I was just at an ADUC meeting in which Tom Davis spoke on this very issue a few days ago.  It was fascinating how strongly the non-IT staff insisted that nothing be changed regarding MSU’s email offerings.  “Absolutely no change” was the mandate.  I feel for ATS.  They’ve got half the population demanding better services, and the other half insisting on zero change.

 

The breadth of Google’s offerings is very compelling, and growing all the time.  MSU will not be able to keep pace with those offerings. Yet, we have no control over the service. Google may change anything at any time without consulting us.

 

Example:  A faculty’s account password is compromised.  The account is required for that faculty to access email, shared project documents, and to attend meetings.  Spammers use the account to distribute thousands of spam.  Google rightly disables the account.  What process does this faculty have to recover the account?

 

As time goes on the chasm between service offerings will increase. I see no solution at this point, but the pressure will continue to increase with time.