Communication and CollaborationNext Steps and Town Hall Recap 2/22 11:30-12:30Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012What do we do now? The rubric created from prior town halls is available here. We appreciate any comments you have on the blog -- or join us one more time - next Wed 2/22 11:30 to 12:30 in LC 205. Please come to provide comments about how you see the offerings matching to the rubric. The Task Force will then be meeting from 1pm-3pm to begin organizing our suggestions to the Provost and President.
We are at the stage where we have gathered a huge amount of information and need to move to making a decision. Thank you for all your help.
Posted by Terri Griffith
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Wow. What great product sets these two companies have! It is interesting to see, though, how each company has targeted a different market segment. Google has a very simple product set that targets the casual user. Microsoft, on the other hand, has a very robust product set that can be used by the casual user and the power user alike. Below is a list of some of the pros and cons I see of each solution:
Google:
Pros-
- Simple interface
- Conversation/thread view of emails
- No extra software needed, just a web browser
- Great search capabilities
- Familiarity for most students and a number of staff and faculty
- IM client
- Ability to concurrently edit files
- Instantly receive new features when available
Cons-
- Very simple feature set (missing advanced functionality)
- Not HIPA compliant (would not be able to support Cowell Health Center)
- Internet connection is required
- Instantly receive new features and may see the look and feel suddenly change over night
Microsoft:
Pros-
- Advanced feature set
- Ability to concurrently edit files and lock the section(s) being edited
- Can easily work offline
- Ability to edit files or send emails either from a client or a web application and have a very similar experience
- Conversation/thread view of emails
- Great search capabilities
- Tremendous integration opportunities (such as with the Cisco IP phones)
- Amazing IM client that is also capable of desktop sharing, video, and phone calls
- Familiarity with the Office suite of products
- Stable scheduled release cycle
Cons-
- Clients are currently required for document editing (except for OneNote)
- Will not be as good of an experience on Linux
After looking at these pros and cons we can see that there really is a big difference between these two. For the work that I do as a staff employee, as an instructor, and as a student, I can easily say that Microsoft's offering will best fit my needs. Below is a role based view of these products:
Staff Employee:
I have a desperate need for a robust calendaring application. GroupWise has been great for this. Microsoft's solution will allow me to continue using the calendar as I have to schedule meetings (some recurring) and do a busy search. Microsoft also has a very easy way to take an email conversation and turn it into a meeting request.
For basic email, either product would work. Both provide 25 GB of storage and the ability to organize my mail either manually or by rules. Both products also seem to have great search capabilities (I was very pleasantly surprised to see how much Microsoft has improved). I do like Google's concept of labels for emails and the ability to attach multiple labels to a conversation, but this is not a must have.
For document editing I will always use a full client. There are advanced features I use in Word to create templates and forms that are simply not available with Google Docs. In my oh-so-humble opinion, Google Docs is simply multiplayer WordPad; for quick note taking it could be helpful, but never would I use it for a professional document.
Instructor:
As an instructor my needs are a bit different. We already have a robust LMS in Camino (Angel), so I do not need a new tool to manage my class or create documents (see above for document editing). Instead, I need some ways to communicate with my class. Email is a great way to keep in touch and send messages back and forth. But what about IM? When Microsoft first mentioned Lync Online, I assumed that this was just another IM client that I would ignore and instead continue using Yahoo! IM and Google Talk. But then I started to see the possibilities of this. Imagine having an IM client where you could quickly and easily contact anyone in the university. Imagine what this would do to the accessibility of professors! Currently we hold office hours and limit our students to a specific time frame that they can come to our office for help. What if professors could offer this same help and interaction virtually? With Lync, a professor can still have the traditional office hours but also be easily accessible outside of those times for those students who may have a conflict with the posted time. And with the Lync client it is possible to share desktops or have a virtual white board to aid in answering the student's question. This possibility has me really excited as a new way to connect with and assist my students.
Student:
As a student I am concerned about email, document storage, and collaboration on group projects. In the past I have used Google Groups to connect with the team members and to share files. We would use Google Docs to consolidate all of our work; then one person, usually me, would take that document and convert it into a Microsoft Word document. Once in Word I can then generate a table of contents and enforce consistent styles across the document (this helps give the document a cohesive feel). This final document is then shared around by email, edits are made, and then the final product is reviewed and printed. With SharePoint it looks like this process would be a lot easier. The document can start as a Word document with whatever template we want to use, which will then save the effort of reformatting later. We can also take advantage of Word's ability to manage sources and insert citations in whatever format is required (MLA, APA, etc.); this is a great time saving feature.
Lync also becomes a great tool to allow us to communicate remotely or have a virtual meeting. Most students have very busy schedules (especially at the master's level), so getting everyone physically together in a room can be difficult. With Lync, this is no longer a requirement. That said, in-person meetings are still my preference, but it is nice to have this option.
In summary, either product offering will work for SCU. Both have some nice features that will be useful. With Google's offering I will be looking for ways to work around its limitations. With Microsoft's offering I will have a whole new set of tools that I can use to make me more productive and to better connect with others in SCU. If it is affordable, I would love to see Microsoft's Office 365 implemented for SCU.