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Migrating to Google Apps for Student Email

Migrating to Google Apps for Student Email. Kevin Macnaughton , Team Lead, IT Services kevinm@uwindsor.ca. April 28, 2014. Agenda. Background Platform Selection Migration and Communication Plans Technical Details Lessons Learned Outcomes. April 28, 2014. Background.

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Migrating to Google Apps for Student Email

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  1. Migrating to Google Apps for Student Email Kevin Macnaughton, Team Lead, IT Services kevinm@uwindsor.ca April 28, 2014

  2. Agenda • Background • Platform Selection • Migration and Communication Plans • Technical Details • Lessons Learned • Outcomes April 28, 2014

  3. Background • UWindsor initiated a project to renew student webmail options in fall of 2011. • Student comments on the existing service were generally unfavourable • Vendor was changing interface • Need to comply with standards, such as AODA • New options were available, presenting an opportunity to improve student experience April 28, 2014

  4. Background • Existing service was in-house solution • Single CommuniGate Pro server • Customized skin used • Used local SAN disk for storage • Mailboxes limited to 100MB April 28, 2014

  5. Background • Issues with current solution • Mailbox limit (100MB) • Interface was non-intuitive • Message formatting often broken • No support for accessible views • SAN disk is expensive April 28, 2014

  6. Background • Project structure and Governance • Technical Team that reported to Student Computing Committee for approval • Student Computing Committee consisted of reps from student bodies, ITS and other campus representatives April 28, 2014

  7. Friends and Assists • Worked with several Universities in Ontario were migrating to or selecting Google Apps: • McMaster, OCADU, WLU • UAlberta gave extensive and invaluable support based on their migration experience • Lakehead broke the ice in Ontario April 28, 2014

  8. Platform Selection • Decision factors • Student experience/comfort • Capabilities and features • Cost (money and support) • Compatibility with existing environment April 28, 2014

  9. Platform Selection • Methodology • Developed comprehensive evaluation matrix • Technical features, • Privacy/management issues • Migration possibilities • Integration possibilities • Matrix completed by Technical Team and vendors • Interviewed existing education customers April 28, 2014

  10. April 28, 2014

  11. Platform Selection • Choices evaluated • Upgraded CommuniGate Pro • Microsoft Live@EDU • Google Apps for Education • Google Apps won based on student familiarity, ease of use, cost, and integration possibilities April 28, 2014

  12. UWinGmail • Services included in UWindsor Google Apps • Gmail • Google Calendar • Google Talk • Google Docs web-based tools April 28, 2014

  13. UWinGmail • Key implementation details: • Users retain @uwindsor.ca email address • Will still use UWinID and password • Migration will be Voluntary • Contract protections: • UWindsor maintains ownership of data/IP • No data mining, profiling, or ads April 28, 2014

  14. UWinGmail • Branding will be both UWindsor and Google April 28, 2014

  15. Migration Plan • Three key elements to project • Communicating information around privacy impact of cloud services • Addressing requirements for disclosure and user acceptance • Implementing a phased migration approach April 28, 2014

  16. Migration Plan • Data to be migrated and how: • Email (inbox and folders) • Automatic using IMAP • Calendar and Contacts • Manual using export to iCal, vCard • Web pages • Manual move to student web space on another server April 28, 2014

  17. Communication Plan • Three messaging stages: • Launch and privacy awareness • Project updates • Individual migration phase • Multiple messages to each student • Migration status page April 28, 2014

  18. Communication Plan • Migration stage: • Invitation to Migrate • Disclosure and AUP review • Self-insertion into migration queue • UWinGmail Account Active • Mail migration in progress • Migration Complete • Review messages, migrate calendar + contacts January 31, 2011

  19. January 31, 2011

  20. Questions? January 31, 2011

  21. Technical Details • Key pieces: • CommuniGate Pro server • UWinGmail website and registration portal • Migration control machine and workers • Google Apps domain January 31, 2011

  22. Technical Details • Google Apps domain setup: • Email Migration API enabled • @uwingmail.uwindsor.ca aliases for all accounts • Accounts created by migration script • Passwords populated by migration script • IMAP, POP and Google Sync enabled January 31, 2011

  23. Technical Details • Migration scripting architecture: • Migration portal • Show AUPs, record acceptance to db, add to queue • Provide migration status page • Workers • 10 Windows VMs • Run GAMME tool (using Email Migration API) January 31, 2011

  24. Technical Details • Migration scripting architecture: • Migration control system • runs scripts (Perl) • updates db, does logging • system is multiple queue-driven • cron schedules control queue checks January 31, 2011

  25. Technical Details • Mail routing • All accounts use @uwindsor.ca • Still only one MX record for all mail • Campus mail gateway routes to mail servers • All mail systems believe they own @uwindsor.ca • @webmail1.uwindsor.ca, @uwingmail.uwindsor.ca April 28, 2014

  26. Technical Details • Mail routing • UWinGmail routes every message to gateway • including UWinGmail-to-UWinGmail messages • allows delivery management • provides central logging for non-repudiation April 28, 2014

  27. Technical Details • Single Sign-On • UWinGmail configured to use SSO • Configured against campus CAS • easiest to integrate • does not provide true logout though • Mobiles do not use CAS • authenticate using pass stored in Google account April 28, 2014

  28. Lessons Learned • Overcommunicate • Students want to know details / progress • Need to keep at top of inbox/mobile display • Don’t communicate too much • Receive too many messages from Uni • Avoid long emails April 28, 2014

  29. Lessons Learned • Deadlines work best • more migrations from sticks than carrots • Clarity is key • temporary account locks caused many issues April 28, 2014

  30. Outcomes • Started with 28000 accounts, 17M messages • Active student migration took 3 months • High adoption rate • Migration failures around 1% April 28, 2014

  31. Outcomes • Alumni account migration took 1 year • Slow migration, allowed long contact time • Way lower uptake • Extended to all Alumni April 28, 2014

  32. Outcomes • Average mailbox size is already over 200MB • Huge adoption of Google Docs • over 12000 document creators • over 28000 documents • Google Drive has uptake too • 430,000 files stored in Drive April 28, 2014

  33. Minor Hiccups • Many students’ passwords did not meet Google’s minimum complexity • Delay between Google Apps account creation and mail acceptance April 28, 2014

  34. Minor Hiccups • Some students had mail directed to other campus systems • Automated messages caused issues • due to not being properly structured • one bad message would stop entire queue! April 28, 2014

  35. Q & A April 28, 2014

  36. April 28, 2014

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