11th Hour

What was the main goal or objective for working with 11th Hour?  

The primary objective was to become a registered Google educational domain and to start implementing Google Apps for the staff and the students in my district. I just happened run into Edwin at TECHSPO in Atlantic City and that’s how we initially discussed the process.  

What were the main factors that compelled you to select Google instead of other email solutions?

It’s not so much that we were looking for an email solution. We already had one in place. It was the staff and the students really wanting to use the Google Docs for document sharing. That’s when I began to make a concerted effort into looking at what it could do for us. The email solution is included, but it certainly wasn’t the driving force. I didn’t feel the need to replace what I had, but since it was included, I didn’t see a reason why we shouldn’t switch. We use Gmail now, but we still have Exchange. We basically just forward our mail to Gmail. We are looking to eventually move completely over to Gmail.

How long ago was the project completed?

It’s an ongoing project. I don’t know if it will ever be complete. Everything is always changing. We had the main components in place between June and July. We had the service set up. We had the active directory sync working. Everyone had his or her own unique account. It’s been training and instruction since that point, which is really an ongoing process.

How happy are you with the results so far?

The results have been great so far. We really haven’t even scratched the surface in terms of usage, but we’re getting there. It’s going to be even better once we can move totally over to the Gmail platform and we can completely eliminate our dependence on Exchange. The teachers are beginning to use it with some of their students in pilot programs. It’s great right now and I’m assuming it’ll get even better as the adoption rate and competence levels increase.

When working with 11th Hour, is there anything that struck you as unique or special compared to other developers or vendors that you’ve worked with?

They’re extremely knowledgeable about the whole Google platform and always available, which is key. If I mail or call, I usually get Edwin [primary contact], which is important because if something goes awry or there’s an issue, you want to have a quick response. The quality of support is the most important element to me.

Is there anything you’d do differently a second time around or think they could improve upon?

I don’t see anything on this end. I didn’t know enough, honestly. The only thing I would change has nothing to do with the work they performed for us. When this whole thing started, I probably should have obtained a dedicated server for our needs; rather than using a shared server. If I had done that in the first place, I could have saved myself some time and work. In retrospect, it’s easy to know that now. At the time, though, we were only sampling that approach. We weren’t sure if it was going to work for the district, so I didn’t want to go ahead and dedicate a server to it.