Office 365 Migration Plan & Details

Introduction

This page is intended to provide information about the migration plans for moving from Rogue Community College's current Exchange email and calendar services to Office 365. The Office 365 project is being coordinated by Michael McClure, please contact him at mmcclure@roguecc.edu with any questions related to the project.

RCC is working with a Microsoft Certified Partner to assist in the implementation. This decision was made after an exhaustive review of services offered by both Google Apps for Education and Microsoft 365 for Education, along with a review of the time and cost involved in upgrading Exchange in-house.
 

Current High Level Implementation Timeline

Information Technology has started the adoption project and a high level timeline is listed below:

2013:

• June 10 - June 14 - Select pilot users for Office 365 in "sandbox" environment (completed)
• June 17 - June 21 - Add pilot users to Office 365 Cloud Services sandbox (completed)
• June 24 - July 3 - Two-week pilot (completed)
• July 8 - July 11 - Analyze pilot results and feedback and make any needed changes (completed)
• August 26 - September 30 - Start testing Office 365 "live" environment (completed)
• Oct 1 - Dec 31 - Troubleshoooting of Active Directory integration between Staff and Student e-mail domains (completed)

2014:

• Jan 1 - Feb 15 - Continued troubleshoooting of Active Directory integration between Staff and Student e-mail domains (completed)
• Feb 18 - First Pilot User migrated to live Office 365 environment for testing (completed)
• Feb 21 - Pilot Group migrated to Office 365 for testing (completed)
• Feb 24 - First department migrated to Office 365 (completed)
• March 17 - TBD - Hands-on training offered at all campus locations
• May 9 - Faculty and Staff training workshops offered at Spring Inservice
• May 31 - Decommission old Email server

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q:  Will I still be able to use Outlook on my desktop?

A:  Yes, as long as you are running Outlook/Office 2007 or newer (2010 or 2013 preferred).  However, there will be more features available to you if you use the Web Client.

 

Q:  Will my username or e-mail address change?

A:  No.  However, when using the portal you will need to use your e-mail address as your username.

 

Q:  Will I lose access to my mailbox while my account is being migrated to the 365 cloud?

A:  No, you will not lose access during the upload process.  There will be issues accessing shared calendars and possible glitches with sending out/accepting calendar requests while your mailbox is being migrated.

 

Q:  Will I have to use Internet Explorer as my browser to access Microsoft 365 resources?

A:  No, you can use any browser to access Microsoft 365 resources.  However, Internet Explorer does allow for "single sign-on" which will keep you from having to enter your login information when you browse from a campus location.  All other browsers, along with IE off campus will require you to enter your network credentials.

 

Q:  Will Outlook web access work differently for people using older Microsoft operating systems or non-Microsoft operating systems and/or browsers other than Internet Explorer?

A:  According to Microsoft, the complete set of features available in Outlook Web App will be available in the following browsers:

• On a computer running Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 Internet Explorer 7 and later versions, Firefox 3.0.1 and later versions, or Chrome 3.0.195.27 and later versions.
• On a computer running Mac OS X 10.5 and later versions, you can use Safari 3.1 and later versions or Firefox 3.0.1 and later versions.
• On a computer running Linux, you can use Firefox 3.0.1 and later versions.
• If you use a Web browser that doesn't support the full feature set, Outlook Web App will open in the light version.

 NOTE: During the transition users whose mailboxes are still on our local server will continue to use https://owa.roguecc.edu/ and your standard username.  Once your account moves to the cloud you will need to log onto https://portal.microsoftonline.com/ and log on with your e-mail address as your username.  Once everyone has been migrated the https://owa.roguecc.edu/ URL will transfer you to the portal.

Q:  Will I still be able to access/manage shared calendars?

A:  Delegate permissions will migrate, but will require that users with delegation be migrated together. IT - Network Services is collecting information on this from server settings prior to the migration, but feel free to contact the IT Help Desk if you are concerned about this and want to notify us about your needs.  There may be some cases where calendar permissions need to be reset for users.

Q:  I have noticed that the Global Address List (GAL) either now shows student accounts mixed in with staff or shows staff but does not show groups.  Why is that?

A:  As we migrate to the cloud we are re-combining student and staff accounts into the same space.  During this process we are working out the separation of the user and group lists.  We hope to have the fine tuning completed in the very soon.

 

Q:  I check my mail using my iPhone/iPad. Will that work with the new system?

A:  Yes, but you may have to enter some new server information for the device to find your mailbox in its new location. The new server name is "outlook.office365.com" and your new username will be your e-mail address.  In some cases a new profile may need to be created on your device.

 

Additional Resources

Office 365: A tour for users

 

Live@edu to Office 365 for education FAQ (good reference for Faculty answering Student questions)