D R A F T

Contents 1 Executive Summary 2 Business Problem 3 Alternative Solutions 3.1 Option 1 – Upgrade to the Sun Communications Suite 3.1.1 Description 3.1.2 Benefits 3.1.3 Costs 3.1.4 Feasibility 3.1.5 Risks 3.1.6 Issues 3.1.7 Assumptions 3.2 Option 2 – Mirapoint Message Server 3.2.1 Description 3.2.2 Benefits 3.2.3 Costs 3.2.4 Feasibility 3.2.5 Risks 3.2.6 Issues 3.2.7 Assumptions 3.3 Option 3 – Google Apps 3.3.1 Description 3.3.2 Benefits 3.3.3 Costs 3.3.4 Feasibility 3.3.5 Risks 3.3.6 Issues 3.3.7 Assumptions 4 Recommended Solution 4.1 Solution Rating 4.2 Recommended Solution 5 Implementation Approach 5.1 Project Initiation 5.2 Project Planning 5.3 Project Execution 5.4 Project Closure 5.5 Project Management 6 Appendix 6.1 Supporting Documentation

[edit] Executive Summary

Current Case Offerings

Information Technology Services (ITS) currently offers email service to all faculty, staff, and students using the Sun JES (Java Enterprise Suite) Messaging Server, which offers both IMAP and POP3 mailboxes and a web interface. Case emails are stored locally on a single Case server which is backed up each night. In addition, ITS offers virus and spam filtering using a cascade of Mirapoint boxes for both incoming and outgoing email.

For scheduling appointments campus-wide, ITS also offers the Oracle Calendar to faculty and staff. The Calendar service includes client software for the Macintosh, Windows, and Linux, as well as a web and PDA interface. Making appointments in the calendar, which is tied to the campus LDAP (lightweight directory access protocol) service, results in emails being sent to the participants.

Sun Microsystems, Inc., the manufacturer of the Sun JES Messaging Server which provides email to the campus, has announced that the version of the product that Case uses (5.2) is at its “End of Life” and will not be patched after May 2007. Case can continue paying for maintenance and Sun will support the product if it can, but no additional software patches will be written. There is an up-to-date version of the Sun JES Messaging Server (currently 6.3) available at additional per-seat annual cost.

Case also offers Oracle Calendar, part of the Oracle Collaboration Suite which also includes email and Instant Messaging (IM) in addition to the calendar. However, Oracle has been unable to get all of the suite components working. Case pays for maintenance and support for the suite, although we are only offering the calendar. Purchasing support for just the calendar is not available, so Case has announced to Oracle that the maintenance payments will stop.

Because of these two events - the email server needing to be upgraded or changed and the failure of the Oracle Collaboration Suite – an investigation was begun to search for products that would replace our current email and calendar systems, and also offer IM and other collaboration services.

Options for replacing email and calendar - Case examined three options for replacing the existing email and calendar systems:

1. Upgrade to the Sun Java Communications Suite
2. Upgrade to the Mirapoint Message Server
3. Move the students and alumni to Google Apps for Education this fall, leaving the faculty and staff on iPlanet and Oracle Calendar. As Google Apps develops additional "enterprise" features, plan the migration of the faculty and staff to Google Apps within 12-18 months.

Recommendation

In making a recommendation, three main criteria were considered: •Dollar costs of purchasing, implementing and maintaining the product over five years •Impact on current users: faculty, staff, students, researchers, and alumni •Time and effort of ITS staffers to learn, develop, implement, train, and support the product

The least expensive option is Google Apps for Education, which is available to university IT departments at no charge. However, this option has the largest impact on current users, as it currently does not support IMAP mailboxes (UPDATE: Google Apps now supports IMAP mailboxes). The option with the least impact on current users is the upgrade to the newest Sun Communications Suite; however a substantial dollar investment is required. The Mirapoint option was the highest priced option and although there would be minimal impact on end users, this vendor was clearly the third choice.

