Monash University will begin transitioning its staff base of 17,000 to Google Apps in the middle of this year.
The rollout is expected to take between six and 12 months, according to a statement released by the university, and comes after a successful transition to 58,000 students last November.
University Vice-President of Administration, Peter Marshall, said in the statement that the web-based service's collaboration and accessibility were the key attractions for both staff and students.
“Staff and students will be able to share information without software compatibility issues," he said. "They will be able to chat in real time, access email and calendar applications via an internet connection or offline, and much of Google Apps functionality is available on mobile devices."
The university has chosen the Google Apps Education Edition, which is free for non-profit educational institutions, and is not subsidised by Google ads, unlike public versions of Google's web-based applications. The apps suite includes access to Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Sites and Google Video.
The university will transition staff from a range of different email and document systems to a single platform.
"The move to Google Apps will ensure we have a single, more effective approach to staff and student collaboration and engagement," acting chief information officer, Jeremy Du Vé, said in the statement.
“By hosting services in the cloud, we can refocus our IT resources on supporting the University’s Research and Education strategies."
A spokesperson was not available for comment at time of writing.