Status of the transition to the new shared email and calendar system
All employees at AU are currently being moved to a new shared email and calendar system. This is a complex task which requires a lot of planning and coordination. Secure operation is a priority to AU IT, and we are scheduling the transfers at a pace which ensures that all employees will be able to get the necessary support.
How far have we gotten?
AU employees have since the beginning of March been moved to the shared email and calendar system continuously. After getting off to a terrific start, where AU IT kept increasing the speed of the transfers, towards the end of May, the project ran in to some technical difficulties, which meant that some moves had to be cancelled. The technical difficulties have now been resolved and the moves are in progress once again. As of June 25, 5042 employees have been moved. AU IT expects that the majority of employees will have been transferred to the new system before the end of June.
Time table after the summer holidays
Between week 27 and 31, the project will be on holiday as it is limited how many employees will be at AU within this period of time. AU IT will start moving mailboxes again in week 32 and onwards. At this time, employees at the former DJF, the clinical sector at Health, and a number of institutes at the former NAT will be among those who will be transferred to the shared email and calendar system.
A more detailed time schedule will be published in week 26 at www.au.dk/en/newemail under the ‘Timetable’ tab.
General satisfaction
Generally, the employees who have been moved to the new system are satisfied with the process and say that the transfer has been fairly painless.
“For me, there were no problems at all in connection with the migration. This might have had something to do with the fact that my computer was updated at the same time, so I was only partly responsible for the set up of the new system. But it was easy to set up on my mobile phone and iPad.”
Carsten Bergenholtz, Assistant Professor at Institute of Marketing and Organization, BSS
“In connection with the transfer to the new email system, an IT supporter was supposed to come by my office. But as I wasn’t in on that day, I just did it myself. I followed the manual on how to delete my current Outlook profile and create a new one. I was able to do this without any trouble and it was very easy so I am completely satisfied with the written instructions and the process.”
Tine Bagger Christiansen, Communications Officer, AU Communications, BSS
However, some employees are experiencing challenges in connection with the transfer of their mailbox, such as the lack of resources (meeting rooms, for example) in their Outlook calendar and trouble sending and receiving emails. Should you experience any problems at all, please contact IT support at your main academic area. The problems primarily occur because some employees have already been transferred and others haven’t. Once all members of staff have been moved, these problems should disappear.
Remember to read email from AU IT
All employees will receive an email from AU IT, email and calendar project with important information approximately one week before their mailbox is moved. It is a lot of work to transfer a mailbox from one system to another, and the individual employee must also make a number of adjustments in order to start using the new email and calendar system – such as creating an Outlook profile and setting up a new email signature. AU IT describes exactly what to do in the email that is sent out before the move.
New email addresses
All employees will eventually get a new email address, but as such that does not have anything to do with the new email and calendar system. AU is experiencing a challenge with the lack of knowledge about where in the organization, the individual employee is located, which affects the generation of new email addresses. Therefore, it is necessary to clean up and establish an administrative procedure for the registration of where the individual belongs. Only then can we create the new email addresses and avoid that they turn out wrong and misleading. This procedure has not yet been established.
Want to know more?
- At www.au.dk/en/newemail, you can read more about the new system and find manuals for Outlook.
- AU IT is offering Outlook courses. Find more information about the courses here.
- If you need help, you are always welcome to contact IT Support of your main academic area.