University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

UB 2020 Projects Update Newsletter

February 25, 2008

• Improvements to infrastructure expected to accelerate VoIP installments.
• Workstation Standardization team concentrating on developing quicker imaging processes.
• Vendor demonstration feedback from attendees assists the Shared IT Service Desk team with its preliminary recommendation.
• SIRI collaborates with its customers via a Sharepoint site.

Student Systems Assessment

The Student Systems Assessment project team is currently laying the groundwork to move forward with the PeopleSoft’s student information system, Campus Solutions. | See details

Voice Over Internet Protocol

Reaching a total of 1,372 successfully installed VoIP phone units, and approximately another 100 units expected to be in place in the next two weeks, project leader Barbara Vasbinder reported on the project progress.  Vasbinder is currently making adjustments to the deployment team’s work processes and lessening the time between ending one deployment and starting another, in an effort to accelerate the project’s momentum.  Furthermore, infrastructure improvements – planned for April, May and June – expect to substantially lead to maximizing resources.

Shared IT Service Desk

In early February, the Shared IT Service Desk team hosted three vendor demonstrations, in which about 80 IT professionals attended.  Through a survey tool, feedback is being gathered that will assist the team in making its recommendation.  A report on the team’s progress and next steps will be presented at the Town Hall on March 7, 2008.

Server and Services Consolidation

At the point of implementation, having completed its charge, the Servers and Services Consolidation team is assisting with its recommendation of transferring oversight of the project to the governing Node Manager committee.  The production dates of March through June are still on target.

Workstation Standardization

After several glitches relating to availability and correct imaging through Dell, orders are now being filled by way of UBMicro.  Brian Murphy, project leader, reported that “the issues we’ve been experiencing have been escalated to the topmost leadership of Dell.”  Specifications for higher-end models and laptops are currently being developed for those preferring a model other than the conventional ones. 

For Apple, we can continue to benefit from the same pricing discounts on institutional purchases for the next quarter, and the work continues on partnering with Apple to develop a collaborative learning space in Norton Hall.

Looking forward, the team will address the topic of workstation recycling and will assist with managing the software specification process. 

Strategic Information Reporting Initiative (SIRI)

The SIRI Business Intelligence Team has announced the release of Money/Financial and a brand new Procurement dashboard to the SIRI Customer Team for piloting. The Money/Financial release is similar to the screens found in People and Money and offers the following enhancements: overall performance, printing functionality, standardization on organizing data by entity, access to information beyond the current and previous years and additional reports. The Procurement dashboard offers a new view of Procurement transactions from e-Procurement such as the ability to search on multiple criteria, economic impact information, supplier information, the ability to review and report on inventory information and NEW reports. Work continues on the Resource Management (RM) reports and an RM dashboard will be available soon.  “The response has really been great,” said Joe Kerr, project leader.  “People say that they are happy with what we are delivering,” he added. 

A Sharepoint site is being used to collaborate with the customers.  Team members as well as the customers are benefiting from the features within, providing the ability to efficiently handle issues.

Plan to attend the UB 2020 Information Technology Transformation Town Hall.  You will have the opportunity to see the outcomes of the SIRI team’s work and how the Sharepoint collaboration tools are successfully supporting the SIRI project.  The progress and next steps of the Shared IT Service Desk team will also be presented.  The Town Hall is being held on Friday, March 7, 2008 at 8:30 am in 120 Clemens Hall.

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UB2020 Transformation Project Communication Team