The Shared Infrastructure team is excited to be wrapping up the Microsoft 365 project next month. We spoke with Craig Luciano, assistant director, Shared Infrastructure, about his involvement with the project and specifically what this means for the university.
WashU IT is moving everyone to the new generation of Microsoft Office, M365. Driven by Microsoft’s shift from its old process of releasing static updates every other year, users on the new M365 platform will no longer be required to interrupt their workflow to initialize new updates or fix bugs in the system. Another catalyst for the timing of this project involves the removal of support from Microsoft by October 2025 of its legacy office products from 2016 or before. Without proper support, the suite would be susceptible to negative cybersecurity impacts and sluggish speeds.
In this new paradigm, WashU users will always have the latest version of Microsoft Office, complete with bug fixes, feature updates, and strengthened security measures. This means the WashU community will always have the latest and greatest, most up to date Microsoft Office suite every time they turn on their computers. And they will never have to do a manual upgrade to Microsoft Office again.
Nearly a year and a half ago, Luciano’s team set out with a goal of upgrading the entire campus to M365. This project included more than 31,000 PCs and approximately 5,000 Macs. To date, they have covered about 95% of the scope with just a few outliers still to be addressed. The team anticipates primary completion by end of October.
“A top feature we’ve seen customers excited about is the coauthoring functionality in Box,” says Luciano. It allows multiple people to simultaneously edit a file that resides in Box, using the native desktop client instead of the web version.
In alignment with the WashU IT ImpacT strategic plan, this initiative fulfills the value of delivering a responsiveand integrated technology ecosystem which provides reliable services through active and continuous engagement of university leadership and stakeholders.
With the approval of Microsoft Copilot for WashU users, the M365 upgrade comes at a perfect time. Although Copilot will be individually funded by requesting departments, for those engaging with the AI tool, all AI features will automatically be ready to use and consistently updated with the latest features through M365.
“M365 is a game changer for how we use technology,” says Luciano. “Departments and users will save a lot of time while also operating with improved security measures without having to worry about future upgrades.”
“I’m grateful to everyone on my team and all the other departments who have been instrumental in making this project a success,” says Luciano. “Thank you for working together as an IT community, committed to providing the best customer experience we can offer.”
If you’d like to learn more about the project, please visit Microsoft 365 (M365) – Information Technology (wustl.edu).