DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY
TECHNOLOGY
Dalhousie ’ s IT transformation fittingly started with a change of its e-mail systems , looking outside its walls to replace outdated proprietary technology .
“ We started looking at what it would take to put in a new e-mail and communications system for a university today . You ’ ve got to have capacity , it ’ s got to integrate seamlessly with all our mobile devices , it ’ s got to be protected ,” says Fischer . “ We compared the cost of doing it ourselves — not just doing it , but sustaining it over the next decade — and then we compared that against Google and Microsoft , who are offering it to higher ed for free . Most people think it ’ s a Faustian bargain , that they ’ ll turn around and start charging us for it . But when you look at the schools that have already gone there , they ’ re not thinking about e-mail anymore .
It ’ s a commodity service . It ’ s been mastered .”
Ultimately Dalhousie chose to partner with Microsoft Office 365 . “ We selected Microsoft because it was a more familiar interface for most people , plus they offered the ability to house stuff on campus or in the cloud ,” says Fischer . “ We ’ ve been very happy with the decision to go with Microsoft , because it ’ s more built for the large organization , but with no hardware and no application needed . We have people who administrate it and make sure it ’ s tied to our all our identity management system , but I don ’ t think about e-mail anymore .”
Changing roles for a changing industry Dalhousie University soon followed this change with a similar overhaul of its learning management system ,
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