Information Services has launched several new initiatives to improve communication and collaboration tools used across the university. One of these initiatives, the transition of faculty and staff Exchange email accounts to the cloud-based Office 365 Exchange email, is designed to provide improved functionality of the web email access/service with significant cost savings. It also includes numerous safeguards to protect user data and ensure that communication and collaborative services are highly secured at all levels.
The problem was how to communicate the changeover and help users experience a seamless transition.
Options
Because the new Office 365 system preserves the familiar look and feel of the current email system, most users would have noticed little or no change from the old system. But IS leadership and technical support staff chose to extensively communicate the migration to faculty and staff, to provide answers and give any help needed.
Solution
IS publicized the migration and alerted individual faculty and staff in advance when their email was to be upgraded. On the day of each migration, Email Migration Team members have been available in each building to provide dedicated support to faculty and staff. The migration team, wearing easily identifiable green shirts, continue to give users instant access to one-on-one assistance in setting up their PCs, mobile devices and tablets for the new system.
In the very few cases in which Kent State email users have special data safeguard requirements or concerns, Information Services are working directly with those individuals to meet their unique needs.
Results
IS completed the migration of all Exchange accounts (over 6,700 individual accounts) from the on-site Exchange email system to the new Exchange environment in late September 2012.
“The IS department handled this process very well by coordinating travel calendars and migrating advancement personnel when they would be on campus,” said Cindy Crimmins, associate vice president for Advancement Operations. She said her area’s upgrade was “smooth with no complaints” due to the “extra attention IS personnel gave during the process.”