E-mail system can't cope with mobile proliferation

The deputy CTO of New York City's public school system, Tom Kambouras, has warned school principals that the widespread use of mobile devices, from iPod Touches to Android smartphones, by school employees has overrun the IT department's capabilities to the point that as of November 10th, no new devices were being allowed to register on the system-wide Wi-Fi network. The NYC Department of Education's system is run using Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync.

Kambouras' memo suggests that the popularity of mobile devices, led by Apple's iPad, iPod Touch and iPhones, is inadvertently overloading the ability of the server-based network to keep up with ever-expanding demand. "Our Exchange system is currently operating near its resource limits," he wrote in his distributed memo to employees, "and in order to prevent Exchange from exceeding these limits, we need to take action to prevent any more of these devices from being configured to receive email."

While the original Fortune online report tries to suggest that this could mean an end to iPads in the classroom -- the city bought 2,000 iPads for classroom use in January of this year -- the actual memo emphasizes that previously-registered devices would continue to be able to use the Exchange server, which handles e-mail as well as calendaring and contacts for DoE employees. While some teachers have had to cancel orders for new iPads or other new devices, the problem (as outlined in the memo) is caused by all manner of mobile gadgets and their general proliferation, which has overtaken the current server's ability to accommodate the growth.

Because Blackberry devices do not use the ActiveSync server, they are exempt from the new-device moratorium. The new rules apply only to staff members, not students, and thus will not have an impact on how the iPads bought for classroom use are employed. A spokesman for the department has said that the city is working on a fix for the older ActiveSync network, but could not offer a timetable. The department's helpdesk is quoted as saying the upgrade could take "an indeterminate amount of time."

The full memo reads as follows:
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 6:46 AM

Subject: Important Information about iPad and Android like devices

Dear colleagues,
Over the last several months, we have seen a proliferation of mobile type devices such as the Apple iPad, the iTouch and Android being introduced into the DOE environment. While these devices are changing the way we do our business, it has also presented us with a few IT challenges as well.

One of the more significant challenges is the impact that configuring these devices to receive NYCDOE email is having on our Microsoft Exchange environment. Our Exchange system is currently operating near its resource limits and in order to prevent Exchange from exceeding these limits, we need to take action to prevent any more of these devices from being configured to receive email. As of Thursday, November 10th no additional users will be allowed to receive email via NYCDOE's Exchange ActiveSync.

Please note, this notice does not apply or affect Blackberry devices, the Blackberry Playbook or if you have an iPad, iTouch or Android device and it is already configured to receive DOE email via ActiveSync. This change will only apply to new user devices being introduced into the DOE environment.

Due to the limitations that we are dealing with there will be no exceptions to this policy.  If you acquire a Mobile OS device and want to retrieve your DOE email you will need to do so via your mobile OS browser using OWA.

We are working on a plan to upgrade our Exchange environment to alleviate this situation and will continue to provide you with updates as more information becomes available to us. If you do attempt to configure your new device for DOE Exchange ActiveSync, you will be prompted with an "unable to connect error" or "Unable to verify account information" after typing in your username and password. This is due to the fact that ActiveSync is disabled and cannot resolve your credentials.

As always we thank you for your patience and understanding.
Tom Kambouras | Deputy CTO
Department of Education
[via Fortune]

By Electronista Staff