Online Mail, Calendars and folders

[Jodesi]

Hi All,

 

I've been asked to look into this for the school and could do with a bit of help.

 

We will need online mail, shared calendars and possibly Microsoft Office applications with some storage space. We will also need to migrate our existing emails if possible.

 

We are part of the YHGFL network and I keep getting mixed messages about what we can and can't do.

 

A few questions I could do with advice on...

 

 

Do we have to use the .sch address or can we use our own domain name?

Do we have to use the YHGFL mail settings? (Go through their servers)

Can it be migrated or do you recommend starting new?

Which online service to use and where to start?

Preferably a single sign on.

About 100 users to start (All Staff)

The staff have said they'd like Microsoft Office if possible

 

 

I don't mind spending money on this but with so much to go at now it's turning into a minefield to work out which one is best for us. This has landed on my desk as others have failed to find a solution apart from one company quoting us nearly 40k to set it up. Yes, that's £40,000! I'm not expecting this to be free but those numbers don't add up for me.

 

Thanks for any help you can give.

[witch]

Sounds like Office 365 would be the thing you need. I migrated ours from Easymail - it wasn't easy but I did it. With loads of help from people on here, particularly @plexer We did stay with the SWGfL mail settings. You can integrate it with AD for single sign on.

 

In one school I migrated all existing emails and it was a PITA. In the other the head decided to only migrate the really important accounts and everyone else had to sort themselves out and get new accounts.

You don't have to keep the .sch domain name although we did.

There are lots of Office 365 threads on here!

We use the sites, Calendars and One Drive all the time

There are companies that do it for you but not for that much!

[Jodesi]

Thanks witch,

 

I was thinking of 365 as it seems to tick a lot, if not all the boxes.

 

Would I need hardware in house for this or is it totally cloud based? You mention it being AD integrated and we don't use exchange. I did forget to mention that this will need to be used at home as well as work.

 

And yes, The £40k price was a shock to me too. The person involved thought it was "reasonable" obviously our definitions of that word aren't the same.

[steveg]

365 is cloud based so no hardware in house. If you want it AD integrated, the best solution would be to use directory sync, which you would set up on a separate server (virtual server is fine) in house. This would provide same sign on - users would need to login to email again, but it would be the same username and password they use on the school network.

 

The other option is to use adfs authentication, although I feel this may be more complicated than you need, and you can always change to this in the future.

 

Steve

[Wubbalubbadub]

I did our office 365 migration myself. However I used this company to help built my cluster.

 

They do Office 365 migrations / set-ups.

 

ACS | Proactive IT Solutions, Office Furniture, Cloud Services & Recruitment

 

Very good and recommend them!

Edited April 20, 2015 by Wubbalubbadub

[Jodesi]

Thanks very much everyone.

 

I'll start on the 365 route. I see they do a free one for education and a paid one. It's not overly expensive for the paid so I'll have a good read on the differences.

 

steveg, is there any reason for directory sync to have it's own server? I don't mind building a VM/Server for it... just curious.

 

MJTayloronline, Any problems I should look out for? It's all a bit new to me so any pointers appreciated. And if need be I'll phone the company you mention for a price.

[Wubbalubbadub]

Thanks very much everyone.

 

I'll start on the 365 route. I see they do a free one for education and a paid one. It's not overly expensive for the paid so I'll have a good read on the differences.

 

steveg, is there any reason for directory sync to have it's own server? I don't mind building a VM/Server for it... just curious.

 

MJTayloronline, Any problems I should look out for? It's all a bit new to me so any pointers appreciated. And if need be I'll phone the company you mention for a price.

 

Not that I can think of the top of my head. Slow and steady wins on this one..

 

If you had an on-site exchange it would be allot less hassle (I did)

 

However if not then you will likely need to download everyone's mailbox then change there mail settings to office 365 and then import them back into outlook to upload the mailbox.

 

I would recommend you look up on ADSI.

[witch]

@speckytecky used someone to help him migrate as well and he seems happy

[JB7]

+1 for office365

[speckytecky]

Thanks @witch yes after much help from fellow Edugeekers I was a total failure in achieving migration on my own so got hold of the excellent Andy Ratcliffe at C.P.Ltd Tel: 01536316878 working with Andy I did the grunting and he did the planning and thinking plus those essential tweaks that actually ensure that O365 works correctly. We now have a running support contract which I'd also recommend.

 

@speckytecky used someone to help him migrate as well and he seems happy

[Jodesi]

Haha, love your honesty speckytecky.

 

Thanks for the number. I'm going to have a look into me doing it and price up outside doing it.

[steveg]

You can have directory sync on the same server, it's just best practice to have it on its own, it's touched on briefly here Installing DirSync on a Domain Controller :: Exchange Online :: Microsoft Office 365 :: Exchange Server Tips & Tricks :: KBase Tips :: MSExchange.org

 

Steve

[Jodesi]

Thanks Steve.

 

I was just planning a low use file server with no DC functions so it might be happy on there. I'll have a good read at the links you provided and see what potential problems it may cause.