Exchange 2010 Upgrade Scenarios

While the Exchange Server 2010 Deployment Assistant was made available to customers only days after the launch of Exchange Server 2010 in the first half of November 2009, the initial release was focused on a limited number of deployment scenarios. Earlier this week, Microsoft introduced additional upgrade scenarios for the Exchange Server 2010 Deployment Assistant, currently available on TechNet. Customers looking for assistance and guidance from Microsoft for the deployment process associated with the latest iteration of Exchange will need to access the Exchange Server 2010 Deployment Assistant on TechNet from a computer with Silverlight installed.

“In November, we launched the Exchange Server 2010 Deployment Assistant. In the initial version of the Deployment Assistant, content was available for customers upgrading from Exchange 2003. We are happy to announce that today we've released content for the following scenarios to [the tool]: upgrading from Exchange Server 2007; upgrading from a mixed Exchange Server 2003/2007 and new Exchange Server 2010 installation,” revealed Katie Kivett, Microsoft Exchange Deployment Assistant PM.

Exchange Server 2010 hit general availability on November 9, 2009, and has since then been up for grabs for customers worldwide. Designed to integrate seamlessly into infrastructures also containing Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, Exchange Server 2010 is capable of lowering costs by as much as 70%, according to Stephen Elop, president, Microsoft Business Division, who launched the product at Microsoft TechEd Europe 2009.

“The Deployment Assistant allows you to create Exchange 2010 deployment instructions that are customized to your environment. The Deployment Assistant asks a small set of questions, and based on your answers, it provides a set of instructions that are designed to get you up and running on Exchange 2010. Instead of reading dozens of topics in the Exchange 2010 library, you simply answer a few questions, and the Deployment Assistant gives you customized content to install Exchange 2010,” Kivett added.