Workaround for lack of support for nested distribution groups in Outlook?

[Alan]

Hello,

We're migrating to Exchange/Outlook 2003 from a mail system which
allows nested distribution groups in the users' Contacts folder. The
migration tool can't migrate any nested groups because Outlook doesn't
support them.

Can anyone suggest a workaround please?

AD does allow nested distribution groups but company policy doesn't
allow external contacts in the AD. Plus the groups are in a few
hundred departmental mailboxes - not personal ones - so we don't want
to shift management of the lists (creation, updating, assignment of
permissions) from the users to the administrators.

It's a showstopper for us.

Thanks,

- Alan.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Outlook definitely does support nested distribution lists. Migration is another matter, of course. I doubt that most migration tools would handle nested DLs well.

Nested DLs themselves are a potential maintenance and support nightmare. I'd avoid them myself and use categories to manage any list with more than 10 members or a membership that changes more than once a year.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=54

 

[Alan]

Thanks Sue but I'm confused. I must have explained it badly. Migration
aside, we've been told that Outlook itself doesn't allow you to create
DLs containing other DLs in the user's Contacts folder; instead, they
have to be created as public lists in AD by an administrator using
ADUC.

Unfortunately, we can't avoid them because they already exist and the
migration has to be as transparent as possible. We're into the
thousands of mailboxes and hundreds of lists.

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

Untrue - nested Distribution Lists can be stored in the Contact's folder for the user. Where did you hear otherwise? However, like Sue, I find categories far more flexible.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, Alan asked:

| Thanks Sue but I'm confused. I must have explained it badly. Migration
| aside, we've been told that Outlook itself doesn't allow you to create
| DLs containing other DLs in the user's Contacts folder; instead, they
| have to be created as public lists in AD by an administrator using
| ADUC.
|
| Unfortunately, we can't avoid them because they already exist and the
| migration has to be as transparent as possible. We're into the
| thousands of mailboxes and hundreds of lists.
|
| On Jun 9, 8:55 pm, "Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" <[email protected]>
| wrote:
|| Outlook definitely does support nested distribution lists. Migration
|| is another matter, of course. I doubt that most migration tools
|| would handle nested DLs well.
||
|| Nested DLs themselves are a potential maintenance and support
|| nightmare. I'd avoid them myself and use categories to manage any
|| list with more than 10 members or a membership that changes more
|| than once a year.
||
|| --
|| Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
|| Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
||
|| and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
|| Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
|| http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=54
||
|| message
||| Hello,
||
||| We're migrating to Exchange/Outlook 2003 from a mail system which
||| allows nested distribution groups in the users' Contacts folder. The
||| migration tool can't migrate any nested groups because Outlook
||| doesn't support them.
||
||| Can anyone suggest a workaround please?
||
||| AD does allow nested distribution groups but company policy doesn't
||| allow external contacts in the AD. Plus the groups are in a few
||| hundred departmental mailboxes - not personal ones - so we don't
||| want to shift management of the lists (creation, updating,
||| assignment of permissions) from the users to the administrators.
||
||| It's a showstopper for us.
||
||| Thanks,
||
||| - Alan.

 

[Alan]

Was told so straight from the horse's mouth! But they were server-
orientated guys in fairness. Guess you always need to validate things
yourself.

I'm guessing it's not something that has just been added to Outlook
2007? We'll be using from Outlook XP on.

Once the data has been actually migrated, we'll encourage the users to
try categories. One thing at a time. We're already asking them a lot
to changeover and keep the organisation running smoothly.

Thanks to your both.

Untrue - nested Distribution Lists can be stored in the Contact's folder for the user. Where did you hear otherwise? However, like Sue, I find categories far more flexible.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, Alan asked:

| Thanks Sue but I'm confused. I must have explained it badly. Migration
| aside, we've been told that Outlook itself doesn't allow you to create
| DLs containing other DLs in the user's Contacts folder; instead, they
| have to be created as public lists in AD by an administrator using
| ADUC.
|
| Unfortunately, we can't avoid them because they already exist and the
| migration has to be as transparent as possible. We're into the
| thousands of mailboxes and hundreds of lists.
|

|| Outlook definitely does support nested distribution lists. Migration
|| is another matter, of course. I doubt that most migration tools
|| would handle nested DLs well.
||
|| Nested DLs themselves are a potential maintenance and support
|| nightmare. I'd avoid them myself and use categories to manage any
|| list with more than 10 members or a membership that changes more
|| than once a year.
||
|| --
|| Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
|| Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
||
|| and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
|| Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
|| http://www.outlookcode.com/article.aspx?id=54
||
|| message||| Hello,
||
||| We're migrating to Exchange/Outlook 2003 from a mail system which
||| allows nested distribution groups in the users' Contacts folder. The
||| migration tool can't migrate any nested groups because Outlook
||| doesn't support them.
||
||| Can anyone suggest a workaround please?
||
||| AD does allow nested distribution groups but company policy doesn't
||| allow external contacts in the AD. Plus the groups are in a few
||| hundred departmental mailboxes - not personal ones - so we don't
||| want to shift management of the lists (creation, updating,
||| assignment of permissions) from the users to the administrators.
||
||| It's a showstopper for us.
||
||| Thanks,
||
||| - Alan.