Is there a top 10 checks to ensure our 3rd party IT support are using best practice management and administration of our exchange servers? What would the checks include?

Very generic question, all I can say is train them, write documented procedures, send them on an Exch course.Sukh

Very generic question, all I can say is train them, write documented procedures, send them on an Exch course. Sukh It was meant to be a very generic question. But you cant do an audit of how well a 3rd party is managing/admin'ing your exchange servers and go in and say "train them". I need some sort of best practice document to see if they are following best practice. Yet remarkably there seems next to NOTHING on the internet around auditing exchange!! As exchange admins yourself I was hoping for something a bit more constructive on what you'd check (your top 20 checks) if you were auditing a 3rd party exchange admin/setup, not "train them".

It realy depends on what tasks the Exch admin will be performing, so I normally check their Change and see how the implementation plan is detailed and actioned.Sukh

It realy depends on what tasks the Exch admin will be performing, so I normally check their Change and see how the implementation plan is detailed and actioned. Sukh So if you were tasked with doing an independant audit of an exchange setup and admin youd go in and do 1 check?

This was the kind of thing I was getting at, http://blogs.msdn.com/b/douggowans/archive/2007/06/06/run-your-own-exchange-server-health-check.aspx

There'sd a difference between checking a Exch server's health and another Exch admins performing their duties.Sukh

There'sd a difference between checking a Exch server's health and another Exch admins performing their duties. Sukh Your input into top 20 checks around health most welcome then....

Exch BPAPerfom of Exch, AD, OSCapacity planning/usageMonitoring/AlertingDR processBackup/restore testingPatching (OS & Exch)Mailbox size/limits/folder counts/item countPermissions/rights for Exch adminsAV/Spam update/patchesSukh

Exch BPA Perfom of Exch, AD, OS Capacity planning/usage Monitoring/Alerting DR process Backup/restore testing Patching (OS & Exch) Mailbox size/limits/folder counts/item count Permissions/rights for Exch admins AV/Spam update/patches Sukh Thats more like it! Re 8, would you also audit "who can access each others mailbox?" WHen you mention mailbox size/limits/folder counts/item count etc - what risk are you focusing on their? And for 4 - what tools can be used for that, and what risks are you looking into...

More issues users would face with Outlook crashing, not seeing caledars items/missing items/different views etc...so not such as risk on the Exch side. Mailbox access can be audited, which is what I would include in point 9. Generally admins can ahev access to everything using such service accounts or provledges etc...So I would check this too. Point 4 - Usual tools, like SCOM, 3rd party tools like spotlight, there loads of scripts you can use, custom event trigger using event tasks. As for the risk, could be anything from low disk space to transaction logs resets, runnng services, mounted stores etc...risk is to reduce to elminiate outage to prod env.Sukh

More issues users would face with Outlook crashing, not seeing caledars items/missing items/different views etc...so not such as risk on the Exch side. Mailbox access can be audited, which is what I would include in point 9. Generally admins can ahev access to everything using such service accounts or provledges etc...So I would check this too. Point 4 - Usual tools, like SCOM, 3rd party tools like spotlight, there loads of scripts you can use, custom event trigger using event tasks. As for the risk, could be anything from low disk space to transaction logs resets, runnng services, mounted stores etc...risk is to reduce to elminiate outage to prod env. Sukh Thanks Sukh I dont suppose if you have a spare 10 mins you could develop each of these top 10 into more specific checks for us? i.e.for objective 2 - 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4 per each category that youve listed above?

In addition to your link use the link below, its been around its' a daily, monthly checklist for operations. Microsoft Exchange Server (2003 | 2007 | 2010) - Operations Checklists http://blogs.technet.com/b/spencervelastegui/archive/2010/12/14/microsoft-exchange-server-operations-checklists.aspx That's alot to ask for someone to come up with a MOF framework on a forum. I did a MOF for 2003 back in the days here's a guideline topic of what you want to cover that I covered. Table of Contents Summary. Objectives. Operations Infrastructure. Reporting Model System Level Reporting. Application Level Reporting. Skill Requirements. Change Management Process. Receipt of Request for Change. Change Analysis and Review.. Change Notification and Release. Change Building, Testing, and Implementation Monitoring. Change Outcome Notification. Post-Implementation Evaluation. Urgent Change Process. Operational Activities <Product/Feature Solution 1>.. Ongoing Operations. Systems Management Backup and Recovery. Maintenance. Monitoring the System.. Securing the System.. Performance Planning. Capacity Planning. Problem Management Configuration Management Configuration Management Planning. Configuration Identification. Configuration Control Configuration Status Accounting, Verification, and Auditing. Service Level Management Appendix Monitoring Guidance. James Chong MCITP | EA | EMA; MCSE | M+, S+ Security+, Project+, ITIL msexchangetips.blogspot.com

You can also look at this article http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/archive/2010/12/15/Operations-Checklists-for-Exchange-Server-2010_2F00_2007_2F00_2003.aspx Exchange Server 2010 Operations Checklists http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb232187(EXCHG.140).aspx Daily Operations Checklist Weekly Operations Checklist Monthly Operations Checklist Summary Checklist Exchange Server 2007 Operations Checklists http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb232187(EXCHG.80).aspx which includes: Daily Operations Checklist Weekly Operations ChecklistMonthly Operations Checklist Summary Checklist Exchange Server 2003 Operations Checklists http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998774(EXCHG.65).aspx which includes: Disaster Recovery Preparation ChecklistSummary ChecklistMonthly Operations ChecklistWeekly Operations ChecklistDaily Operations Checklist Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread. Hasnain Shaikh| My blogs: http://messagingserversupport.com

In addition to your link use the link below, its been around its' a daily, monthly checklist for operations. Microsoft Exchange Server (2003 | 2007 | 2010) - Operations Checklists http://blogs.technet.com/b/spencervelastegui/archive/2010/12/14/microsoft-exchange-server-operations-checklists.aspx That's alot to ask for someone to come up with a MOF framework on a forum. I did a MOF for 2003 back in the days here's a guideline topic of what you want to cover that I covered. Table of Contents Summary. Objectives. Operations Infrastructure. Reporting Model System Level Reporting. Application Level Reporting. Skill Requirements. Change Management Process. Receipt of Request for Change. Change Analysis and Review.. Change Notification and Release. Change Building, Testing, and Implementation Monitoring. Change Outcome Notification. Post-Implementation Evaluation. Urgent Change Process. Operational Activities <Product/Feature Solution 1>.. Ongoing Operations. Systems Management Backup and Recovery. Maintenance. Monitoring the System.. Securing the System.. Performance Planning. Capacity Planning. Problem Management Configuration Management Configuration Management Planning. Configuration Identification. Configuration Control Configuration Status Accounting, Verification, and Auditing. Service Level Management Appendix Monitoring Guidance. James Chong MCITP | EA | EMA; MCSE | M+, S+ Security+, Project+, ITIL msexchangetips.blogspot.com James would you share your MOF for 2003? Or is it propriatery.