M3 Technology Group

Periodic downtime for mission-critical messaging and collaboration applications has a huge impact on business the second it happens. Everything from customer proposals and critical reports to the ability of the user population to execute their basic job functions is affected. The cost of this type of downtime is immense, and it immediately pushes valuable IT assets into a tactical stance. M3TG’s Exchange HealthCheck engagement collects data and statistics on the most important and critical aspects of the messaging environment: Operations, Performance, Infrastructure, Security and Routing. The goal of this health check is to proactively diagnose and analyze the data collected and potentially avoid any problems from surfacing in the future. The tools used are passive and only collect information about Exchange and Active Directory. They are read-only and do not make any changes to any servers.

The Exchange HealthCheck is designed for senior and top-level IT staff responsible for the daily support and maintenance of the Exchange environment. M3TG will provide operations, configuration and architectural recommendations aimed at improving the operational efficiency of your Exchange environment including:

• Review of existing configuration to identify issues prior to affecting production
• Compare environment and deployment to Microsoft Best Practices
• Identify performance issues and eliminate bottlenecks
• Understand issues prior to large scale migration or upgrade

Specific areas covered include:

• Server Security
  We assess the security of your Exchange server(s) for service packs, virus scanning, access control, storage limits and services and make recommendations on vulnerabilities of web-based email, visibility of a user’s mailbox and group mail repositories.
• Network Services Design
  We examine core network services as related to Exchange, such as Active Directory and DNS, for optimum configuration and make recommended best practices.
• Hardware Design/Performance
  We evaluate your current hardware for CPU statistics, memory, cache and disk performance, mail throughput and delivery times, plans to upgrade or change of platform and standards.
• Database Health
  We assess all databases for consistency and corruption and make recommendations on disk maintenance and automated solutions.
• Backup/Recovery Status
  We examine your current server backup status and make recommendations for backup and restore strategies and processes, methods, automated recovery, media security and other best practices.
• Messaging Optimization
  We assess the design and performance of your messaging system, and make recommendations for routing groups and connectors.
• External/Remote Access Design
  We examine the design of your implementation for external and remote access functionality, accessibility and security.
• Storage Management & Retrieval
  Assessment on how current email capacity will handle increased email volumes.
• Systems Management
  Architecture and email topology – does the email system meet the demands of the business?

M3TG’s Exchange HealthCheck reveals causes, not just symptoms, enabling you to take a proactive approach to reducing problems. This includes helping to optimize productivity and uncovering potential efficiency issues before they affect users and drive up support costs. Addressing any hidden vulnerabilities in your Exchange infrastructure and operational processes can result in improved uptime and lower support costs. Contact M3TG today to schedule your Exchange HealthCheck.