The K-12 Edtech marketplace is soaring right now with an influx of new solutions taking advantage of increased access and mobile devices in all schools. The majority of these tools are very powerful resources developed to support teaching and learning. Over the past five years the number of CPS approved and supported online resources has increased dramatically. In addition a number of core systems have been upgraded. This rate of adoption and change can be stressful and there appears to be no slow down in the rapid rate of technological change.
This leaves us all with the ongoing of need to expect and manage change. Here in ICTS we recognize that change can be stressful. We continually and proactively balance innovation, functionality, privacy, security, and the overall rate of change when adopting new technologies. The last major core district system upgrade was our move to ASPEN. CPS is now again poised to upgrade a major district wide system that will affect all users; email.
Based upon our research of available options and the recent district wide survey, Gmail will be the new selected platform for CPS email. Even though CPS already utilizes GSuite for Education, there are still a large number of details to work through prior to a full migration to Gmail. These include replicating district wide mail lists and the large number of collaboration conferences in FirstClass as well as ensuring privacy and security of staff email on all mobile devices. In addition, the design and delivery of training and support throughout the transition process is a priority for ICTS.
The planning process for moving from FirstClass to Gmail has begun. We are currently targeting the summer of 2017 to complete the transition. You will all be hearing much more about this transition over the next 6 months. Even though there appears to be overwhelming support for our transition away from FirstClass to Gmail, we also understand that any change, let alone a core system such as email, may be stressful. Our goal in ICTS is to make this transition as seamless and stress free as possible!
Steve Smith