Case Studies

Winbro Group Technologies is a global leader in the design and production of advanced machines and technologies based on unconventional processes. High-tech machine systems have been producing cooling holes and forms for the most challenging parts of aviation and industrial gas turbines for over 30 years.

The company is a family business with two manufacturing facilities located in Coalville, United Kingdom and Rock Hill, South Carolina, USA. Among the unconventional processing processes are High-Speed EDM Drilling, Laser Drilling, Cutting and Ablation, Electrochemical Processing, Micro Drilling, and Shaped Tube Electrolytic Processing.

MailStore Server in Migration Projects

A solution like MailStore Server provides companies with all the advantages of modern email archiving and significant support during email migration projects. Everything is based on a simple but effective principle: not overloading the new email server with a large number of old emails. Instead, these emails are archived in a single process before the migration is carried out. This significantly reduces the storage requirements of the new email server and also makes the overall migration process easier.

These were also the primary requirements for Winbro. Following the company's recent growth, the existing email infrastructure was no longer suitable for its needs and required an upgrade to Microsoft Exchange Server 2010. As part of the efforts to facilitate the migration project, Phil Antill, Winbro's Systems Manager, decided in August 2011 to use an email archiving solution.

After a Short Test Phase, the Company Chose MailStore

Winbro decided to focus on MailStore Server from the very first day and did not consider other solutions. Instead, MailStore Server was extensively tested by a specific user group over a four-week period. Winbro successfully completed this phase without needing to contact the support team, relying only on existing documentation.

Positive feedback from the users who participated in the test ultimately led to MailStore's selection. Other important factors included ease of use and full compatibility with both old and new email systems. These are also two major strengths of MailStore Server. By supporting the most popular email systems currently available on the market, it provides maximum flexibility.

At that time, Winbro's primary goal was to ensure that the migration project proceeded smoothly. However, another objective stated at the beginning of the project was to make it as efficient as possible for end users to access archived emails. MailStore Server also won Winbro over with its fast full-text search via the MailStore add-on for Microsoft Outlook and MailStore Web Access.

A Successful Migration with Many Advantages

As part of the live migration, the application was successfully implemented in a complex IT infrastructure spanning two locations on different continents. This was done in a virtual environment using VMware. On the day the transition to the new email server took place, MailStore Server played a role in ensuring that the project proceeded smoothly, proving that Winbro had made the right decision.

Following the successful migration, the technical and financial benefits offered by the email archive became increasingly apparent for the company. For example, using MailStore Server allowed keeping the mailbox sizes in Exchange Server 2010 small and simultaneously maintaining equally high server performance. Rules were also created to delete emails of a certain age after they had been successfully archived from the Exchange Server mailboxes.

Interview with IT and Plant Manager Phil Antill

How did you hear about MailStore Server?

The solution was recommended to us by our MailStore distributor who had previously given us advice regarding our email infrastructure.

What did you like most about MailStore Server?

The solution is extremely flexible and easy to use. MailStore Server was also well received by our users due to its fast search functionality.

Would you recommend MailStore Server to others?

Based on our experiences, there will always be some friction when introducing a new IT system. However, since there were so few issues with MailStore Server, we would have no reservations about recommending the solution.

Overview of the Project

Industry: Machine Engineering
Headquarters: Coalville, Leicestershire, United Kingdom
Primary Requirement: Simplification of a Migration Project
Implementation Date: August 2011
Number of Licensed Users: 120
Email Infrastructure in Use: Microsoft Exchange 2010, Microsoft Outlook 2010

Similar Projects

Yahoo! Japan and KAB Laboratories, Inc. also chose MailStore Server for similar projects.

Yahoo! Japan

"By archiving our emails with MailStore, we were able to move to a new server without having to go through a complex migration process for a large number of existing mailboxes. Our employees can continue to access their old emails via MailStore. We didn't have to overload the new email server with a large amount of old emails."

says Takahiro Shima.

KAB Laboratories, Inc.

KAB Laboratories is a high-tech, hardworking company based in San Diego, California, established in 1986. KAB provides training that supports software engineering, systems engineering, and government and commercial organizations.

"MailStore is not only a perfect tool for email backup but also for email migration between different email servers. We used MailStore to move user accounts between Zimbra and Microsoft Online Services, and it worked great. The variety of email protocols that MailStore provides gives us a guarantee that we can efficiently migrate again in the future."

says CTO John Helewa.

About MailStore Server

Businesses can benefit from the legal, technical, and financial advantages of modern, secure email archiving with MailStore Server. The software creates exact copies of all emails in a centralized email archive to ensure the security and availability of any amount of data for years to come.

Users can continue to access their emails using Microsoft Outlook, MailStore Web Access, or mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones, performing searches at breathtaking speeds. MailStore Server combines powerful technology with low cost and ease of use. Over 60,000 companies of all sizes across all industries are currently using MailStore Server for email archiving.

Source: Winbro Group - MailStore