City of Albuquerque’s Public Sector, the Water Authority, Goes to Office 365 for Flexibility and Compatibility

“MigrationWiz was very easy to use; much easier than any other solutions provided to us. Anybody could use it and figure it out!”

Floyd Pena
Systems Administrator
Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority

Serving over 750,000 people and 210,000 accounts in New Mexico’s most populated county, Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority technicians are always on the road to resolve maintenance and repair problems. Managing customer accounts, maintenance requests and operational issues requires a communication system that is reliable, integrated and flexible.

Until late 2011, the Water Authority was still using the City of Albuquerque’s on-premise Exchange 2003 server for all communications. However, the outdated system could no longer meet the Water Authority’s growing needs. The inability to fully control the City’s shared messaging system also prompted the Water Authority’s initiative to migrate to a new platform. While deploying an independent on-premise Exchange server was initially considered, it came with a high cost of ownership and the need for dedicated IT personnel.

The Water Authority’s Project Manager, Chris Framel, started investigating alternative options that would better fit the organization’s requirements. After some extensive research, Microsoft Office 365 was identified as a possible destination platform. Office 365’s Exchange 2010 solution would give the Water Authority the freedom to manage its own Exchange system with no up-front costs. Office 365’s flat monthly fee would also allow the Water Authority to save on costs associated with ongoing maintenance or unexpected server downtime. Finally, Office 365’s ability to integrate with desktop Microsoft Office applications would also ensure full compatibility with already deployed workstations.

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