News
Zimbra replacing Webmail, calendar and mobile syncing
In an effort to better meet the needs of the campus community, ITS has done extensive research and evaluation to select a system that provides modern e-mail, calendar and synching capabilities. Zimbra’s open source collaboration suite offers an integrated Web and desktop solution that has become the accepted standard at many universities. It provides a consistent platform for the diverse computer environments typically found on college campuses. Michigan State University, Eastern Michigan University, Michigan Technological University, Stanford and many other schools have switched to Zimbra.
Over the next several months, UM-Dearborn will begin testing and migrating to the new system. As a first step, a pilot group of technical staff has switched to Zimbra for their e-mail and calendaring. They will provide valuable feedback as plans are finalized to transition departments across campus. In March, ITS will begin working to test integration of Zimbra with hand-held devices. Training will be offered throughout the spring, and will be scheduled to coincide with each area’s move to Zimbra. What benefits does Zimbra offer? With Zimbra’s Web application, users will be able to use any Internet browser to manage e-mail, addresses, calendar and tasks. Users can customize the look and functionality by selecting themes, views and options. The native Zimbra experience can provide an Outlook-type environment that many people are familiar with and supports a wide range of desktop e-mail clients, including Thunderbird and Apple Mail. One of the most important considerations when selecting this system was the growing need to synch mail and calendars with hand-held devices. Zimbra supports virtually all mobile devices, such as Blackberry, iPhone, Palm and a wide variety of smart phones. With a relatively simple setup, users will be able to use their mobile devices to access University e-mail and calendars. Zimbra’s collaborative calendar features also will expand the availability of calendaring to everyone on campus while eliminating current costs required for Oracle licensing. While Zimbra will initially be launched at UM-Dearborn as a consolidation and replacement of Webmail and Oracle calendaring, it provides a rich platform with advanced features (instant messaging, document sharing and Zimlets) that can be deployed in the future.
More information and Zimbra demos can be found at http://www.zimbra.com/products/demos.html. If users have a mobile device that they plan to synch with University systems, please contact the ITS Help Desk at 593-4357 or helpdesk(at)umd.umich.edu.