UF Exchange
Consolidated Email Service for the University of Florida
UF Exchange will provide a cost effective and collaborative messaging solution for the University of Florida utilizing Microsoft Exchange. The solution will include mobile device messaging. The UF Exchange messaging environment will provide a more robust, available and scalable solution than presently exists at UF.
Business Need
Email has evolved over the years into the number one mission critical service for all businesses and institutions. With the steady growth in email volumes institutions of higher learning, such as UF, are increasingly faced with the challenge of not only responding to the communication demands of faculty, staff, students and customers in a timely manner, but actually resolving critical University issues via this medium of communication.
In many cases, email is the first interaction within the UF organization. The quality of this first touch point can be critical to the external and internal perception of UF’s ability to execute. With firmly entrenched user expectations when it comes to having an email service, the responsibility is on the University to leverage the cost-effectiveness of email and yet exceed campus-wide expectations for email service.
Overall the university currently operates over 250 independent email services at an annual cost of over $3.1 million. Service varies widely across campus, and basic services such as secure email and calendaring are not available to the majority of faculty, staff and students. One large email service on campus is a Federated Exchange which integrates department Exchange servers into a collaborative system. Federated Exchange has brought many service benefits, but it is not cost effective and its adoption is not campus wide due to cost and complexity of the federated model. The Federated model is not scalable for large organizations.
UF Exchange is intended to be a consolidated email service based on Microsoft Exchange and will provide high quality, standard, low cost service to all UF faculty, staff and students. Secure email, calendaring, receipt notification, message recall and email lists based on class roles, affiliation and other groupings will be maintained. Services will be web accessible, accessible from standard desktop clients such as Outlook on Windows, Macs and other computers and accessible from mobile phones. Current local email addresses will be preserved. The service will be authenticated by GatorLink. New passwords will not be needed. Mail addresses will automatically be created and maintained.
The service would potentially replace all local email services as well as the CNS GatorLink/Web Mail email service. Consolidated email service will simplify support, and streamline operations and reduce costs. Secure email enables health care, research, student services and other processes that require protected communication. Student employees, graduate students and collaborative researchers would directly benefit from a single email service.
Advisory Committee
The UF Exchange Advisory Committee meets monthly to review the service and provide input on service needs. Please see the committee web site for additional information.
Project Manager
Mike Conlon is the project manager for this project and has the authority to coordinate and schedule duties and activities to meet all objectives and goals in timely and efficient manner according to the Project Plan.
