www.itcontractors.org - The home of IT Contractors - Moving to Exchange Server 2007 is a big project

Step 1: Determine whether you can use some of your existing hardware; if so, you might be able to save some money and employ a leapfrog upgrade approach.

Step 2: Verify that your AD's schema master is running Windows Server 2003 SP1.

Step 3: Verify that every site containing an Exchange server has at least one DC running Windows 2003 SP1.

Step 4: Make sure the functional level for any domains that will contain Exchange 2007 servers is set to Windows 2000 native or higher.

Step 5: Upgrade any Exchange Server 5.5 servers to at least Exchange 2000 Server. Be aware that not all Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2000 features are supported by Exchange 2007.

Step 6: Switch your Exchange organization into native mode.

Step 7: Modify the registry of Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2000 servers to suppress link state updates.

Step 8: Finalize AD preparation by running Setup commands to set necessary permissions, extend the AD schema, and prepare AD and the domains.

Step 9: Run the Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer (ExBPA)'s Exchange 2007 readiness check.