Tech Giant Microsoft Pours Out $250k to Secure University's Use of Office 365 Suite
The University of Nebraska (NU) is set to replace its 14-year-old email and calendar system with Microsoft's hosted Office 365 suite, marking a significant shift in the university's digital infrastructure.
NU's Chief Information Officer (CIO), Walter Weir, has stated that moving to the cloud environment is the best way to achieve greater cost savings and better security for the system. The university expects a 50% reduction in costs through the implementation of Microsoft's system, funded in part by $250,000 in "business incentive funds" from Microsoft.
The university will use the funding to pay for consulting, licenses, and a Microsoft Premier Support agreement covering email and Microsoft Office applications for the entire university. NU is converting a large percentage of its users from Lotus Notes to Office 365.
The estimated annual cost of NU's current campus-wide email and calendar system is $1 million. By contrast, the costs associated with the migration to the new system will include one-time upfront costs for rewriting some applications and providing training.
Universities migrating from Lotus Notes to Office 365 experience several advantages and disadvantages. Advantages include significant operational benefits, such as a modern integrated productivity suite, improved user experience and efficiency, enhanced threat protection, and diverse mailbox options. Office 365’s cloud-based infrastructure also reduces the need for on-premises maintenance and hardware costs, generating potential cost savings in IT operations.
Disadvantages include migration complexity, the initial setup and learning curve for Office 365 tools, and potential subscription cost considerations. Converting data formats like NSF (Lotus Notes) to PST (Outlook) is a known challenge, and the initial setup and learning curve for Office 365 tools can be steep for staff accustomed to Lotus Notes, potentially impacting productivity during the transition period.
Microsoft has offered cash incentives to businesses for switching from its competitors in the past, and in December last year, Microsoft offered a $200 rebate per user for switching to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Live at Salesforce.com's user conference. However, no specific details were given about the timeline for the transition, and no information was provided about any potential training or support for users during the transition.
No comment was provided by Microsoft's UK representatives regarding the transition to Office 365 at NU. The university did not comment on whether there will be any disruptions during the transition. NU's CIO considered offerings from both Google and Microsoft before making the decision to move to Office 365. The university cites improved flexibility, operational savings, and access to newer technology as the big benefits of the switch. A Salesforce.com spokesman described Microsoft's offer as "a new decade of desperation from Microsoft."
The University of Nebraska (NU) anticipates a decrease in costs by 50% through the integration of Microsoft's Office 365 suite, which includes a shift from Lotus Notes to Office 365, in part funded by business incentive funds from Microsoft. NU's Chief Information Officer (CIO) believes that the move to the cloud environment will result in greater cost savings and better security for the system, given the operational benefits of Office 365's modern integrated productivity suite, improved user experience and efficiency, enhanced threat protection, and diverse mailbox options, as well as the potential cost savings in IT operations due to reduced on-premises maintenance and hardware costs.