Based on these criteria, the recommendation is for Case to move its email service to Google Apps in two phases over the next two years. The first phase is to move the students and alumni within the next six months. Many students and alumni already forward their Case email to another email account. This group would be relatively easy to change over, assuming Case provides tools to assist with moving archived emails. Since Google plans to introduce additional features specifically targeted to large business users, we would wait and move the faculty and staff when the features, functionality, and tools are available, hopefully within the next 12-18 months. All members of the Case community have the option to move to Google Apps anytime during the transition period.

This recommendation assumes that the current email and calendar services continue to be offered during the transition period. If the Google functionality for the faculty and staff does not materialize within the 18 month time period, or if there are substantial problems with moving the students and alumni to Google Apps, then Case would revert to the second option: to upgrade to the latest version of the Sun Communications Suite.

[edit] Business Problem

Sun Microsystems, Inc., the manufacturer of the JES Messaging Server which provides email to the campus, has announced that the old version of the product that Case uses is at its “End of Life” and will not be supported after May 2007. Case can continue paying for maintenance and Sun will support the product if it can, but no additional software patches will be written. ITS staff assumes that we could continue to use the Messenger server for another year to 18 months. If we choose to stay with Sun, we would need to upgrade to the latest email software and purchase new hardware at significant additional cost.

Earlier this year, after much effort on both sides, Case decided not to go forward with the Oracle Collaboration Suite, a suite of products including email, calendar, IM, and collaboration tools. The reasons were mostly technical - Oracle was unable to get all of the suite components working in the Case environment, which included requirements for FERPA suppression. Since only the calendar component is working, Case has told Oracle that it will refuse to pay additional maintenance going forward. Again, the Oracle calendar has been relatively trouble free and the ITS staff estimates that this calendar could continue to be used for another year to 18 months.

These two events afford Case the opportunity to look at various options for email and calendar products, which today are bundled with other communications and collaboration tools.

[edit] Alternative Solutions

[edit] Option 1 – Upgrade to the Sun Communications Suite

[edit] Description

The first option is to remain with Sun Microsystems, the existing vendor, and upgrade to the latest version, called the Sun Communications Suite (Version 6). This option would have the least impact on the end user community, and would be a relatively smooth upgrade on the ITS side. All other aspects of the email architecture would remain the same: ITS would continue offering spam and virus protection using the Mirapoint boxes, and end users would not have to make any changes to their email mailboxes.

Assuming that the Oracle calendar can be used for another 12-18 months, the new Sun Suite would be fully compatible with the Oracle calendar. Since the Sun Suite also contains a calendar program, we would plan to migrate the Oracle calendar users to the Sun calendar over the following year before retiring the Oracle calendar, thereby replacing both of the older systems with the Sun Suite.

[edit] Benefits

Benefit Category	Benefit Description	Benefit Value
Least amount of change for end users	No actions needed by end users, no change in email accounts	No new training for end users
Standard upgrade for ITS engineers – no development work needed	Minimum change for ITS engineers	Minimizes hours needed for ITS engineering work to implement new service
One purchase replaces both older systems	Sun Suite includes email, calendar, and LDAP services	Tighter integration of email and calendar – no need to synch

[edit] Costs

Expense Category	Expense Description	Expense Value	Expense Type
Upgrade to latest Sun software	Software upgrade		Capital
Purchase of new server hardware	Hardware upgrade		Capital
Development, Testing, Migration	Labor involved in migrating the existing service	____ hours	Labor
Training/migrating users to Sun calendar	Calendar training	____ hours	Labor

[edit] Feasibility

Solution	Feasibility Rating	Assessment Method
Install and configure new hardware and software	Moderate	Test new suite
Migrate end users	Moderate	Train on new calendar

[edit] Risks

Risk Description	Risk Likelihood	Risk Impact	Risk Mitigating Actions

[edit] Issues

Issue Description	Issue Priority	Action Required to Resolve Issue

[edit] Assumptions

• End users can continue to use Oracle calendar with new Sun Suite until ready to move to Sun calendar

[edit] Option 2 – Mirapoint Message Server

[edit] Description

We are currently using Mirapoint today as a virus and spam filter, and to route email messages to the Sun server. We could upgrade to the Mirapoint suite which includes integrated email, calendar, spam and virus filters, and routing. The latest hardware and software is energy and space efficient, and would replace our current clunky, energy inefficient boxes. The advantage of Mirapoint over the Sun server is the single mail machine, that would do filtering, routing, and provide calendaring with easy synching between mail and calendar. Today we pay for virus, spam, and routing (maintenance and licenses) and this contract continues for two more years.

