Following the failure of the email system, new structures and additional positions are intended to strengthen digitalization
Following the multi-day outage of the city's email system, the city of Darmstadt is taking action and reorganizing the management of key IT projects. Mayor Hanno Benz will assume a stronger coordinating role in important administrative digitization projects. In addition, five new positions will be created to stabilize and further develop the city's IT infrastructure.
According to the city, the failure of the "GroupWise" email system revealed fundamental structural challenges. These include a lack of strategic guidelines, insufficient prioritization of important projects, staffing shortages, and a significant need for modernization of existing systems.
“The failure of the email system has revealed that we need more comprehensive management, more binding priorities, and greater consistency in implementation within the city's IT department. My colleague, Digital Affairs Officer Holger Klötzner, and I are in complete agreement on this point,” explains Mayor Hanno Benz. Responsibility for key projects should now be exercised more directly and jointly.
Digital Affairs Officer Holger Klötzner adds: “The digitalization of public administration is always both an organizational and a technical task. The mayor and I reaffirmed this fundamental principle in a joint discussion and will accelerate further implementation through even more extensive cooperation.”
Focus on GroupWise stabilization and Microsoft 365
According to the city, the stabilization of the existing GroupWise email system and the implementation of Microsoft 365 are currently particularly urgent. Both projects exemplify the need for action within the city's IT infrastructure.
The previously used GroupWise system is considered technically outdated and can only be operated with considerable effort. Among other things, rapidly growing mailboxes and a lack of archiving structures are causing problems.
To address the current situation, a task force has been established. In addition to Mayor Benz, Digital Affairs Officer Klötzner has also joined the working group. The goal is to make decisions more quickly, to more clearly define responsibilities, and to implement key modernization measures in a binding manner.
Five additional positions for the city's IT department
To strengthen operational capacity in the short term, five additional IT positions are to be created. This will enable the faster implementation of important tasks and the long-term stabilization of existing structures.
Benz and Klötzner see the current situation as a starting point for a more comprehensive modernization. The deficiencies visible today have developed over many years and must now be addressed with clear priorities.
“The technical and organizational debts of the past keep catching up with us and slowing down innovation projects because many fundamentals are missing,” explains Klötzner.
Old emails will be deleted – mailbox sizes are limited
As a short-term measure, the email inboxes of the city's offices and administrative departments will be cleaned up in the coming weeks. All emails and calendar entries received or sent before January 1, 2011, are to be deleted on July 17, 2026.
Additionally, a maximum mailbox size of 50 gigabytes will be introduced from September 1, 2026.
“The current crisis situation shows that we need to make necessary decisions quickly in order to advance the modernization of the administration with clear priorities, binding implementation and the necessary investments,” Benz and Klötzner emphasize.
(DARMSTADT – RED/PSD/ho)
