HISTORY

A major ice storm hit campus at the end of Thanksgiving break in November 2006. The storm froze the cooling system for our Network Operations Center, and the ensuing spike in temperature inside our server room damaged some critical components of the existing mail system.

The Oklahoma Daily covered the incident:

December 6, 2006 - Weather to Blame for Mail Outage

We quickly repaired the components, but this type of damage ages technology in a way that can effect overall performance and impact our ability to improve the existing mail service.

Our Project Team had begun researching mail systems almost a year prior to the storm in preparation for an eventual upgrade. In December 2006, however, we could clearly see that the long-term viability of the mail system had been affected by the storm.

We immediately formed a Student Mail System Project Team and began reviewing possible solutions to replace OU Mail.

This Project Team reviewed all possible solutions, including off campus mail services (like GMail, for instance). With input from faculty, staff, and students and consultation from IT experts at other Universities, the group finally settled on Microsoft Exchange due to its features, flexibility, and collaboration possibilities it offers students, faculty, and staff.