Inspired by the business world, Worcester State College is outsourcing its e-mail system to Google Inc. to cut costs and reduce a drain on support services.

The shift from having e-mail hosted on-site to having it managed by Google marks the first time a four-year college in New England has switched its e-mail system to Google’s Apps for Edu service.

The switch is the latest example of IT departments — which began in small and midsize businesses but have now moved to large enterprises and other traditional late-adopters, such as the college campus — becoming more comfortable with allowing third parties to manage systems formerly held strictly in-house.

Worcester State’s decision is expected to save the college up to $120,000, or 5 percent of its IT budget, the first year, and about $70,000 in subsequent years.

Replacing the college’s 6-year-old Microsoft Exchange system with Google has increased e-mail storage from 15MB to 6GB per user, and increased data storage from 250MB to 6GB, college CIO Donald Vescio said.

The switch was made last month, just after the spring semester ended.