[edit] Benefits

Benefit Category	Benefit Description	Benefit Value
Save space and energy costs	New HW smaller and energy efficient	Operating Expenses, Space
One appliance to do it all	One box versus multiple boxes
Interface with RIM BlackBerry and Palm Treo	NotifyLink (BlackBerry) and ChatterEmail (Palm)	Supports mobile email users

[edit] Costs

Expense Category	Expense Description	Expense Value	Expense Type
New Hardware/Software	First year expense		Capital
Yearly maintenance	After first year		Expense
NotifyLink seats

[edit] Feasibility

Solution	Feasibility Rating	Assessment Method

[edit] Risks

Risk Description	Risk Likelihood	Risk Impact	Risk Mitigating Actions

[edit] Issues

Issue Description	Issue Priority	Action Required to Resolve Issue

[edit] Assumptions

[edit] Option 3 – Google Apps

Move Students and Alumni to Google Apps; leave Faculty and Staff on Sun email and Oracle Calendar for 12-18 months, with option to migrate to Google Apps

[edit] Description

Google Apps for Education is a free bundle of communications services that include email, IM, calendar, and the ability to work on shared documents. Email addresses would remain the same (first.last@case.edu) but emails, rather than being stored locally, would be forwarded and stored on Google servers. Email addressed to Case users would pass through the Mirapoint spam and virus filters before being routed to Google. Similarly, outgoing mail would be routed through Google. There would be little change for those who want to continue using a POP3 or IMAP mailbox with an email program like Thunderbird or Outlook. The current Google Apps IMAP mailbox is well over 6 gb, 30 times larger than the existing limit of 200 mb at Case.

The ideal plan would be to move students and alumni to Google Apps in the fall of 2007, thereby freeing up storage space for larger mailboxes for faculty and staff. As Google develops additional features that would be attractive to faculty and researchers, we would encourage faculty and staff to make the move over the next 12 – 18 months.

There are two main concerns associated with moving to Google Apps: privacy and security of emails, and calendars. Although Google is very clear that emails are only scanned by machines looking for viruses and spam, Case users who are concerned about privacy will be able to encrypt their emails. Google also maintains backup servers in the event that the primary copies are lost or inaccessible. Emails are saved on backup servers up to six months after they are deleted. Here is the link to Google Apps Privacy Policies. There are separate privacy policies associated with each Google Service (Gmail, calendar). http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/users/privacy.html

[edit] Benefits

Benefit Category	Benefit Description	Benefit Value
Students moved off Case email server	Additional storage made available for faculty and staff	Many students are already forwarding email to other services
Training can be spread out over the year	Don’t need to force faculty and staff to GA immediately	Gives faculty and staff time to make the change
Human resources	Savings in human resources allocated to email service, calendar, and spam and virus filters	One Full Time Equivalent freed up once all faculty and staff moved off old equipment
Operating expenses	Maintenance and upgrade cost savings for email, calendar	Approximate $_______ a year.

[edit] Costs

Expense Category	Expense Description	Expense Value	Expense Type
Training	Training for faculty and staff would be required –rollout to departments throughout transition year	Training hours, classrooms, hands on help from Perceptis	Loss of productivity and man hours
End Users	Converting from POP3 or IMAP to Google Apps can be done using detailed documentation		Opportunity costs – training costs – “badwill” – angry at ITS if forcing them to change email account
Administrators	Closing out old service – transitioning to new
Documentation	Web documentation, blog documentation, Help Desk would need to be changed

[edit] Feasibility

Solution	Feasibility Rating	Assessment Method
Moving the students to Google	Easy to Moderate	Many students already use the web interface – would need to decide which should be the “start” page – Case Portal or Google Start
Moving the alumni to Google	Moderate	Need to work closely with Alumni and Development on assignment of user IDs and communications
Moving the faculty and staff to Google	Difficult	Approximately ¼ – ½ of faculty and staff would need one-on-one attention to make the switch, even with detailed user guides and training classes

