Choice Logistics was already using Amazon Web Services (AWS) to run its BlackBerry Enterprise Servers (BES) and Citrix virtual application solution. "Using AWS makes it easy for us to resize instances and increase storage without having to go through a lengthy procurement cycle," says Tom Bentzen, Director of Information Systems. "We like the monthly billing model, paying for only the services that we require and the ability to use Amazon EC2 Reserved Instances to reduce our expenses further." The IT organization chose Smartronix, a Premier member of the

AWS Partner Network (APN), to help them upgrade to Exchange 2010 while migrating to the AWS Cloud. "Smartronix had the expertise with both AWS and Microsoft Exchange that we needed for this complex deployment," says Bentzen.

Working with Smartronix, Choice Logistics transitioned from Exchange Server 2007 and related Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2006 services to Exchange Server 2010 and Threat Management Gateway 2010, and deployed the Exchange 2010 environment to

Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC). In order to keep using a legacy call-center application that relies on Exchange 2007 public folders, Choice Logistics kept one Hub Transport, (which handles mail flow inside the organization) on-premises while moving the rest of its Exchange environment to the AWS Cloud.

The cloud environment connects to Choice Logistics’ primary datacenter using a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) Virtual Private Network (VPN). All traffic, including external Exchange users, is routed through Choice Logistics’ primary datacenter and then to Amazon VPC by VPN. The environment runs across two data centers in the US East Region. Choice Logistics uses security groups to isolate the customer-facing public network, client access servers, and mailbox servers. Figure 1 shows Choice Logistics’ architecture on AWS.