Maine State Government
Dept. of Administrative & Financial Services
Office of Information Technology
Standard on Email Global Address List Management
I. Statement
Through this standard the Office of Information Technology
(OIT) will manage the State’s Enterprise Messaging System’s Global Address List
(GAL).
II. Purpose
A. The purpose of this
standard is to ensure that approved methods and procedures are followed in
managing mailbox address/contact information and global distribution lists.
B. Additionally, OIT must
comply with the Freedom of Access Act,
Public Law Chapter 583- An Act to Amend the Notice of Risk to Personal Data Act
and the Office of Information Technology Policy on
Access to Data and Information on State Owned Computer Devices.
III. Applicability
A. This standard is intended
to manage the requests for
1. Creating and managing
State email addresses,
2. Creating and managing global
distribution lists (GDLs),
3. Managing access to public
information contained in the GAL properties.
B. This standard is intended
to manage requests by
1. Executive Branch and
semi-autonomous State agencies,
2. Agencies from other Maine State government branches using the wide area network,
3. Vendors approved by the Enterprise
Applications Manager.
IV. Responsibilities
A. The Enterprise Applications Manager will manage the process for
approving the creation and management of all messaging accounts.
B. OIT’s Enterprise Messaging System staff will implement the
management of the standards and procedures for global email address list
management.
C. Agency Information
Technology Directors (AITDs) will approve all requests for the creation of GDLs
and Resource Accounts, and will communicate any special needs to the OIT Enterprise
Applications Manager.
D. Governmental entities
using the State’s wide area network, but not participating in the Enterprise
Messaging System may be granted real-time access to the GAL by the Enterprise Applications
Manager.
E. Enterprise Messaging System users may create Personal Distribution
Lists (PDLs) from the Contacts section of Outlook. They may contain non-state
email addresses, and are maintained and deleted by their creators.
V. Guidelines and Procedures
A. Global Address List – The GAL is established by OIT’s Enterprise
Messaging System staff to provide contact and email information to users and
has the following characteristics.
1. Resource Accounts, which
are accounts that are not real user’s names, i.e. mailboxes used for conference
rooms, aliases on web pages, and shared calendars must use a firstname.lastname
naming convention. Examples of resource accounts are as follows:
a. Conference rooms must have a last name that
references the department and/or building that it is set up for:
ConfRm1.MaineDOT.
b. Aliases for web pages must have a last name the
references the department it is set up for: Webmaster.MaineDOT.
c. Mailboxes used as shared calendars must have a
last name that references the department it is set up for: Region1.MaineDOT.
d. Resource accounts that do not follow this naming
convention, due to their pre-existence to this standard, are grandfathered
provided that the current name can be related to the agency associated.
2. New user accounts must be
entered into Active Directory using the same name that is used for payroll. Active
Directory (AD) aliases (the name that shows up in the GAL from the AD account)
must remain the same as the AD account name. The use of nicknames is
prohibited for the account name; however, a nickname may be used as an alias in
addition to the real name.
Example: Nickname: Scotty, AD Name: Maxamillian.Scott.Desjardins;
GAL Alias: Desjardins, Maxamillian S (Scotty)
3. Access - Public
information in the GAL will be made available upon written request, and
approval by the Office of the Chief Information Officer in compliance with the
Freedom of Access Act,
Public Law Chapter 583- An Act to Amend the Notice of Risk to Personal Data Act
and the Office of Information Technology Policy on
Access to Data and Information on State Owned Computer Devices. OIT will
approve the format of exported data and a charge will be associated with this
function that is based on the cost to reproduce the information.
B. GDLs are established by
OIT’s Enterprise Messaging System staff upon
1. Approval by the AITD and
2. Receipt of a work order
generated by the Customer Support Center (CSC).
