Talk:Best Practices, Migrating PDAs to Exchange
From Provider Notes
For more information about ISC's Exchange Service, visit the Provider Web at [1].
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Best Practices: Migrating Meeting Maker PDA synchronization to ISC's Exchange Service
This document is intended to assist LSPs that are supporting end users who are currently using PDAs to synchronize with Meeting Maker.
For LSPs that are new to mobile device synchronization and do not need to worry about migration issues, follow the steps to synchronize your particular device here.
Step 1: Create a profile of your users and organization
- How many users will migrate?
- How many and what types of PDAs and smartphones are in use?
- What platforms and operating systems (Palm OS, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile)?
- Who are the VIPs to consider?
Step 2: Read N&T's Exchange Documentation and ISC's PDA Documentation
Step 3: Determine overall migration strategy
Determine whether or not the PDA will be a part of the overall migration strategy. For example, one of the recommended methods of going from Meeting Maker to Exchange is to use a Palm OS based device (see: Meeting Maker to Exchange: Using a Palm OS Device.) If it is, you will want to do a final synchronization with the old data source BEFORE removing any applications, wiping the device or installing new conduits to point to the new Exchange client.
If the device is not a part of the migration strategy, all of the email and calendaring migration should take place prior to migrating a user's PDA synchronization setup. Once the user is up and running on the Exchange service, the LSP is then free to concentrate on getting the device in question synchronizing with the new data source.
The rest of this document assumes that email, calendar and contact data has already been migrated to the ISC Exchange server.
In this scenario, you should follow the instructions located here, but hard reset the Palm OS device in between each setup to prevent merging of data between two clients. Information on hard resetting some Palm devices can be found on Palm's site here
Migrating from one mobile OS to another
If a user currently has a PDA and will be upgrading or moving to another mobile device OS, do not set up the new device prior to migrating user data. It is much easier to incorporate a new device into a user's setup after data migration to the server has occurred.
Step 4: Determine what software clients will be used
The method mobile device users employ when syncing to the ISC Exchange server will depend on the type of device. Smartphones will sync wirelessly while "non-connected" units (devices that have no wireless connectivity) will sync using a desktop client.
Macintosh
For Macintosh users, the only option for desktop synchronization with ISC's Exchange server is using Microsoft Entourage 2004's conduits. To enable Palm OS synchronization with Entourage for calendar, contacts, tasks and notes, do the following:
- Go to /Applications/Microsoft Office 2004/Additional Tools/
- Launch the Handheld Sync Installer, and follow the prompts
- During the installation, you will need to quit any Office applications that are currently running
- If there are any other conduits installed that may conflict with the Entourage conduits, they will be moved to /Library/Application Support/Palm Hotsync/
- In order for synchronization to work properly, launch the HotSync Manager and go to Hotsync-->Conduit Settings
- Double-click on the Entourage conduit and make any desired configuration changes.
- Make sure that you check the "Enable synchronization with these new handhelds" check box, and click ok.
Windows
For Windows users, the situation is a bit more complicated:
| Operating System | Mobile OS | Synchronization Software |
|---|---|---|
| Windows XP | Windows Mobile | Active Sync 4.5 |
| Palm OS | Palm Hotsync with Outlook conduits | |
| Windows Vista | Windows Mobile | Windows Mobile Device Center (included) |
| Palm OS | Palm Hotsync with Outlook conduits |
BlackBerry
Synchronization with the Exchange server only requires activation with ISC's BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). For additional instructions, please see Exchange BlackBerry Activation.
If you wish to install additional files, backup data, or perform maintainance on a BlackBerry device, you will need to install the BlackBerry Desktop manager (Windows, ships with the unit), or PocketMac for BlackBerry, v4.0 or higher (Macintosh)
Step 5: Develop communications plan
While most communication needs will focus on email or calendar migrations, there will likely need to be some mention of the differences mobile devices users will experience.
For the most part, PDA users will not need additional training to synchronize with the new service. Smartphone users (including BlackBerry) will receive data updates wirelessly, while "tethered" PDA users will perform a synchronization in the same way that they always have.
Final Note
Before migrating, support providers should test their planned migration paths thoroughly. It is not only possible, but likely that support providers will discover specific use cases for PDA synchronization that are not covered in ISC's first generation documentation. In particular, support providers should make note of clients that are likely to involve “exception processing” (such as those with unsupported PDAs) and attempt to test those types of configurations.
Side Note:
Support Providers are strongly encouraged to update documentation on this wiki with information, tips, tricks and gotcha's discovered during their testing and migration. Your lessons learned could greatly help other Penn staff who are working towards the same end--you're not only being a good colleague, but saving valuable university time and resources! To get an account on the Wiki, please contact the Provider Desk, 3-4017.
Additional Resources
- Migrating from a hosted Exchange service to ISC's Exchange server: Hosted_Exchange_to_ISC_Exchange
- Data sources supported by Exchange Active Sync (EAS) on various handhelds: Exchange_Active_Sync
- Discussion about moving from VersaMail on Palm OS to EAS: Versamail_to_exchange
