Case Study: Furman University achieves $450,000 in savings and enhanced student collaboration with Microsoft Office 365

University Chooses Cloud-Based Email for Students and Staff, Saves $450,000

Furman University, a private liberal‑arts college with about 2,700 undergraduates, needed a more reliable, mobile‑friendly messaging and collaboration platform after its on‑premises FirstClass email system proved difficult to support, didn’t integrate with campus systems or SharePoint, and left users with only 400 MB of storage. IT sought a cloud solution to enable BYOD usage, improve academic collaboration, and reduce ongoing hardware and storage costs.

Working with partner B2B Technologies (and ScholarBuys), Furman deployed Microsoft Office 365 for education—including Exchange Online, Lync Online, SharePoint Online, and Office Web Apps—integrated with Active Directory and Exchange ActiveSync. The rollout (students in March 2012, staff by September 2012) boosted mobile compatibility and adoption (over 90% of students), enabled real‑time collaboration, simplified administration, and avoided an estimated $450,000 in storage costs.

Furman University

Fred Miller

Chief Information Officer