A.Background
The University of Ghana is in the process of moving from Axigen to Office 365 for email and calendaring functions. The new platform, dubbed “ɔkasamafo”, consists of a new webmail platform (Office 365) which will be hosted locally on our network.
The name “ɔkasamafo” (pronounced ɔ-ka-sa-mafo) means "speaking on behalf of.” Email for communication, is technology working on behalf of humans, so putting the two together, this name best describes the new email platform.
Why the Move?
· The current email system (AXIGEN) is unable to keep up with modern collaboration activities which the University wants to embark on such as Unified communication and Real time Synchronization of Sent mails.
· In the university's quest to become a world class university, the university has made a decision to move to become a non-software piracy hub. To achieve this Microsoft's Office 365 platform was adopted to ensure staff and students use non pirated versions of office productivity suite.
· In terms of value for money and return on investments, the cost of using our current disparate systems were not the best choice.
B.Update on the Implementation of the ɔkasamafo Project
1) Standardisation of Email Account Naming Conventions.
The ɔkasamafo implementation kicked-off with the deployment of Microsoft Active Directory.
To ensure users have a better user experience, UGCS agreed on standard account naming conventions which ensure easy identification, standardization and compliance. Four (4) naming conventions were adopted. These are:
· First character of the first name & surname
· First character of the first name and middle name then lastname
· First two characters of the first name and lastname
· First three characters of the firstname and lastname.
2) Non-Conforming Account Names
Users whose current email addresses conform to the naming convention, will keep it their user names. Those whose do not conform will still keep their account names as secondary email address (an ‘alias’) but will be assigned an account name that conforms to our standards to use as their primaryemail address.
C.Benefits
· Office ProPlus *
· Skype for business *
· OneDrive *
· More Email storage space
· More secure email communication
· Unified Communication
D.Who is eligible for ɔkasamafo service? ɔkasamafo is available to:
· Staff
· Faculty
· Students
E.Requirements
a)Individual Staff Accounts
· You must be a UG Staff member to benefit from this service.
· Each individual must validate their Active Directory usernames and email address before they can be migrated to the new platform
b)Departments / Schools / College Accounts
· All Department, Schools or Colleges will manage and moderate their own group mails and accounts.
· The requesting Department, School or College Head should inform UGCS of the individual who is to manage the account in order to be given adequate training and access to their portal.
