Feeling slightly intimidated by all the high tech terminology surrounding the imminent Enterprise Email migration' Despite the fact that the road toward AKO US Army may perhaps appear difficult, there is a clear map, leaders know exactly where the effort is headed, as well as the economy sized e-mail box Soldiers have now is about to turn into a luxury sedan, about 40 times larger.







There's far more wonderful news. Soldiers moving to a brand new assignment will probably be in a position to turn on their computer systems and quickly access their e-mail. Though this may sounds too great to become correct, by the finish of this year it will likely be reality for Army personnel.







During 2011, all Army e-mail users will migrate to Enterprise e-mail service. Instead of accessing e-mail via neighborhood e-mail servers at every installation, they may reach through the network to access e-mail services from centralized servers referred to as the Division of Defense cloud. The migration of e-mail services towards the Defense Data Systems Agency, or DISA, is a part of a larger DoD work to consolidate information technologies solutions, increase capabilities, and minimize general expenses.



Important positive aspects of Enterprise e-mail



- Access to e-mail anywhere, at any time, from any authorized, CAC-equipped computer system



- E-mail accounts remain active during duty station moves and unit relocations



- Share individual, organizational, and resource calendars across the enterprise



- Obtain e-mail addresses and make contact with details of Army and DoD e-mail users at other locations across DoD



- Send e-mails with larger attachments than is at the moment permitted



- four gigabytes of on-line e-mail storage for typical e-mail account holders



- 500 megabyte webmail accounts for those who don't ordinarily use Army e-mail to execute their duties



The migration to this new capability begins in mid-February 2011 with an initial "fielding" to about two,000 selected e-mail users, as outlined by Brig. Gen. LaWarren Patterson, commanding basic, 7th Signal Command (Theater).



"This initially step will enable the AKO US Army to refine the migration approach and make certain a smooth transition. It will supply a validation of migration approaches, e-mail functionality, and program management procedures," Patterson stated.



Quickly following thriving migration of this initial wave of customers, HQDA employees are scheduled to begin migration in March. The rest of the Army will commence migration straight away thereafter, with the migrations completed Armywide by the end of December 2011, based on Patterson.



As migration dates draw close to, impacted personnel are being notified with e-mails explaining the steps they want to take just before their e-mail accounts are migrated.



"Users will have all the help they want prior to, throughout and just after the migration," Patterson mentioned.



"7th Signal Command will deliver teams to augment our Network Enterprise Centers, or NECs, as they help customers with executing migration tasks. NETCOM will coordinate support with Army commands for migration of e-mail accounts managed by other data technology (IT) service providers," he said.



"We are confident that a coordinated work among all Army organizations will lead to success in this essential move toward consolidated Enterprise IT services," Patterson stated.



In preparation for migration, all users can perform some uncomplicated upkeep tasks that could help the transition go smoothly as outlined by Herman Wells, Enterprise Solutions director, 7th Signal Command (Theater).



"Clean up your mailbox as a lot as you can. The smaller sized the mailbox, the smoother the migration. Delete messages and calendar items that happen to be no longer necessary to keep.



Decrease network-stored PSTs (private folder files). There's nothing at all that stops a user from making a nearby PST and moving the PST back in to the on the net mailbox soon after migration," he mentioned. "During the preparation period prior to migration, NECs and transition teams will deliver detailed info on exporting and importing contacts" he added.



Blackberry users should make sure it is turned on the night prior, and in a spot having a robust signal. If it loses signal and just isn't communicating with the Blackberry Exchange Server adequately, the device will have to be adjusted manually the following day, in accordance with Wells.



"Keeping consumers inside the loop and delighted is important in the course of this transition. We expect some challenges with Blackberry customers since every single will demand touch labor," Wells mentioned.



The Army Signal Corps leadership is leading from the front during the move to Enterprise e-mail.