A challenging starting point
“Before BlueMind, we had moved from Zimbra to another solution. The experience was not a successful one.” Starting in January, the City launched a comprehensive evaluation process. All options were considered, including Microsoft 365, to ensure no possibility was ruled out from the outset.
“Ideally, we prefer an open-source or French solution, but we’re not dogmatic about it. What matters most is finding the solution that best meets our needs.”
Choosing BlueMind
The City of Tarbes team first discovered BlueMind at the 2023 Cybersecurity Business Convention in Toulouse. Positive feedback from other local authorities quickly encouraged them to explore the solution further.
“BlueMind met all of our requirements, while also being French, open source, and headquartered in Toulouse—just like us in Occitanie. It also gave us the opportunity to roll out a modern webmail interface across the organization while allowing many of our users and VIPs to keep using Outlook without any changes to their daily habits.”
A public tender was subsequently launched for a hosted open-source collaboration suite covering email, video conferencing, office productivity, and team collaboration. The specifications explicitly identified the target solutions: BlueMind for email, BigBlueButton for video conferencing, Element for instant messaging, and Nextcloud for collaborative workspaces. The integration project was entrusted to FactorFX.
Migration: failure was not an option!
The project was not without risks. After the challenges encountered with the previous solution, Jérôme Guinle, IT Director of the City of Tarbes, was under considerable pressure to make this migration a success. Email is a mission-critical service, and after the disruption caused by the earlier project, another failed migration was simply not an option.
The migration itself took place during the summer of 2024 and went extremely smoothly.
“On the day of the cutover, everything was ready. The IT team, executive users, and the City Manager were migrated first so that we could carry out initial tests before the full rollout. We encountered no blocking issues, largely thanks to the extensive preparation work carried out beforehand. FactorFX provided outstanding technical support throughout the project.”
User adoption and project outcomes
User adoption was rapid.
“Nobody complained,” the IT Director notes. “The webmail interface was very well received. We informed employees two weeks in advance and directed them to tutorials and video guides. They were able to get up to speed on their own and felt supported throughout the transition.”
Today, 580 users rely on BlueMind SaaS for their daily communications. Most access their email through the webmail interface, while around twenty VIP users—including senior management and elected officials—continue to use Outlook.
The City of Tarbes team encourages other local authorities to draw on peer experiences when selecting an email solution.
“We place great value on feedback from fellow IT directors. Sharing experiences between local authorities is essential. We need to talk to each other, compare approaches, and learn from those who have already gone through the process.”
