Migrating Public Folders from Exchange to SharePoint

Check out my article in Exchange & Outlook Magazine!

https://emea.windowsitpro.com/MicrosoftExchangeOutlook/Article/ArticleID/50172/50172.html

Every time Microsoft releases a new version of Exchange Server, we wonder whether it will still support public folders. Over the years, companies have experienced wild growth in public-folder usage. Users are often creative with public folders (which are intended for data archive), using them to make backups of their desktops and even to run business-critical applications. However, with its recent announcement of Exchange Server 2007—the next major version of Exchange—Microsoft has set the grounds for "de-emphasizing" public folders.

Terry Myerson, the general manager of the Microsoft Exchange Server Group, explains Microsoft's public-folder strategy for Exchange 2007 in his blog (https://blogs.technet.com/exchange/archive/2006/ 02/20/419994.aspx). To answer questions about the future of public folders, he makes several key points. In new Exchange deployments, public folders will be optional with the use of Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 and won't be installed by default. For companies migrating existing deployments, public folders will operate with little change from Exchange Server 2003. (Upgrades to Exchange 2007 won't depend on migrating or decommissioning public folders.) . . .