operations developer Develops procedures, policies, and programs that monitor and control the Exchange network

• Technical consultant Provides consulting services and problem resolution for internal business units

• Training developer Develops training materials and documentation for end users and technical support personnel

• Rollout planner Determines the most efficient way to roll out Exchange servers and accompanying Windows servers, minimizes deployment costs, and promotes efficient implementation

• Migration planner Determines the work needed to migrate from an existing messaging system to Exchange Server 2007

• Implementation manager Manages the implementation of Exchange servers and associated components and the implementation of all of the plans made by all of the previous roles

• End-user technical support technician Provides end-user support for Exchange-related problems and questions

• Messaging transport operations engineer Maintains, operates, and repairs the Exchange server environment after installation

• Marketing and consumer relations manager Develops and carries out the Exchange rollout marketing program (product demonstrations, newsletters, pilot site coordination, and so on)

• Financial controller Monitors financial aspects of the project and tracks expenses against budget allocations

If you've ever implemented an information systems project, these roles are likely quite familiar to you, even if you've never thought specifically or in great detail about each of them. The key point here is that you're much more likely to successfully roll out your new Exchange Server 2007 system if you ensure that each of these 14 roles is properly filled. As we go through the planning and design process, think about these roles and how you might fill them.

Assigning Responsibilities for Day-to-Day Management

When your Exchange Server 2007 system has been implemented, you need to fill seven operational roles that support your system. Again, you might assign each of these roles to a separate person or combine and assign them to one or two people. These seven roles are listed here along with the responsibilities associated with them.

• Recipient administrator/user manager Administers mail-recipient aspects of Exchange Server 2007 and possibly account administration for Windows Server 2003 Active Directory, such as creation and management of recipients (Exchange mailboxes, distribution groups, and contacts)

• Organizational administrator Administers components of Exchange Server 2007 that affect all server roles throughout the entire organization, e-mail addressing rules, messaging records management, transport rules, and so on

• Server administrator Administers selected servers or groups of servers of the Exchange Server 2007 environment

• Message routing manager Administers the message routing infrastructure, including connectivity between Active Directory sites and messages sent and received to/from the Internet

• Message hygiene manager Administers components of Exchange 2007 relating to message security, antivirus, anti-spam, content inspection, and transport rules

• Public folder manager Administers Exchange Server public folder hierarchy

• Application development manager Administers development of Exchange Server-related add-on applications

This list is based on a list of roles originally provided by Microsoft, though we have taken some liberties and separated server management roles, message hygiene, application development, and message routing into multiple categories.

As with the set of 14 roles illustrated in the preceding section, as we go through the planning and design process, think about these operational roles and how you might fill them. If you think about your own experiences or your organization's needs, you might break these roles down in to even more discrete operational responsibilities.