HHSMail

Program Overview

The HHS Enterprise E-mail initiative (HHSMail) was established to develop an enterprise-wide e-mail and calendaring solution to efficiently meet the information transfer and sharing requirements of the Department. This initiative is one of several strategic IT initiatives associated with the Department’s enterprise-wide IT initiatives, and further supports the Secretary’s One HHS Vision. HHSMail is aligned closely with the President's Management Agenda Expanded Electronic Government initiative, which seeks to provide timely and accurate information while ensuring security and privacy.

Five goals identified by the HHS Enterprise E-mail initiative are:

Goal 1: Reduce the cost of providing E-mail service to over 65,000 HHS employees, contractors, and other users.

Goal 2: Provide consistent functionality for all HHS E-mail users.

Goal 3: Develop the most efficient E-mail operation possible for HHS E-mail users.

Goal 4: Provide all HHS E-Mail users a consistent E-mail address scheme.

Goal 5: Provide a calendaring solution giving the ability to schedule people and resources across HHS.

The new HHSMail system, based on Microsoft Exchange version 2003, replaces legacy systems which support mailboxes distributed over 194 servers deployed at 109 facilities worldwide. The system provides three major benefits:

• First, the system consists of a single consolidated e-mail infrastructure with appropriate redundancy and data protection technologies, eliminating the distributed e-mail services across OPDIVs.
• Second, the system is managed by an outsourced administration team, allowing for a consistent level of service and support, as well as cost savings through increased negotiating power with vendors of e-mail related products and technologies.
• Third, the system provides a uniform and intuitive department-wide, integrated E-mail and calendaring solution that fulfills the requirements of HHS e-mail users, including allowing them to retain access to their e-mail address and data regardless of the OPDIV in which they are assigned.

Currently 44,000 of the HHS’ mailboxes have been transitioned to the HHSMail enterprise system. The transition of all 66,000 target mailboxes to HHSMail will be completed in FY 07.