Education Leadership Needs an IT Infrastructure That is Secure, Stable and Modern: Microsoft 365

Customer: Satbayev University

Industry: Public Education

Solution:
Setting up a new Microsoft365 platform-based infrastructure incl. Exchange Online; Skype for Business Online; deployment of Microsoft EM+S including Intune, ATP and Azure Information Protection

In pursuing the Digital Kazakhstan government program, the university decided to completely reorganize its IT infrastructure by replacing outdated software, services, and applications and setting up a new Microsoft 365 platform-based infrastructure, which should provide stable educational foundations. This provides ongoing opportunities for teachers and students to structure the teaching and learning process, as well as encourages creativity and teamwork.

Based on a thorough analysis and in-depth discussions, IT staff of Satbayev University decided to team up with SoftwareONE Kazakhstan, which met the price and quality expectations. An assessment was performed to determine the current state of the IT infrastructure, and prepared a system implementation plan. In the first step, the basic infrastructure had been prepared for the set up of Microsoft 365:

• Centralized Active Directory catalog was developed
• New Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 mail system was introduced; correspondence from the previous IBM Lotus/ Domino system was migrated
• Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) was introduced
• Windows 10 Education and Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus were deployed
• Basic infrastructure had been tested and debugged

In the second step the Microsoft Office 365 cloud tenant was set up incl.:

• Exchange Server 2016 mail system was integrated into Exchange Online and Skype for Business Server 2015 was integrated into Skype for Business Online

The hybrid configuration of these systems has reduced the load on the university data center and increased the mobility of system users. A crucial security issue was resolved using solutions and tools included in Office 365 and Microsoft Enterprise Mobility+ Security (EM+S), such as Intune, Azure Information Protection, as well as Azure Advanced Threat Protection and Analytics.

• Enhanced stability of the overall infrastructure
• IT staff can focus on developing the new IT infrastructure, rather than waste time supporting the existing systems
• Exchange Server and Exchange Online mail systems have proved to be extremely user-friendly.

Satbayev University sets the pace for all educational facilities in Kazakhstan and remains the leader both in the field of educational techniques and processes as well as the development of IT infrastructure as a key platform for teachers and students.