A LOOK FOWARD: THE FUTURE OF OU’S E-MAIL ARCHITECTURE

Published Apr. 12, 2007 in "The Oklahoma Daily"
Viewable Online Here

NOTE: This is a follow-up to the column below

You may remember reading of my less-than-wonderful experiences with and resulting mediocre opinion of the current OU mail system.

Since then, the good folks of OU Information Technology offices have contacted me, discussed the issues facing the current mail system and have presented potential future systems.

My opinion of the current system is still the same as before, but I am optimistic about the improvements that loom on our campus’ digital horizon.

My enthusiasm stems largely from a test-drive of the new system OU IT is hoping to implement for all students. Believe me, it is a vast improvement. At its core is the Microsoft Exchange system, which will replace the current Java-based system.

The Exchange system works on a protocol called IMAP, which essentially provides an “always-on” connection to the OU mail server.

The current POP protocol does not provide this “live e-mail” feature. Exchange uses the latest web version of Microsoft Outlook as its e-mail client. The exact technical aspects require much specialized jargon to properly explain, which will not be done here.

“There are many technical differences,” says OU IT specialist Ashish Pai, “but more important is how those differences translate to improved functionality.” In this arena, the new system blows the current one away.

To begin, the new Outlook system simply looks better than the current one.

The industrial, blocky appearance of the current system pales in comparison to the modern, streamlined and colorful interface of the new system.

Users of newer versions of Outlook or other third-party e-mail software will find the interface familiar.

The new system works a lot better, too. The improvements include being able to see all mail folders at the same time, even when reading messages individually.

Furthermore, messages can be organized and searched for much more efficiently.

There are also an integrated address book and calendar. Both are presented well. An added advantage of the calendar is that it can be made public, should the user decide to do so. This allows everyone else to view said calendar, make appointments and set up meetings, all through the Exchange system. That holds particular promise for student employees, such as teaching assistants.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the junk mail filter is much more effective. Instead of simply having two settings (“on” and “off”), the new Outlook filter can be further fine-tuned to individual users’ requirements. This alone would almost make the new system worth making the switch to.

And when might students be making that switch?

“Our goal is to have the new student e-mail system in place before the 2007 Fall semester starts,” said OU IT administrator Nicholas Key. Actually, starting later this month, student mail users would have a chance to start using the new system.

The only catch to this is that students’ old messages would not transfer over. Their new inboxes would, in effect, be a blank slate.

Transferring the old messages from the current mail system to the new mail system is projected to be the biggest hurdle to fully implementing the switch. It follows that the more messages there are to transfer, the more time this will take. Regardless, the switch to the new system can be done.

And it should be done, particularly when all these improvements will come with absolutely no increase in fees of any kind. The switch to the new system has been in planning stages, and its implementation has been factored into current fee schemes.

There is only one possibility for a fee increase. That is if the decision is made to upgrade the future student mail system from the light version to the full version currently used by faculty and staff. All the improvements described thus far are fully available in the light version; the full version, however, is even more capable.

Right now, IT has only faculty and staff licenses for the full version.

Since every user who would use the full version needs to have a license purchased, implementing the full version for all students means buying about 30,000 licenses. However, since the light version contains virtually everything most students would need, it seems unnecessary to spend so much on buying licenses.

Down the road, after the student mail system has been implemented, IT foresees integrating the student and faculty/staff systems, or at least bringing them closer together. Regardless of whether this happens, implementation of the new student mail system alone will be a great accomplishment that will likely alleviate the concerns and problems faced by so many in using the current system.

As much as many students complain about the current system, it should be noted that OU IT is working actively to solve its problems.

It is, in fact, coming very close to implementing a working solution, and it’s only a matter of time before many of the woes of the current mail system are gone forever.