Sydney Uni signs up to Microsoft Live@Edu

The University began rollout of Live@edu email to 46,000 students last week.

The decision to deploy the email solution was made with the university's student body because the old system offered limited email and online storage capabilities.

Its IT project management team tested and benchmarked a variety of options before choosing Microsoft.

Bruce Meikle CIO of Sydney's IT Department said the increased capabilities of the Microsoft solution made Live@edu an appropriate choice during competitive testing.

"The Live@edu service met all our internal IT requirements and offers functionality that the University's system could not compete with," he said.

"Our students now have the advantage of a greatly increased mailbox capacity as well as the option to have an email account for life.

"As well as these student benefits, the IT department now has an easy to manage and scalable email service that will help take the University into the future."

The Live@edu service will host student email accounts and benefits including increased mailbox capacity (10GB) and 20MB attachments, calendaring and contact management. 

Other features, but not part of the initial University of Sydney offering to its students, are: Windows Live Messenger instant messaging and file sharing; Windows Live Spaces for personal web publishing, blogging and photo sharing; and FolderShare, a private peer-to-peer network that allows users to synchronise files between multiple devices and share files with other student users. 

Neil Jackson, education director, Microsoft Australia said the University of Sydney is yet another educational institution in Australia who has tested and seen the benefits the Live@edu solution provides for its students and institution.

"Live@edu is a great example of how we are meeting our vision of providing Australian students with powerful educational tools and skills," he said.