Department of Defense Enterprise Email Migration

One of the major transitions that is taking place within the Department of Defense (DoD) is the migration to Enterprise Email (EE). For those unfamiliar with the chatter that has surrounded Enterprise Email, this is a major acquisition that will improve overall communication and save the government millions of dollars. Essentially, EE will allow for all DoD users to exchange email communication on a single platform. The way in which the current email structure is set, each DoD agency works from their own database. In order for person with the Department of the Army to send an email to someone with the Department of the Navy, they must either work for the same department or have that persons email information readily available. Each department has the ability search for other individuals in their department's Global Address List, but they are limited in terms of who's available. Once each agency adopts Enterprise Email they will be able to pull the email information for any individual DoD wide who has been migrated to Enterprise Email. In essence, the Global Address List will truly exemplify it's name. Users will now be able to access their email from any location within the Department of Defense. Being involved with DoD, I know the importance of having a single distribution platform. Having access to the email's for all DOD personnel will cut down on the issues of not being able to reach a point of contact because of their email. The cost savings benefit of EE will be a major point of emphasis throughout DoD. With the move to DISA's cloud, Army has projected savings in the excess of $100 Million. Being the first department to make the jump, they have and are currently weathering the storm in terms of ironing out all of the technical kinks that have been associated with the migration. IT personnel have ramped up their efforts in the expectation that there was and will continue to be much work until everyone is transitioned. From an overall security standpoint, the move to the cloud is also effective in respect to more controlled information exchange. As the DoD continues to move forward and take on new initiatives, the current infrastructure will be a major player in the future of the nation's defense.

Image(s): Sean MacEntee, "email" November 11, 2010 via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution.