Gmail enrolled for Aussie schools deal

Google has snatched what is believed to be its biggest single client in the world - the NSW Department of Education - away from its rival Microsoft to claim up to 1.3 million new users of its free email product.

The NSW Director-General of Education, Michael Coutts-Trotter, said the department had exploited its size to get the best deal for students and teachers, who will each receive customised Gmail accounts.

"Our new email contract was so big that global players like Google were prepared to put together a world-class package of services for the children and young people in NSW public schools," he said.

The acting Minister for Education, John Hatzistergos, said the new system would cater for 1.3 million users and be in place by the end of the year.

The A$9.5 million (NZ$12.2 million), three-year contract with the Google partner SMS Management and Technology will displace the department's previous A$30 million contract with Microsoft partner Unisys, which ran over five years.

Although Google offers Gmail to education providers free, SMS Management and Technology said there were significant costs associated with providing tight security and integrating the email system with the department's existing portal.

"This will be one of the biggest Gmail deployments in the world," said its spokesman, Matthew Kaufman, who said Macquarie University had also recently signed up for Gmail.

The US-based information technology analyst Matthew Cain, from Gartner, said it was no secret why Microsoft and Google are "assiduously courting" the .edu community with free email services.

"If the vendors can get students to sign up for email accounts, the hope is they will then use those accounts for life," Mr Cain said. "Students, alumni, staff and faculty all represent a highly desirable demographic that advertisers will pay top dollar to reach."

The department's chief information officer, Stephen Wilson, said there would be no advertising on the new email accounts, which would be supported by tough filtering and security software.

Students will be able to log on from home. But whereas each had access to 35 gigabytes of memory on their account previously, they now have six gigabytes.

"I think we are the largest single-enterprise user of Gmail," Mr Wilson said.

"[The deal is] a first in Australian education and a lot of other states are very interested."

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