For organizations operating more than one messaging system, especially those as diverse as Lotus Domino and Microsoft Exchange, seamless messaging and calendaring coexistence between messaging systems is no longer a 'nice to have,' it's a 'must have.' The success of these initiatives is directly correlated to the experience of the end users and very often it's specific to how well the calendars work between users on different email platforms. Users can become quite vocal if meetings disappear from their calendar or they can't schedule a meeting because they can't look up the availability of the other users. As Vadim Gringolts discussed in his blog post last week on coexistence:
" ...users insist on perfect functionality of ALL calendar entries, complete and continuous synchronization of ALL directory entries, instantaneous and accurate free/busy lookup, and uninterrupted workflow of mail-enabled applications with their custom emails, forms, and approval buttons."
Keeping up with new software releases, features, and integrations is a constant challenge for IT Administrators. They need to be able to easily and efficiently perform smooth and seamless transitions from one platform/release/upgrade to another. Tack on the responsibility for establishing and maintaining interoperability between two different messaging systems, whether due to a merger, an acquisition, or a platform migration, and their job can quickly become overwhelming. Even so, it's vital that companies with differing email and calendaring systems are able to harmoniously coexist and that users are able to work without interruption.
So what should the end user experience look like when an organization is coexisting with Domino and Exchange? And what are the planning best practices for administrators to ensure that their hybrid environment is fully interoperable and their users are not disrupted?
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Posted by Richard Dean, Principal Consultant, Professional Services
Combined with our already excellent services, customers can also expect some new features, functionality, and improvements with RHM. The following sections briefly outline some of those new subjects and highlight the benefits of each. 
Expanded Coexistence Options
Simple Coexistence: With simple coexistence, all email addressed to your company’s domain will continue to be delivered to your on-premises Exchange server. However, email that is addressed to users that have been moved to Office 365 will be forwarded to their Office 365 mailboxes, allowing them to send and receive email from their Office 365 mailboxes using the same on-premises email address.
Rich Coexistence: Rich coexistence provides a robust management experience with better integration options for your on-premises server. You can also configure rich coexistence to provide a virtually seamless connection between your on-premises and online environments. With rich coexistence, end users can share calendars and free/busy information with their existing corporate Lotus Domino co-workers, regardless of whether their mail account is online or still on-premises.
Rich coexistence requires that at least one published Internet-facing 64-bit Windows server 2008 R2 is running Internet Information Services (IIS), the Web Server Role, and .NET 3.5.1. Typically, port 80 and 443 are required to be open between firewalls for appropriate communication between systems.
For security purposes, an SSL certification is recommended for IIS that’s issued from a valid third-party Trusted Root Certificate Authority to ensure encrypted free/busy traffic between the customer environment and the cloud.
For more information on prerequisites, please download the CMT for Coexistence 3.0.5 Comprehensive Users Guide.
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