Broadcast: News items

Mailman, which is currently used by staff to send emails to mailing lists, will be replaced on 29 March with two new communication tools.

As the last year has proven, the University depends on a foundation of stable, secure and futureproof technology. This means adopting a cloud-first approach to IT. IT Services has been working to examine older systems to see what can be maintained, and what must be removed and replaced.

Mailman is one of the latter - a specialist system that can’t work effectively alongside the modern suite of platforms and technologies that we are adopting as we modernise the University’s IT estate. If we want to enhance our security further, and if we want to offer wider features in the future, it must be retired.

IT Services has worked with colleagues across Sussex to consider the way that Mailman is used, and then find solutions that already exist within the Microsoft suite.

Mailman has been used in two ways at Sussex: sending bulk emails to distribution lists; and creating an email-based discussion groups. We are replacing Mailman with two services that provide most of the same functionality, and in many cases offer a lot of new features.

ITS appreciates that this change will cause some disruption to the way you work. To help with this, there is new detailed guidance for current Mailman users to allow them to continue their work using alternative platforms: Outlook Online and Microsoft Teams.

Please take some time to familiarise yourself with this information. If you still have some questions about the new way of working, please email the Email Migration team: email.migration@sussex.ac.uk