- The Cavalier Daily - University of Virginia's Student Newspaper

The Microsoft Exchange system will fully replace Oracle Calendar in January as the University's centralized calendar service offered to students, faculty and staff.

James Hilton, University vice president and chief information officer, explained that Microsoft Exchange provides an integrated environment for schedules that better supports e-mail, calendars and mobile devices such as Blackberries.

"The beauty of being in an exchange environment is when you look at your calendar, it's all the same," Hilton said. "It's updated in real time."

University officials decided to make the transition after noticing that some branches of the University such as the Darden School and the University Health System were using Exchange already, Hilton said, adding that Microsoft Exchange is the "market leader."

Unlike the current Oracle system, which is not integrated with the University's central mail service, Microsoft Exchange will allow users to simply drag an e-mail and all its attachments into a calendar without leaving the e-mail inbox.

"It's a very robust system," Hilton said. He added that the transition is a significant one and that ITC is "committed to making it as smooth as possible."

ITC has already created Microsoft Exchange accounts for Oracle users who have logged into Oracle since Sept. 1, Network Systems Manager Robin Ruggaber said. ITC has also started e-mailing new Microsoft Exchange users information about their accounts, and open demonstration sessions will be offered, Ruggaber added.

Microsoft Exchange will fully replace Oracle starting Jan. 15.