We're happy to announce that the Exchange Server Deployment Assistant (ExDeploy) has been enhanced to include support for configuring hybrid deployments using Exchange 2010 SP2 and the Hybrid Configuration Wizard.
The first in several upcoming scenario additions for configuring hybrid deployments when using the Hybrid Configuration Wizard, this new scenario is for Exchange 2003 organizations interested in maintaining some users on-premises and some users hosted in the cloud by Microsoft Office 365 for enterprises. Although limited, interim hybrid deployment configuration support for Exchange 2007 and 2010 on-premises deployments is also included with this update, complete hybrid deployment checklists for the Exchange 2007 and 2010 on-premises scenarios are in progress and will be released soon. Watch this space for announcements about upcoming Exchange 2007 and 2010 hybrid deployment scenario updates.
The new hybrid information for Exchange 2003 environments is only available in English at this time and requires that you add Exchange 2010 SP2 servers to your current Exchange 2003 organization. If you have previously configured a hybrid deployment using the Deployment Assistant and Exchange 2010 SP1 and still need guidance; don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about you! Previous Deployment Assistant checklists for configuring hybrid deployments with Exchange 2010 SP1 are now located here for your convenience.
Hybrid deployments offer organizations the ability to extend the feature-rich experience and administrative control they have with their existing on-premises Microsoft Exchange organization to the cloud. It provides the seamless look and feel of a single Exchange organization between an on-premises organization and an Exchange Online organization. In addition, hybrid deployments can serve as an intermediate step to moving completely to a cloud-based Exchange Online organization. This approach is different than the simple Exchange migration (“cutover migration”) and staged Exchange migration options currently offered by Office 365 outlined here.
About the Exchange Server Deployment Assistant
The Exchange Server Deployment Assistant (ExDeploy) is a web-based tool that helps you upgrade to Exchange 2010 on-premises, configure a hybrid deployment between an on-premises and Exchange Online organization or migrate to Exchange Online.
Figure 1:The Exchange Deployment Assistant generates customized instructions to help you upgrade to Exchange 2010 on-premises or in the cloud
It asks you a small set of simple questions, and then based on your answers, it provides a checklist with instructions to deploy or configure Exchange 2010 that are customized to your environment. These environments include:
- Stand-alone on-premises Exchange installations and upgrades
- Hybrid deployment configurations and
- Cloud-only Exchange deployment scenarios.
Besides getting the checklist online, you can also print instructions for individual tasks and download a PDF file of your complete configuration checklist.
Your feedback is very important for the continued improvement of this tool. We would love your feedback on this new scenario and any other area of the Deployment Assistant. Feel free to either post comments on this blog post, provide feedback in the Office 365 community Exchange Online migration and hybrid deployment forum, or send an email to edafdbk@microsoft.com via the Feedback link located in the header of every page of the Deployment Assistant.