John - >From what I've seen, g-mail can be a wonderful solution for organizations of >all size. It seems to be extremely scalable, and can be integrated with >active directory and other Microsoft network management tools fairly easily. >I have personally recommended g-mail as a viable solution for various (usually >smaller) non-profit organizations, but have yet to seriously consider using it >for our own organization. Despite all the cost benefits and ease of >integration I have a bit of trouble allowing any of the Internet giants to >"own" our e-mail data, and have some (albeit minor) concerns about relying on >Google for consistent up-time and access.
Google has a fairly comprehensive and liberal privacy policy at this point, but if Facebook is any indicator, we need to remember that privacy policies and terms of use for organizational data mining can be changed at any time at the whim of the service provider. I remain a bit uncomfortable putting all my eggs in the "Google Basket", and trusting them with our organizational data. As long as we have the infrastructure and resources to maintain our own e-mail system I'll likely not look in the direction of Google for solutions, but can certainly understand the benefits of doing so for other institutions. When considering Google for service provision I think there has to be some more dialog around the current and future terms of use for organizational data and privacy. I'm wary of anything that is free. ; ) Privacy has become the new currency, and I recommend this Newsweek ed-op by Daniel Lyons that briefly echoes some of my concerns: http://www.newsweek.com/id/233773 "The genius of Google, Facebook, and others is that they've created services that are so useful or entertaining that people will give up some privacy in order to use them. Now the trick is to get people to give up more?in effect, to keep raising the price of the service." Good luck! : ) Marc Check Director of Technology, Strong National Museum of Play? Information Technology Manager, American Journal of Play Associate Director, International Center for the History of Electronic Games? One Manhattan Square Rochester, NY 14607 Direct Line: 585-410-6323 Fax: 585-263-2493 cell: 585-755-8622 Email: mcheck at museumofplay.org Website(s): www.museumofplay.org, www.americanjournalofplay.org, www.icheg.org
