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County IT warns Exchange server end-of-life, recommends email migration and backup review
Summary
Ravalli County IT advised commissioners that the county's on-premises Exchange server is end-of-life and recommended a one-time migration fee to move mail to Office 365; staff also flagged end-of-life battery backups and high Veeam licensing costs as capital pressures.
Ravalli County IT staff told the Board of County Commissioners on May 12 that the county's on‑premises Exchange server operating system is at end of life and that migrating to Microsoft Office 365 or a state-hosted service would require a one‑time migration expense and likely higher licensing costs.
"The operating system for the email server is end of life. And so we need to migrate that," Rick said, recommending a $10,000 one‑time migration fee to move mail to Office 365 and noting potential ongoing license increases.
Rick also raised concerns about other IT capital and contract items: the county's Veeam backup licensing model and end‑of‑life battery backups in the data center. He said Veeam licensing costs depend on how data is presented for backup (server vs. SMB share) and described a migration approach to reduce license counts by moving large datasets to virtual servers.
"We've got about 83 terabytes of data and all but 10 of that, all but 10 terabytes of that data is consumed by 2 departments," Rick said, outlining a plan to change storage presentation to reduce Veeam license consumption. He also said the county's big battery backup units were manufactured until 2015 and that the vendor has declared the units end of life as of Jan. 1, 2026, meaning replacement rather than repair may be required.
Rick said SentinelOne endpoint protection and other security items are in the capital reserve because of multiyear contracts; he flagged the possibility of grant funding to pay for security tools if federal grants materialize. He also said the county secured the domain RavalliCounty.gov for future migration and that Office installations would continue to function locally if Internet service is temporarily lost.
Commissioners asked about timing and ongoing costs for Office 365 licensing, and Rick said the $10,000 was a one‑time migration fee and that the subscription/licensing would be part of the county’s Microsoft enterprise agreement. He also noted the state of Montana is considering moving some services to Google Workspace, which could influence cost comparisons.
No formal decisions were made during the presentation; commissioners asked staff to explore cost-saving negotiations with vendors (Black Mountain for communications/backup contract) and to return with firm cost estimates for the migration and battery replacement options.
