Migrating to Google Apps for
Student Email
Kevin Macnaughton, Team Lead, IT Services
kevinm@uwindsor.ca
April 28, 2014
Agenda
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Background
Platform Selection
Migration and Communication Plans
Technical Details
Lessons Learned
Outcomes
April 28, 2014
Background
• UWindsor initiated a project to renew student
webmail options in fall of 2011.
– Student comments on the existing service were
generally unfavourable
– Vendor was changing interface
– Need to comply with standards, such as AODA
– New options were available, presenting an
opportunity to improve student experience
April 28, 2014
Background
• Existing service was in-house solution
– Single CommuniGate Pro server
– Customized skin used
– Used local SAN disk for storage
– Mailboxes limited to 100MB
April 28, 2014
Background
• Issues with current solution
– Mailbox limit (100MB)
– Interface was non-intuitive
– Message formatting often broken
– No support for accessible views
– SAN disk is expensive
April 28, 2014
Background
• Project structure and Governance
– Technical Team that reported to Student
Computing Committee for approval
– Student Computing Committee consisted of reps
from student bodies, ITS and other campus
representatives
April 28, 2014
Friends and Assists
• Worked with several Universities in Ontario
were migrating to or selecting Google Apps:
– McMaster, OCADU, WLU
• UAlberta gave extensive and invaluable
support based on their migration experience
• Lakehead broke the ice in Ontario
April 28, 2014
Platform Selection
• Decision factors
– Student experience/comfort
– Capabilities and features
– Cost (money and support)
– Compatibility with existing environment
April 28, 2014
Platform Selection
• Methodology
– Developed comprehensive evaluation matrix
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Technical features,
Privacy/management issues
Migration possibilities
Integration possibilities
– Matrix completed by Technical Team and vendors
– Interviewed existing education customers
April 28, 2014
April 28, 2014
Platform Selection
• Choices evaluated
– Upgraded CommuniGate Pro
– Microsoft Live@EDU
– Google Apps for Education
• Google Apps won based on student familiarity,
ease of use, cost, and integration possibilities
April 28, 2014
UWinGmail
• Services included in UWindsor Google Apps
– Gmail
– Google Calendar
– Google Talk
– Google Docs web-based tools
April 28, 2014
UWinGmail
• Key implementation details:
– Users retain @uwindsor.ca email address
– Will still use UWinID and password
– Migration will be Voluntary
• Contract protections:
– UWindsor maintains ownership of data/IP
– No data mining, profiling, or ads
April 28, 2014
UWinGmail
• Branding will be both UWindsor and Google
April 28, 2014
Migration Plan
• Three key elements to project
1. Communicating information around privacy
impact of cloud services
2. Addressing requirements for disclosure and user
acceptance
3. Implementing a phased migration approach
April 28, 2014
Migration Plan
• Data to be migrated and how:
– Email (inbox and folders)
• Automatic using IMAP
– Calendar and Contacts
• Manual using export to iCal, vCard
– Web pages
• Manual move to student web space on another server
April 28, 2014
Communication Plan
• Three messaging stages:
– Launch and privacy awareness
– Project updates
– Individual migration phase
• Multiple messages to each student
• Migration status page
April 28, 2014
Communication Plan
• Migration stage:
1. Invitation to Migrate
• Disclosure and AUP review
• Self-insertion into migration queue
2. UWinGmail Account Active
• Mail migration in progress
3. Migration Complete
• Review messages, migrate calendar + contacts
January 31, 2011
January 31, 2011
QUESTIONS?
January 31, 2011
Technical Details
• Key pieces:
– CommuniGate Pro server
– UWinGmail website and registration portal
– Migration control machine and workers
– Google Apps domain
January 31, 2011
Technical Details
• Google Apps domain setup:
– Email Migration API enabled
– @uwingmail.uwindsor.ca aliases for all accounts
– Accounts created by migration script
– Passwords populated by migration script
– IMAP, POP and Google Sync enabled
January 31, 2011
Technical Details
• Migration scripting architecture:
– Migration portal
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Show AUPs, record acceptance to db, add to queue
Provide migration status page
– Workers
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January 31, 2011
10 Windows VMs
Run GAMME tool (using Email Migration API)
Technical Details
• Migration scripting architecture:
– Migration control system
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January 31, 2011
runs scripts (Perl)
updates db, does logging
system is multiple queue-driven
cron schedules control queue checks
Technical Details
• Mail routing
– All accounts use @uwindsor.ca
• Still only one MX record for all mail
– Campus mail gateway routes to mail servers
• All mail systems believe they own @uwindsor.ca
• @webmail1.uwindsor.ca, @uwingmail.uwindsor.ca
April 28, 2014
Technical Details
• Mail routing
– UWinGmail routes every message to gateway
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April 28, 2014
including UWinGmail-to-UWinGmail messages
allows delivery management
provides central logging for non-repudiation
Technical Details
• Single Sign-On
– UWinGmail configured to use SSO
– Configured against campus CAS
• easiest to integrate
• does not provide true logout though
– Mobiles do not use CAS
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April 28, 2014
authenticate using pass stored in Google account
Lessons Learned
• Overcommunicate
– Students want to know details / progress
– Need to keep at top of inbox/mobile display
• Don’t communicate too much
– Receive too many messages from Uni
– Avoid long emails
April 28, 2014
Lessons Learned
• Deadlines work best
– more migrations from sticks than carrots
• Clarity is key
– temporary account locks caused many issues
April 28, 2014
Outcomes
• Started with 28000 accounts, 17M messages
• Active student migration took 3 months
• High adoption rate
• Migration failures around 1%
April 28, 2014
Outcomes
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Alumni account migration took 1 year
Slow migration, allowed long contact time
Way lower uptake
Extended to all Alumni
April 28, 2014
Outcomes
• Average mailbox size is already over 200MB
• Huge adoption of Google Docs
– over 12000 document creators
– over 28000 documents
• Google Drive has uptake too
– 430,000 files stored in Drive
April 28, 2014
Minor Hiccups
• Many students’ passwords did not meet
Google’s minimum complexity
• Delay between Google Apps account creation
and mail acceptance
April 28, 2014
Minor Hiccups
• Some students had mail directed to other
campus systems
• Automated messages caused issues
– due to not being properly structured
– one bad message would stop entire queue!
April 28, 2014
Q&A
April 28, 2014
April 28, 2014