Quebec Department of Employment and Social Solidarity

CGI partners with one of the largest departments of the Quebec government in a major server migration project

“CGI completed an important project which required remarkable energy, commitment and independence.”

Guy Leclerc, Department Head,
Maintenance and Evolution of Technology Infrastructure

The Quebec Department of Employment and Social Solidarity (Ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale (the “MESS”)) contributes to Quebec's social development and economic prosperity by encouraging individuals to realize their full potential through initiatives such as job promotion, labor force development and the improvement of labor market conditions as well as financial support for the economically disadvantaged and disenfranchised. The department operates a complex technology infrastructure in constant evolution: some 15,000 PCs in 200 offices throughout Quebec linked to hundreds of servers, communicating with each other and with a mainframe, powered by an extensive communications network.

Through its role as an Interdepartmental Shared Services Center, the MESS also manages the infrastructure (workstations/servers) of other Quebec government departments and organizations.

The Challenge
With the aim of upgrading its infrastructure, the department decided to embark upon an ambitious project to migrate more than 275 of its servers operating on Windows NT 4.0 to Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP1. This initiative also called for upgrades of key software and, in particular, the need to transition from Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 (a product servicing more than 10,500 e-mail accounts).

This daunting undertaking, which required the delivery of several milestones (detailed configuration, documentation, testing, deployment, change management and work organization), presented some important challenges. The CGI team had to contend with a difficult timeline (the implementation had to be scheduled every weekend for several months and be completed by a set date); a complex set of administrative standards to meet (notably the naming convention established for servers, which could not be modified); the need to ensure the utmost continuity in department activities throughout the project as well as the high number and various locations of the offices affected.

Having completed four successful migrations (among other projects) for the MESS over the years, CGI has been a productive partner with the department since the beginning and is well versed with its business and technology environment. Moreover, the Quebec Business Unit was awarded the distinction of Gold Certified Partner by Microsoft in infrastructure solutions. Prior to receiving that honor, CGI took home the Microsoft Winning Customer Award for a similar project (upgrade of 200 servers) in the United States. Says Guy Leclerc, Department Head, Maintenance and Evolution of Technology Infrastructure at the department’s Technology Infrastructure and Specialized Services unit, “Our expectations of CGI are naturally in line with their strengths and past achievements. The team on this project immediately understood that their performance had to be commensurate with the trust that has been built gradually over almost ten years and be reflective of our confidence in awarding them this new and ambitious project.”

The Strategy
At the outset, the CGI team’s architects quickly studied and assimilated the department’s target architecture documents, transforming them into effective strategies for implementation.

A winning approach was the decision to combine the technological phase of the project with the change management aspect. Right from the start, CGI and the MESS made communications a priority with a proactive plan. Committees were created to ensure the direct involvement and commitment by certain user representatives at the department, who had the opportunity to participate in pilot projects and to assess the impact of change several months before the roll out of the new environment.

Similar strategies were applied to work organization, giving much priority to redefining work methods so that the client's technical team could operate efficiently in the new environment. When necessary, CGI provided the appropriate training sessions, tailored to the demands of the project.

Given the scope of the migration, the deployment phase required constant discipline and foresight as demonstrated by: the pilot project; joint planning with managers of some 200 MESS offices; planning, to ensure the migration was executed carefully and gradually, targeting 2 to 14 branches each weekend, with the presence of the installation team early the following week to help users and resolve any potential problems; the creation and management of a transition infrastructure to ensure a seamless coexistence between the old and new environments; weekly deployment reports to managers of the MESS’ IT department.

The hard work, constant availability and dedication of CGI's installation team helped to ensure a successful deployment.

The Technology (Introduced)

• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP1
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP2
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory
• Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2004
• Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)
• Managed Public Key Infrastructure from Microsoft

The Technology (Upgraded)

• SMS
• LightningFAx
• SurfControl

The Results
The new environment offers not only a maximum of stability for the department’s server infrastructure, but also paves the way for the development of innovative functions and solutions for the benefit of personnel and the Quebec population. The Windows Server 2003 operating system also provides for more modular management, which should work to substantially increase the department's flexibility in this regard. And since the MESS provides administrative services to other organizations of the Quebec government, the new environment represents an important advantage, enabling the department to excel in a multi-organizational context.  

The migration was completed on time, within the six-month deadline set by the MESS. Moreover, considering the number of servers involved, this ambitious undertaking represents, to date, one of the largest Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 migrations conducted in Canada.

“The Department of Employment and Social Solidarity could not allow for even the slightest interruption in service,” recalls Leclerc. “Our partners at CGI took the necessary measures to meet this expectation. They completed an important project which required remarkable energy, commitment and independence.”