Informal round table discussions
January 5, 2007
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A UB2020 Information Technology Transformation Town Hall was held on Friday January 5, 2007, but in a different style than usual. This Town Hall was held in a round table format where attendees were given the opportunity to participate in informal discussions led by project team leaders and members. For about two hours, free-flowing exchange of experiences, discussions about project issues and goals, and exchange of questions and answers occurred among the eighty or so participants. When asked how it went, project leader Dave Yearke, Director, Science and Engineering Node Services, said, "We received some very good ideas, and I know I received new perspectives on some of our concepts and proposals as a result of the conversations." Below is a briefing of the conversations at the tables.
At the Strategic Information Reporting Initiative (SIRI) project table, Joe Kerr, team leader and Assistant Vice President of Technology Services, provided an overview of the project to his audience. Following, there was a discussion of issues that are associated with the existing information including the large amount of data sources, the inability to bring together and reconcile data, the uncommon definitions of data, and the slowness of InfoSource. People interested in the topic expressed that they would like UB to achieve a single authoritative source for data and for common definitions. They would also like the ability to do ad-hoc reporting as needed and summary views of data with history including the ability to drill to detail. Overwhelmingly, people said that they want these abilities sooner than later.
Team leaders, Scott Morris, Executive Director for Strategic Planning, and Jim Gorman, Associate Director, Administrative Computing Services led the ePTF table. An overview of the project was provided, which resulted in some specific questions about the requirement and support of client software on the workstations. In an attempt to minimize the support cost and improve accessibility to the system, the ePTF system does not require any client side software. Users of the system only need an Internet browser to complete their work. Much of the remaining discussion revolved around this approach to application development.
The VOIP project round table had a robust conversation that included many topics. As the scope of the project involves the installation of VoIP phones and technology to all university faculty and staff, the schedule in which the installs will happen is a common concern. Mark Deuell, Director, Operational Support Services, and project leader will be posting the schedule just as soon as it is finalized, and hopes to be by the end of January 2007. He explained that those units wishing to have their installs moved up on the schedule can do so, but outside of the project. There were many questions and clarifications about the VoIP phone capabilities and features, and the installation during this roundtable. For example, it was clarified that WiFi integration and video-conferencing is not currently supported with VoIP, gig support will be available with gig phones, and departments will need to support softphones. Attendants were assured that units will have consultation meetings before installations begin to ensure smooth transitions.
The Shared IT Service Desk project leader Terri Mangione, Senior Associate Vice Provost for Student Academic Records and Financial Services and team member Mark Ferguson, Manager, Help Desk Consultant were provided the opportunity to provide correct context to the scope and goals of this project to the attendants who came to the table with concerns. Many attendants had been led to believe and had concerns about the Shared IT Service Desk being a lsquo;place’, instead of a lsquo;function’. Also, the concerns about the project already being in implementation phases, rather than in the early planning stages, were addressed.
The Workstation Standardization round table was led by all three team leaders, Peter Rittner, Assistant Dean for Educational Technology, College of Arts and Sciences, Brian Murphy, Director, UB HIPAA Compliance and Health Sciences Information Technology, and Dave Yearke, Director, Science and Engineering Node Services, and produced a large turnout of IT professionals. Several individuals came to find out how and when their units could become involved with the recommended program, and/or participate in any future planned pilot for the project. Judy Miller, Assistant Vice-President for Procurement Services, also attended and related that she is comfortable with the process described for large purchases and how that will fit into the University Procurement processes. One concern expressed included the continual ability to customize workstations as needed, and needing to forego standardization in some cases. Rittner reiterated that people should be reassured that they can continue to do the customization needed to support the discipline. Another expressed concern was timing of the large purchases and how that will all be coordinated effectively. There was generally positive discussion about the details of standardizing workstations at the round table.
Steve Heist, Chief Information Architect, and Chuck Dunn, Information Security Officer and Technical Architect, both team leaders of the Services and Servers Consolidation (SSC) Team, attracted the largest crowd at the Town Hall Round Table discussion. Team members Saira Hasnain, Interim CIT Director of Technical Services and Daniel Deakin, Associate Director, LAN Systems, also fielded questions. The team leaders began the dialogue with a status report of the File / Print Services sub-team as well as an explanation of its scope. They emphasized that the scope is to provide a file service infrastructure that is not raw disk space provisioning, and does not imply one monolithic infrastructure. The team stated that it is focusing first on consolidation planning for a consolidated file service. The overall consolidated service could be provided via multiple venues.
Discussion moved to the topics of Antivirus, Patch Management, Firewall and Data Backup where Project Lead, Richard Amantia, Network Administrator, explained that the team is focusing first on planning for consolidation of an antivirus service. Discussion continued around data backup, where it was suggested that the team consider improving bare metal recovery facilities, which the team leaders will send to the appropriate implementation group for consideration.
Calendaring was the next topic of discussion, where the Exchange and Unix Email, and Calendaring teams being asked why one calendar facility wasn’t being recommended. The team responded that it has examined the issue and is recommending two implementations in the medium term (Oracle/Unix and Exchange) with a reconsideration of merging those into one in the longer-term. It was added that the Medical School uses a client connector to allow synchronization between Exchange and Oracle calendars, which is currently being looked at.
A Database Consolidation discussion followed. In general, the lsquo;critical mass’ services and/or products are being considered, but shortly the IT community will be asked to comment on the list of requirements, which will provide staff the opportunity for other products/services, such as Solaris Postgres (database) to possibly be considered.
When asked about Web Services, the leaders replied that the SSC Committee is aware of the need for Web Services consolidation but has decided to hold off on commissioning the project right now due to the existing number of projects. Also asked to be considered when resources become available, are an event sign-up service, web survey tools and a survey service.
Information Technology Transformation Town Halls are generally held on the first Friday of every other month to bring IT professionals together for project presentations, project updates, and to have on-going cross-communication discussions. The next IT Town Hall is scheduled to be held on March 2, 2007 at 8:30am in 120 Clemens.