C. The GDL’s names will be
assigned in compliance with the following conventions and will appear in bold
face in the GAL as established by the Enterprise Applications
Manager:
1. DHHS-221 State
2. ATT_Criminal_Div (ATT is
the three character identifier for the Attorney General’s Office)
3. Audit
a. GDLs will only contain contact
information for firstname.lastname@maine.gov accounts (no non-state email
addresses will be included).
b. A role based owner must be assigned to maintain
the list at the time the GDL is created.
c. Descriptions of the use of the GDL, creation
date and requestor’s name must be documented in the Notes field of the list’s
AD entry.
D. The Enterprise Applications
Manager will:
1. Work with the CSC to develop forms to collect the needed information to
manage the enterprise messaging system,
2. Oversee the creation of
GALs, GDLs and Resource Accounts to ensure they comply with this standard,
3. Annually,
or upon request, provide lists of current GDLs to AITD’s for their review in
order to ensure the GDLs are still active.
4. Bring issues relative to
the efficient management of the messaging system to the attention of the Core
Technologies management for resolution.
5. Provide rates and fees
associated with this standard for publication.
VI. Definitions
1. Applications Services Manager is a managerial level employee of the
Office of Information Technology who reports to the Core Technologies Officer.
2. CSV
- The comma-separated values (CSV) file format is a file type
that stores tabular data. Because this format dates back to the days of mainframe
computing, CSV files are common on all computer platforms.
3. Email
Address – For the purpose of this standard, email address is defined to include
individuals’ user accounts (firstname.lastname@maine.gov), as well as resource
accounts used to identify conference rooms, aliases on web pages (e.g.webmaster@maine.gov),
shared-access calendars etc.
4. Global Address List – The GAL is a directory service within the Microsoft
Exchange email system, which contains information for all email users,
distribution groups, and Exchange resources.
5. Global
Distribution Lists – GDLs are a list of @maine.gov user accounts, created by
OIT, which may be viewed and used by all users of the State’s Enterprise
Messaging System.
6. Personal
Distribution Lists – PDL lists any number of user accounts, including email
address from outside State government, created by individual Enterprise
Messaging System users. Only the owner of personal distribution lists can
create, manage and use them.
7. Resource
Accounts – Mailboxes used for conference rooms, aliases on web pages, and shared
calendars, not a person.
8. Semi-autonomous
State Agency – An agency created by an act of the Legislative Branch that is
not a part of the Executive Branch. This term does not include the Legislative
Branch, Judicial Branch, or the Constitutional Officers: Office of the Attorney
General, Office of the Secretary of State, Office of the State Treasurer and
Audit Department.
VII. References
A. Enterprise Technology
Services Procedures on Email Global Address List Management
VIII. Document Information
1. Document
Reference Number: 12
2. Category:
Internet, Network and Transport – includes network, telecommunications and
electronic mail
3. Adoption
Date: 8/31/07
4. Effective
Date: 8/31/07
5. Review
Date: 8/31/09
6. Point
of Contact: Greg McNeal, Director, Enterprise Technology Services, Office of
Information Technology 207-624-9471
7. Approved
By: Richard B. Thompson, Chief Information Officer
8. Position
Title(s) or Agency Responsible for Enforcement: Sandra P. Saunders, OIT Enterprise Applications Manager, 207-624-9419
9. Legal
Citation: Title 5, Maine Revised Statutes, Chapter 163 §1973, Section 1,
Paragraph B authorizes the CIO to “set
policies and standards for the implementation and use of information and
telecommunications technologies
10. Waiver Process: The CIO or his/her designee may authorize an
exception on a case-by-case basis.
Apply for a waiver as follows:
Address an email to Richard
B. Thompson and include as a CC: the Associate Chief Information Officer or the
agency Agency Information Technology Officer.
If you require assistance with determining the correct person, contact the
CIO’s office at 624-8800.
Include the following in the
email:
Document a compelling technical or business case that
identifies the specific action
and how it warrants exemption.
Include any supporting documentation you may have.
When a decision has been reached in granting or denying the
waiver, the CIO will respond to the submitter, the AITD, and the following
three designated people whose names are located on the policy/standard for
which the waiver is being sought: Point of Contact, Approved By and Position
Title(s) or Agency Responsible for Enforcement.
