Contra Costa Community College District wanted to improve computing resources for learning and increase staff productivity. It subscribed to Microsoft Live@edu in order to create a more connected learning environment, streamline administrative processes, simplify password and identity management, and collaborate on a US$13 million infrastructure project, while saving $400,000 in hardware.

Business Needs
The Contra Costa Community College District (CCCCD) provides accessible and innovative higher education learning opportunities. The district’s 45 IT staff members provide the computing resources and IT services to support this mission. However, recent economic challenges have made it more difficult for CCCCD to offer competitive services to students and staff. “A rising unemployment rate means more students are updating their education,” says Mojdeh Mehdizadeh, Vice Chancellor of Education and Technology at CCCCD. “With more students and less funding, we wanted to reduce costs while maintaining our high standards of education.”

CCCCD did not provide an email service for students; instead it kept a list of students’ personal email addresses. Students changed their addresses frequently, compromising faculty/student communications and forcing the district to mail college information to students. Faculty and staff used the Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 email messaging and collaboration solution, but employees complained about the small inbox size. “Our on-premises email solution consumed a lot of IT resources,” says Katherine Ogden, Network Technology Manager at CCCCD.

CCCCD had a portal solution based on Microsoft SharePoint technologies. Students used the portal to manage their accounts and to communicate with faculty and classmates. “Even so, students told us they wanted student email provided by the college,” says Mehdizadeh.

To save money and boost productivity, CCCCD wanted to streamline administrative processes, such as booking meeting rooms and updating distribution lists. The IT department planned to update its Active Directory Domain Services directory to simplify districtwide password and identity management. “We needed robust online collaboration capabilities for staff to manage a [US]$13 million infrastructure project,” says Mehdizadeh.

Solution
Contra Costa Community College District turned to Microsoft technologies to solve these challenges. It subscribed to the Microsoft Live@edu cloud service and deployed Microsoft Forefront Identity Manager 2010, a comprehensive solution to manage user credentials and identity-based access to IT services.

Live@edu email is just the beginning: between Windows Live SkyDrive and Office Web Apps, that’s where the real value is and that’s something that no one else but Microsoft can deliver. Mojdeh Mehdizadeh Vice Chancellor of Education and Technology, Contra Costa Community College District

Live@edu includes Microsoft Outlook Live web-based email built on Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, which provides 10 gigabytes (GB) of storage and provides capabilities such as Dynamic Distribution Groups, which are mail-enabled Active Directory group objects that expedite bulk email delivery, and the Resource Booking Attendant feature to automate room and equipment booking when setting up meetings. Live@edu includes Microsoft Office Web Apps for students to view, create, and edit documents online; and Windows Live SkyDrive storage technology, which provides 25 GB of online storage per user. “Having a cloud-based service like Live@edu means that we can provide student email at essentially no cost,” says Mehdizadeh. “Students can store their work on Windows Live SkyDrive and staff members can use it to collaborate on the infrastructure project and other collaborative efforts. Faculty liked the Office products because they could insist on a standard format for assignments.”

“We created 130,000 Live@edu accounts in March 2011 and integrated the solution into the portal,” adds Ogden. “We like the solution so much that we are migrating the faculty and staff to Live@edu, adding another 5,000 accounts by July 1, 2012.”

Benefits
Since deploying its Microsoft solution, CCCCD has reduced IT costs, streamlined school administrative processes, improved project and information management, and delivered better learning tools.

Reduced IT Costs
CCCCD is saving money now that the IT department doesn’t have to maintain a physical infrastructure. “Our email administrator retired, but now we don’t have to fill his position, which reduces annual labor costs by $110,000,” says Mehdizadeh. “We’ll be saving approximately $400,000 in IT costs.”

Streamlined Administration, Projects
With Live@edu, CCCCD can use resource booking for conference rooms and equipment. “The bookings could take 10 minutes each: now that all the resources show up in Live@edu, it can be done with a few key strokes.”

The Facilities and IT departments are using Windows Live SkyDrive to collaborate on a $13 million infrastructure project. “We can store CAD files in the cloud with plenty of room to spare,” says Ogden. “We use Microsoft OneNote Web App to keep the meeting minutes and we can share everything with external consultants.”

Simplified Identity Management
CCCCD is using Live@edu to simplify faculty, staff, and student information. IT staff members use Dynamic Distribution Groups for departmental or committee distribution lists. “Now as people join or leave, changes will show up everywhere and we won’t have outdated lists,” says Ogden. “We were constantly updating and managing lists as new employees came on board. This process is now automated and simplified.”

Delivered Better Learning Tools
With Live@edu, all students have easy access to email and collaboration services anytime they are connected to the Internet. Using Office Web Apps, students experience tools that they will use at work. Faculty can insist that assignments are delivered online in a standard Word format to make marking easier.

“From faculty, the resounding response was ‘Better collaboration with students is going to really help my teaching’,” says Mehdizadeh. “Live@edu email is just the beginning: between Windows Live SkyDrive and Office Web Apps, that’s where the real value is and that’s something that no one else but Microsoft can deliver.“

For more information about other Microsoft customer successes, please visit:
www.microsoft.com/casestudies