university’s Microsoft Office upgrade coming
Microsoft released their newest version of Office–Office 2019–this past September. Plans to upgrade all university-owned computers from the current Office 2016 version are now underway. Typically, software upgrades aren’t entered as new IT projects; however, Microsoft Office is one of the most heavily used software programs by university employees and students, which means a smooth upgrade is especially crucial.
The IT project, “Office 2019 Deployment,” was recently approved by the ITS Run Group and listed as a Run (+20 hours) Project. (A Run Project is a project that is necessary to maintain daily university system functionality and requires more than 20 hours of effort to implement.)
A decision: which Office version to deploy
This time, Microsoft is providing another Office software option to licensees–Office 365 Pro Plus–which is the cloud version. They’re doing this because Office 2019 is their last standalone Office software version. Because of this change, the Office 2019 Deployment project team is investigating whether it’s better to move forward with 2019 or to deploy Office 365 Pro Plus instead.
To make this decision, the project team will compare products, features, licensing and upgrade impact of both Office 2019 and Office 365 Pro Plus. Based on their findings, they will work with IT directors campus-wide to determine which version makes the most sense. Once the decision is made, additional development work will be done and piloted with IT staff across campus.
How will it be deployed?
The tentative deployment plan is to make the selected Office version available through Software Center (Windows computers) and Self Service (Mac computers). It would also be loaded onto all new computers. An exact date is not yet determined but is estimated for Spring 2019.
Project questions or feedback?
If you have any questions or feedback regarding this project, please go to itprojects.charlotte.edu > Track A Project. Search for Project 173: Office 2019 Deployment. Click it open and then click the green Project Feedback button.