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Background 2008: E-Mail @ Lamar University
• Lamar University lacked a single unified communications solution for all students, faculty and staff.
• Four inherited mail solutions: My Lamar (Luminis Mail), Exchange, Computer Science E-Mail and Electrical Engineering E-Mail.
Risk Assessment
• LU email was fractured, fragmented and fragile. Not only providing sub-standard service, but was also leaving students, faculty and staff without e-mail in times of natural disasters, and representing a serious security risk at all times.
My.Lamar E-Mail
Fragmented
Fractured
Fragile
Current Students
Faculty/Staff ?
Limited Mailbox
Size
Limited Attachment
SizeCrashes often
20 year old
technology
Upgrade Luminis Mail?
• My.Lamar Mail ran on a poorly implemented (legacy) system.
• “Doing it over the right way” would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• Luminis Mail was End of Life: SGHE was no longer offering Luminis Mail with Luminis 5.
LU Exchange
Under Sized
Under Scoped
Not Redundant
No Offsite
NOT All Faculty/Staff
Limited Attachment
Size
Limited Mailbox
Size
Cost of Upgrading Exchange?
• A highly-available, redundant Exchange system that would work during natural disasters and serve all students, faculty and staff would have cost approximately $750,000 to implement properly.
Outsource With Google or Microsoft?
• Lack of Service Level Agreements: G-mail is all the rage, but good luck if it stops working.
• “Bleeding Edge” Technology: Microsoft option for faculty/staff mail launched a few weeks ago. G-Mail is Still in “Beta.”
• Loss of Control: With Microsoft or G-mail your mail could be geographically anywhere in the world.
Hosted Option: MeritMail• Merit is a non-profit higher ed consortium.• Offers a hosted mail service with a service
level agreement geared to higher education.• With Merit, Lamar University maintained
control:– University e-mail stayed in the USA.– Because the software (Zimbra) is open
source, the University could bring mail back in house in the future.
MeritMail Pilot at Lamar University
• Allowed LU to stay on Outlook and add Blackberry support.
• Web interface is fully featured & easy to use.• ITS pilot of MeritMail proved extremely
successful. Works on Windows, Mac & Linux.
MeritMail SolutionScalable
Redundant
Unified
Unlimited Mailbox Size
50-100MB Attachment Size
HighAvailability
BackedUp
Works in a Hurricane
How Much Would You Pay Per Student Mailbox
Per Year?• $100? $50? $25? $10?• How about $5 per student per year?• Upgrading existing Exchange server to
handle all students would have cost at least five times as much per student per year (with less functionality).
On-Going Costs: Exchange vs. Merit
• Total on-going cost for upgraded Exchange mail system at Lamar University estimated at more than a million dollars over three years.
• Total on-going cost for MeritMail solution projected to be one-third as much over three years.
Implementation Costs: MeritMail vs. Exchange
• Cost to implement MeritMail: $30,000.
• Cost to implement Exchange: $750,000.
In Summary• MeritMail is a proven and cost-
effective solution that reduces demonstrated risk and provides first rate service via a unified communications platform at an affordable price point for higher education.
Recommendation & Outcome
• ITS recommended that LU move all student/faculty/staff mail to MeritMail as quickly as possible before the next hurricane could strike.
• President and Executive Council approved MeritMail deployment.
• MeritMail successfully deployed by LU ITS in collaboration with MERIT staff.