Migrating from one messaging server platform to another is not for the faint of heart, particularly for large organizations that store tens or hundreds of terabytes of messaging data on their servers and support thousands of users. The process is difficult, time-consuming and often results in data loss, conversion problems, lots of weekends spent by IT personnel on problem resolution and the like.

AXS-One has developed an interesting technology called the Dynamic Data Migrator that has initially been targeted at the market for Notes to Exchange migration, although the technology could be developed for migrating from Exchange to Notes/Domino or between other platforms.

The Dynamic Data Migrator, in its current Notes-to-Exchange iteration, allows on-the-fly conversion of e-mail from Notes to Exchange without having to conduct a mass conversion up front. Data is archived from Domino Mail into an AXS-One archive and can then be accessed by Outlook users on Exchange message-by-message. When a user accesses a Notes e-mail from the archive, the message, attachment and links are all converted automatically to the user’s Outlook e-mail.

This system provides a number of advantages. Data does not have to be migrated en masse for groups of users at a time, resulting in some users being on the new system and some on the old until the migration is complete. Instead, all users can essentially migrate themselves when they need to access Notes e-mail. AXS-One estimates that this capability will reduce migration costs by roughly 30%. Further, while Notes e-mails are converted to Outlook, an original copy of the Notes e-mail is retained in the archive, which more fully satisfies e-discovery, regulatory and related requirements.

I want to make it clear that I am not advocating that organizations migrate from Notes to Exchange or that they not do this (a past newsletter in which I discussed a Notes-to-Exchange migration capability was interpreted by some as my advocacy of such a move). However, for organizations that are considering a migration, AXS-One’s tool is an important one to consider.

Michael Osterman is principal analyst of Osterman Research.