ALCOAST 309/20 - AUG 2020 SITREP 1 - COAST GUARD-WIDE MIGRATION TO MICROSOFT 365

R 131616 AUG 20
FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC//CG-6//
TO ALCOAST
UNCLAS //N02620//
ALCOAST 309/20
COMDTNOTE 2620
SUBJ:  SITREP 1 - COAST GUARD-WIDE MIGRATION TO MICROSOFT 365
A. COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC 301317 OCT 19/ALCOAST 336/19
1. As announced in REF (A), the U.S. Coast Guard will begin the first of several
phases of the transition to Microsoft 365 (M365) by migrating users to M365 email
over the next two months. Here is what to expect with this email migration.
   a. Users will receive email notifications leading up to their migration, notifying
them of their transition date. Users will also receive a notification the day after
their migration to solicit feedback.
   b. Users should not experience any significant changes with the look, feel or
functionality of email. User mailbox sizes will be increased to 100 GB which will
eliminate the need to store email offline in “.pst” files.
   c. Following the user’s migration, Outlook Web Access (OWA) will no longer be
available from personal or government devices that are not connected to the Coast
Guard’s network. Users should plan to use alternate means to access email externally
such as Virtual Private Network (VPN) or Virtual Desktop Interface (VDI). For VPN
access, the user must use a USCG government furnished laptop. Users such as Reservists
who rely solely on OWA should take action now to gain access to VDI or VPN if they do
not already have it. Specific information is being communicated via email notifications
throughout the Reserve workforce and amplifying information is available at:
https://www.reserve.uscg.mil/Resources/Info-Action-Bulletins/2020/.
   d. Users assigned to cutters will not be transitioned to M365 since email servers
and mailboxes will continue to be hosted onboard the cutter. Members who anticipate
assignment to a cutter this transfer season and receive an email notifying them of
their M365 transition should follow the instructions that will be included in the
notification to avoid being migrated. 
   e. Blackberry users will also be migrated towards the end of the transition period,
pending additional testing.
2. Additional SITREPs will be provided as the Coast Guard continues its M365 transition
beyond email. The full transition to M365 will facilitate communication, collaboration
and productivity across the organization, providing members with the latest version of
all Microsoft Office productivity tools including Microsoft Word, Outlook, PowerPoint,
Access, Excel, and Teams. Information is posted at: http://cglink.uscg.mil/CG-COS (CAC
required to access). Internet-accessible information is posted at: www.uscg.mil/cloud.
3. RADM David M. Dermanelian, Assistant Commandant for Command, Control, Communications,
Computers and Information Technology (CG-6), sends.
4. Internet release is authorized.