Simple identity management
Easy control of ongoing student changeover
SoftwareOne case study
Digital transformation in education: Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences opts for M365
Reshaping the future of learning with M365
Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences is the largest and most influential university of applied sciences in Lower Saxony. The university was challenged to provide its staff and students with the most modern working environment, providing every aspect of communication and collaboration, in one integrated platform, from file sharing, to email, calendaring, security, and compliance. With its Microsoft CAMPUS Agreement, the university preferred cloud products from M365. It aimed to minimize local on-premises IT infrastructure and move as much as possible to the cloud.
However, as an educational institution, the university was also subject to special data and security requirements to be considered before implementing M365. Independently approaching the migration would have involved a considerable time commitment. Instead, the university engaged SoftwareOne as a vital partner to provide comprehensive project support. In addition to the technical implementation, SoftwareOne considered specific education sector requirements for data protection and security to ensure the seamless integration of the M365 solutions.
Standardised communication platform
All University employees and students use the same integrated system
Scalability
IT infrastructure can respond flexibly as requirements change
- Client
- University of Applied Science Osnabrück
- Industry
- Education, Public sector
- Platform
- Microsoft Azure
- Services
- M365 migration
- Country
- Germany
Early recognition and removal of stumbling blocks
Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences decided to replace its outdated on-premises IT environment with modern cloud solutions. Its objective was to optimize the benefits of a cloud solution to offer staff, lecturers, and students a modern learning and working environment.
Preparing for the migration, the university conducted an extensive and detailed analysis of its IT infrastructure to determine specific requirements. In addition to governance, security, and data protection, it studied requirements for separating lecturers and students on the tenant end devices. In particular, smooth administration of the many different user identities proved to be challenging. The need was to correctly map many constantly changing users (students) while always complying with data protection guidelines.
Preparing for the migration, the university conducted an extensive and detailed analysis of its IT infrastructure to determine specific requirements. In addition to governance, security, and data protection, it studied requirements for separating lecturers and students on the tenant end devices. In particular, smooth administration of the many different user identities proved to be challenging. The need was to correctly map many constantly changing users (students) while always complying with data protection guidelines.
When discussing a possible move to the cloud, we didn't have a model in mind. We didn't know of any other university already officially using M365. The decision-making phase was, therefore, complex. Numerous pros and cons were weighed, and ultimately, the advantages of cost savings and IT infrastructure simplification prevailed.
Head of Application Development at University of Applied Sciences Osnabrueck
The thorough IT infrastructure examination resulted in a recommendation document for the university's decision-making body and helped ensure a smooth migration to M365's cloud solutions.
Data protection and cloud security; critical components for the education sector
Using a previous advisory, SoftwareOne quickly started project planning and addressed multiple workloads in parallel. The project team made rapid progress to allow the university's first pilot groups access to Microsoft Teams as a collaboration tool.
With tools like Teams or SharePoint, M365 promotes collaboration between teachers and students in projects. It significantly simplifies innovative, collaborative forms of teaching at our university.
Head of the eLearning Competence Centre at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences
The team implemented a comprehensive security concept accompanied by a thorough compliance check including identity and access management. These capabilities enable many groups to work together in different constellations every semester. As graduates leave at the end of each semester, many new students arrive and need to be integrated into the IT system. The high turnover demands efficient and uncomplicated user administration. NetIQ's Identity Manager, already in use, ensures seamless integration with M365. It brings together user groups from different working environments and automates user assignment and password management across the entire lifecycle of an end user.
Implementing a multi-level authentication process outside the M365 environment ensures a high standard of data protection at all times. These measures enable the secure handling of sensitive information and contribute to effective access control. The university can exactly define which user is authorized to access which resources under which conditions, ensuring additional security and data protection.
Head of Basic Technology & Project Manager during the M365 migration at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences
Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences has successfully switched from its on-premises solution to Exchange Online to utilize the advantages of cloud-based communications solutions.
The cloud products enable flexible access to teaching materials, emails and work documents from any location, thus increasing learning and working flexibility for everyone involved.
Head of the eLearning Competence Centre at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences
The migration of individual mailboxes and removal of the on-premises Exchange server were completed within a few days. The university benefited from the extensive experience of the SoftwareOne consultants, who executed rapid systems implementation while minimizing downtime in day-to-day operations, allowing the university to deploy the new cloud solutions quickly and efficiently.
Communication regarding the new IT solution took place via the university service portal. Comprehensive information on all technical systems was provided in a wiki containing tutorial videos from Microsoft. General announcements and information on the migration project could be accessed via the university's internal intranet. Together, these resources enabled all university user groups to familiarize themselves with the tools and functions of M365 and helped them effectively use the new technology.
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We are extremely satisfied with SoftwareOne’s professional collaboration and the rapid results. We are already discussing further projects to optimize the document management system’s use and to seamlessly integrate Teams telephony into our university processes.
Head of Basic Technology & Project Manager during the M365 migration at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences
Innovative teaching and collaboration
After switching to M365 cloud products, Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences can look forward to a wide range of benefits for all employees and students:
- Simplified administration: M365 provides powerful tools to manage user accounts, authorizations, and devices. Managing identities is easier and more efficient.
- Security and data protection: M365 offers data encryption and compliance tools to ensure adherence to education sector data protection guidelines and regulations. In addition, NetIQ's Identity Manager ensures secure identity and access management across all university areas.
- Scalability: Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences is often subject to large fluctuations in the number of new students and graduates. Using M365, the IT infrastructure can be quickly and flexibly adapted to these fluctuations.
- Cloud-based services: M365 offers cloud services that enable students and staff to access teaching materials and applications from different end devices and locations, providing increased flexibility and mobility.
- Technological progress and innovation: M365 continuously develops and expands with new functions. The university benefits from the latest technologies and innovations in digital collaboration.
- Integration and compatibility: M365 integrates various applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. This facilitates the exchange of information and collaboration between employees and students.
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