By: Courtney-Joy Breeden
That’s all the buzz. The campus is full of questions and concerns regarding Kean’s move from Google to Microsoft 365, so it’s time to get some answers.
The transition marks the start of what Kean calls “a new era“ and the campus body certainly feels it.
“Microsoft is … fine, it is difficult and complicated at times. Google is easy and simple,” said Isaiah Blue, a junior in music. “We’re used to Google and there’s nothing wrong, so why change it? It’s too much trouble to learn this new system.”
Kean Vice President of the Office of Information Technology CIO and CISO, Greg Bellotti, and the IT department have set aside time to answer some questions.
For a brief background, Kean started using Google when the company introduced free lifetime services in the early 2010s and is currently starting to charge for those services, Bellotti says.
“Several factors led to the decision to switch to Microsoft 365, the most important of which are sustainability and security,” says Bellotti.
As of 2024, Google and Microsoft appear to be similar in their current end-to-end encryption process and are both susceptible to email phishing attempts. While safety is part of the reason for the switch, it doesn’t appear to be a big factor.
At the beginning of July this year, Google announced that its greenhouse gas emissions had increased by 48 percent since 2019, in a sustainability report published by Microsoft in May, it is stated that the company’s emissions increased by 29 percent since 2020.
Apps like Slack, used mostly to communicate with colleagues and supervisors, had fallen victim to an activist group protesting Disney’s use of artificial intelligence, hacking the platform and leaking 1,000 gigabytes of Disney data to the public, prompting the company to migrate to Microsoft Teams.
“The Microsoft platform is a world-class solution that more than 70 percent of businesses use,” he added. “Having students use these tools helps prepare them for the workforce.”
Microsoft 365 had 345 million paid commercial seats in 2022 and is popular with enterprise customers, while Google Workspace had 9 million organizations paying for office software in 2023 and by October 2021 accumulated 3 billion users. Microsoft has a ways to go, but with big companies like Disney using its services, many others may follow suit.
So while the campus-wide transition to Microsoft 365 may annoy students and staff, Bellotti insists that everyone using one form of communication is beneficial, secure and innovative.
“There is fear of the unknown,” Bellotti said. “IT is working diligently to ease the transition and assure the Kean community that there are long-term benefits for individual users and the university.”
Still, students and faculty have questions.
“Does Microsoft offer the same capabilities as Google when it comes to artificial intelligence?” asked Rebecca Tilus, a sophomore education major at Kean.
Google introduced their AI chatbot, Gemini in December 2023 during the rise of other AI tools like Chatgpt created by OpenAI, another popular AI bot on campus, and Microsoft produced their own AI tool, Copilot within the same year.
According to Kean IT, full university-wide access to AI tools like Copilot and Chatgpt is not available through Microsoft at this time, but this transition allows our technologies to be integrated with AI assistance like Copilot in the future.
And the future is closer than we think. As the use of Microsoft 365 spreads across campus, so will the ability to access AI. Microsoft’s website states that colleges and universities with an academic license can access Copilot free of charge for faculty, staff and students over the age of 18.
Many faculty and students have also wondered what will happen to all the files they store on Google Drive once the switch is complete.
“Will we be able to keep some of our previous work that we’ve done on Google Docs? Would it carry over?” asked Kait Nemeth, a junior psychology major.
Unfortunately, no mass download and transfer of files on services like Google Docs or Slides is available through the migration, Google Workspace has had this feature available for years alone, users can just download the files one at a time as Word documents, Excel sheets or Powerpoints. Bellotti also tells us that the university is keeping Kean’s Google Workspace available at the free tier, allowing students and staff to continue using their given Kean emails to access Youtube, Canva, Dropbox and other Google services.
Kean IT is also working on converting all Google Drive files to Microsoft OneDrive files and advises Kean users to organize all Google Drive files to help this process go smoothly.
“Is there an alternative to Google chat?” asked Lauren C. Rodriguez, assistant executive director of Creative Initiatives of Liberty Hall Academic Center and The Galleries at Kean and Kean Alumna.
Yes, there are a few Microsoft alternatives to Google services. The counterpart to Google’s chat feature, commonly known as Google Meet, is Microsoft Teams. For other services like Google Drive the alternative would be Microsoft OneDrive and for Google Sites and Google Forms would be Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Forms. There are also options similar to Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Gmail, but these alternatives are widely known.
There are many more concerns about the transition, not all of which have been covered, but if readers have more questions, please go to Kean IT’s Helpdesk Support Portal to submit a ticket or call to speak to a staff member. Helpdesk phone support is available 24/7 and office hours are Monday through Thursday at 8:30 a.m. to
“There have been challenges, but we have a great team and great support available,” continued Bellotti.
Bellotti says Kean IT is available 24/7 for all concerns and major issues, including your questions about Microsoft 365. Most inquiries through the Helpdesk will be answered within a 24-hour window, office hours are preferred with a 15-minute wait minimum . The department is also working on an expanded support service that will be available to Kean users outside of business hours
Kean’s dedication to being an urban research university and the tools it uses to achieve even greater heights in the global research world should match, and Vice President Bellotti agrees. The technology we use must match our ambition. If schools are built to prepare students for real worldis it only fair to use the technology that successful companies like Disney use.
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