[edit] Risks

Risk Description	Risk Likelihood	Risk Impact	Risk Mitigating Actions
Sun iPlanet doesn’t “live” long enough to move faculty and staff to GA	Moderate	Severe	Would need to re-assess the situation
Oracle Calendar doesn’t “live” long enough to move faculty and staff to GA	Moderate	Severe	Move Faculty and Staff to Google Calendar before moving email
Google Apps is not robust enough for faculty and staff	Moderate	Moderate	Hold off on moving until features and functionality are available
Faculty and staff concerned about emails stored off-campus or being scanned or lost by Google	Moderate	Severe	Discuss concerns with Google - publicize Google Privacy statements

[edit] Issues

Issue Description	Issue Priority	Action Required to Resolve Issue
Email, contacts and calendars stored with Google rather than under ITS control	High	Assurance from Google that information will not be compromised or sold to a third party. Emails will be scanned for viruses, but not content.
Will users of web browser see advertising – if so, who will control that?	Medium	Ability to turn off advertising for education accounts
Who is called if there is a service problem?	Medium	Google offers 24/7 support. Assume Case would also have a contract with Google.

[edit] Assumptions

This option assumes that Case is comfortable with the level of risk of continuing with the iPlanet Sun server and Oracle Calendar for faculty and staff, even though there will be little to no support and no software upgrades during the 12-18 month transition period.

We would continue to use Mirapoint to route the emails to Google. It’s possible that Mirapoint could also leave a copy locally for phone access to UM voice messages.

Arizona State University has already implemented Google Apps for their students without many problems. They were using two separate email systems, one for the students and one for faculty and staff. By offering Google Apps to their students, they were able to retire the old student email system. At this time, they do not have plans to move their faculty and staff to Google Apps.

Northwestern University (a similar R1 Private University) is currently in the 'opt in' stage. Unlike Case, note that they only gave students/faculty/staff 50 MB mailboxes, no calendar for students, limted webmail, no IM. They surveyed all the key stakeholders, with feedback that they thought it would be an improvment IF security, privacy, and policy concerns could be adequately addressed. They are moving forward with 'voluntary' use. Students are thrilled (imagine going from 50 MB to 2GB), university counsel is comfortable (what about e-discovery?). Those involved in 'sensitive' research are not going to use it- including med school and business school. see the presentation at [1]

[edit] Recommended Solution

[edit] Solution Rating

On a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is the best solution.

Assessment Criteria	Sun Suite Rating	Mirapoint Rating	Google Apps Rating
Ease of Transition for Students	5	4	4
Ease of Transition for Faculty/Staff	5	4	3
Ease of ITS to implement solution	4	3	3
Dollar amounts to purchase/maintain	2	1	1
Integration with other ITS components	4	4	4
Total Score	20	16	15

[edit] Recommended Solution

Identify the recommended solution for implementation, based on the highest Total Score achieved in the table above. List the key reasons why this solution has been chosen over the other solutions previously identified.

[edit] Implementation Approach

Describe the general approach to be taken to implement the recommended solution and derive the business benefits described in this document, by completing the following sections.

[edit] Project Initiation

Describe how the project will be defined, the team appointed and the Project Office established.

[edit] Project Planning

Document in detail the steps involved in planning the project, to ensure that the phases, activities and tasks are undertaken in a clear, coordinated fashion.

[edit] Project Execution

Identify the phases and activities required to build the physical deliverables for customer approval.

[edit] Project Closure

List the steps needed to transfer the deliverables to the business, close the Project Office, release staff, terminate supplier contracts and review the success of the project.

[edit] Project Management

Describe in brief how the following Project Management processes will be implemented: Time Management, Cost Management, Quality Management, Change Management, Risk Management, Issue Management, Procurement Management, Communications Management and Acceptance Management.

[edit] Appendix

[edit] Supporting Documentation

Attach any documentation you believe is relevant to the Business Case. For example:

• Business research materials
• Detailed financial spreadsheets
• Other relevant information or correspondence