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Outsourcing Email: a case study

Ira WinstonCIOSchool of Arts & SciencesUniversity of Pennsylvania

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School of Arts & Sciences (SAS)

Penn (est. 1740) is an Ivy League university in Philadelphia ranked #5 by US News and World Reports

SAS is the largest of the four undergraduate schools at Penn

500 standing faculty in 26 academic departments

6500 undergraduates in 52 majors

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Before - Spring 2007 email environment

Spring 2007 email environment IMAP/POP/Webmail (IMP) 75mb quotas 5 year old Sun hardware heavy webmail usage 30% of students forwarding email to ISP’s

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Rationale for Outsourcing Outsourcing email and other communications functions is an

acknowledgement that the outsourced providers have a better product than most universities offer.

Given that most incoming students (90% in our case) are already using Gmail, Windows Live/Hotmail/MSN, Yahoo or AOL they are quite comfortable with these systems and anything we provide would have to better.

They are mostly looking for the .EDU email address, which can be provided without providing an actual email account.

The resources freed up can be used to provide services that can uniquely be provided by universities.

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Outsourcing mechanics

Penn Live (Windows Live) is an OPTION for all students. Webmail continues to be an option for existing students but not incoming students.

Segmented Marketing Gmail – don’t expect them to switch, perhaps mention lack

of ads and non-email services Hotmail/MSN – same client, no ads, real technical support Yahoo – comparable client, no ads, real technical support AOL and others– better client, no ads, real technical

support, non-email services SAS webmail – quota, better client, non-email services

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Outsourcing mechanics

Extensive documentation on accessing the service using email clients (FAQ with screen shots)

Very responsive help desk, call students back on the phone to follow up.

E-mail migration procedures not heavily used but important to have documented.

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After - Fall 2007 Email environment

Penn Live (Windows Live) added as an option for existing students in July 2007

Incoming students offered Penn Live or forwarding but NOT the school email service

62% of upperclassmen forwarding email to ISP’s

78% of all students forwarding email to ISP’s

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After - Fall 2007 Email environment

Of the students who forward: 27% to Gmail 28% to Penn Live 20% to mail.sas.upenn.edu

(school email service) 6% to AOL 4% to Yahoo 5% to Hotmail/MSN

Yahoo4%

Penn Live28%

mail.sas20%

AOL6%

Gmail27%

Hotmail/MSN5%

Other10%

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Is your campus a good candidate for outsourcing?

Q1. What system do you current use for email (exchange, imap/webmail, etc.)?

A1. Those with heavy webmail (IMP, squirrel mail, homebrew) systems

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Is your campus a good candidate for outsourcing?

Q2. What are the storage quotas for student email?

A2. Anything under 250mb

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Is your campus a good candidate for outsourcing?

Q3. Do you allow forwarding and, if so, what percentage of students forward their email?

A3. Those who already allow forwarding and have a significant percentage of students forwarding.

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Is your campus a good candidate for outsourcing?

Q4. How old is your current email system?

A4. Anything older than 2 years

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Is your campus a good candidate for outsourcing?

Q5. Which clients do your students use to access your current email system?  If the data is available, break the usage down by client?

A5. Heavy webmail – GMY have excellent webmail clients

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Is your campus a good candidate for outsourcing?

Q6. Do you support POP, IMAP or both?

A6. POP only – gmail, Windows Live and Yahoo (GMY) do not support IMAP

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Is your campus a good candidate for outsourcing?

Q7. Do you have a calendaring system for students?

A7. no calendaring system – GMY provide calendaring

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Is your campus a good candidate for outsourcing?

Q8. Do your university administrators want/need access to individual student emails for personal safety and student judicial inquiries?

A8. universities that prefer NOT to have access to individual student emails

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Is your campus a good candidate for outsourcing?

Q9. How effective is your current antispam solution?

A9. bad antispam – GMY have good antispam because their large user bases categorize spam

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Is your campus a good candidate for outsourcing?

Q10. Do you have a disaster recovery plan for your email service?

A10. no disaster recovery plan – GMY have geographically redundant data centers