Saint-Gobain needed to upgrade its existing Windows NT 4 / Windows 2000 infrastructure to Windows 2003. In doing so, it needed to achieve some key objectives:

• Upgrade the 70,000 mailboxes from a mix of Exchange 5.5 / 2000 to Exchange 2003
• Provide a very centralized infrastructure that allows for decentralized administration
• Rationalize and homogenize hardware and Operations
• Deploy a solution that is scalable and will absorb future mergers or acquisitions

Avanade teamed with Saint-Gobain to implement the upgrade. Specifically the Avanade team:

• Created the Windows 2003 / Exchange 2003 infrastructure to support the migration of 70,000 users (anticipated to occur within 3 to 5 years)
• Create the worldwide Global Operation Team and Global Architecture Team, responsible for the design and operation of the new infrastructure
• Consolidated the Exchange Centers so that they could 70,000 users in a single location (from 5,000)
• Introduced an entity model where current companies / branches within the group would be spread around Active Directory domains and Organization Units based on network topology
• Help shape and execute the roll-out

• Reduced number of Exchange Server from 370 to less than 50 worldwide
• Reduced Operations & administration cost by leveraging the centralized design & decentralized administration model
• More leverage for the global teams because Exchange and Active Directory servers are black-boxes for each entity
• Simplified administration with resulting lowering of costs