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With the majority of colleagues working from home, many of us have been using a variety of online platforms for collaborating, meetings and teaching.

The University’s preferred platforms are WebEx and Skype, which is being rolled into Microsoft Teams. We have enterprise agreements in place for these tools, which means they can be used without additional cost to the University. You are able to access these through your Edinburgh Napier credentials, and Information Services has established documentation and support services for these platforms.

We have integrated WebEx into our strategic Virtual Learning Environment platform, which makes it seamless for students and academics. 

Microsoft Teams has excellent integration with Outlook, SharePoint Online and the full Microsoft suite, allowing existing Office365 credentials to securely authenticate, gain access and efficiently use these services through the Microsoft Teams portal.

These platforms have also been assessed to ensure the data they hold is maintained within the European Economic Area (EEA) and is managed in a way that provides us with assurance that it will not be misused. 

Issues that many users have recently experienced with these collaboration tools are due in part to the huge increase in demand globally and the unprecedented load on home broadband services. The platforms are stabilising and IS are working to make best use of them. These issues should not be used as a reason to move to an unapproved platform with the risks that would bring.

Other platforms share user data with other companies outside the EEA, raising concerns if commercially or personally sensitive discussions were conducted through these.

As we continue to work remotely, please note that any recorded information created in the course of business activities, regardless of platform, is classed as ‘business’ and therefore disclosable under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 as well as data subject access requests.