One of the first 10 Google Apps for Enterprise partners worldwide and initial contributor to the Google Apps Open Source provisioning tool kit, SADA Systems, Inc. has developed an proven track record in successful implementations of Google Apps solutions for the higher education market. SADA works closely its clients to create custom, leading edge solutions that strategically meet their business and institutional objectives.
Located in Staten Island, New York, Wagner College has distinguished itself for over 100 years. Founded in 1883 as a Proseminary for Lutheran ministers, Wagner College has grown into a national leader in Liberal Arts education. Today over 2,000 students in over 30 academic programs and four graduate departments attend Wagner.
Challenges
When the project with Wagner College started, SADA worked closely with the client to develop a set of requirements. At the beginning, the client had not yet configured a Google Apps Education Edition account, so the first order of business was to assist with the configuration of their account and setting up Google Apps on their domain. In the discovery process for the project SADA and the client worked together to determine the following:
Located in Staten Island, New York, Wagner College has distinguished itself for over 100 years. Founded in 1883 as a Proseminary for Lutheran ministers, Wagner College has grown into a national leader in Liberal Arts education. Today over 2,000 students in over 30 academic programs and four graduate departments attend Wagner.
Challenges
When the project with Wagner College started, SADA worked closely with the client to develop a set of requirements. At the beginning, the client had not yet configured a Google Apps Education Edition account, so the first order of business was to assist with the configuration of their account and setting up Google Apps on their domain. In the discovery process for the project SADA and the client worked together to determine the following:
- The set up of the Google Apps account would require configuring it to work with a pre-existing domain.
- The client required a dual delivery configuration during the transition period.
- Project coordination required the creation of a Google Site to manage all details.
Solution
After developing a clear set of requirements, SADA worked in partnership with the client to ensure the smooth transition of their existing mail solution to Google Apps. Set up of the Google Apps Education Edition account was completed through SADA's Quickstart service.
- Migration of contacts made use of our custom contact migration tool.
- Email migration was handled through IMAP.
- Calendar information was migrated using Google Calendar Connectors.
- To ensure that no messages were missed, SADA enabled dual-delivery to Google Apps and Exchange.
Result
With SADA's assistance and the implementation of best-of-breed utilities for the deployment of Google Apps, Wagner College was able to smoothly and effectively implement Google Apps for their students and faculty. This implementation of Google Apps will allow Wagner College to gradually transition away from their Exchange mail system, while continuing to provide their users with email service.
"Today we concluded the migration to Google Apps, and I wanted to express my sincere gratitude for the hard work and late hours that your engineers put in. They went above and beyond the call of duty on this project. This was a huge deal for us and I always felt that we were in good hands. I know your team lost quite a few nights and a few weekends to get this done on our schedule and I admire the personal responsibility they took to meet our needs."
- Frank Cafasso, Network Operations, Wagner College
