University of Iowa - Information Technology Services

2007 ITS Key Initiatives

You can find the 2006 ITS Key Initiatives here.

For the coming year, ITS is focusing on the following key initiatives. We will continue to provide services and initiate projects in many areas not listed below, but the following are of the highest priority and will receive our dedicated time and efforts.

We welcome your feedback and questions about these initiatives. A brief description of each project is given below. Follow the links given in each description to view more detailed information about each initiative.

Campus Focused Projects

Implement the new Student Information System Implementation — Project MAUI 2.0 (Made At The University of Iowa) [more...]
Improve support for electronic communications [more...]
With the campus, develop an IT Strategic Plan and follow that activity with additional ITS planning [more...]
Enhance data storage and management services [more...]
Enhance identity and access management [more...]
Clarify ITS service offerings for customers [more...]
Improve IT support models and tools for broad campus use [more...]
Improve disaster recovery plans and data centers [more...]
Extend the campus wireless network [more...]
Enhance IT security practices on campus [more...]
Assist campus users in migrating to newly released Microsoft and Apple operating systems and applications [more...]
Review management and support models for campus instructional computing facilities [more...]
Expand communication and collaboration within the IT campus community [more...]

Internally Focused Projects

Implement a new system to manage telecommunication infrastructure and service requests (TNSConnect) [more...]
Relocate staff to University Capitol Centre and Lindquist Center [more...]
Develop a service lifecycle management philosophy and processes for ITS [more...]
Implement project and portfolio management processes in ITS [more...]
Design, develop and implement an ITS Intranet [more...]

Campus Focused Initiatives

Implement the new Student Information System - Project MAUI (Made at The University of Iowa)

Executive Sponsors: Steve Fleagle, Tom Rocklin
Project Leads: Doug Lee, Mike Noel

In the summer of 2002, the Office of the Provost, and the offices of Admissions, Continuing Education, Student Financial Aid, University Registrar, and Information Technology Services formed a Steering Committee to explore the various system replacement options. A series of investigations and discoveries were completed to assist the University in determining the best system replacement strategy. In the end it was determined that a hybrid or "best of breed" system was the most appropriate strategy for the University of Iowa. With this strategy, where possible, we will purchase software components for specific functionality and integrate them with our own internally developed modules and components. As part of Project MAUI we will also be implementing Miami University's DARwin system for Transfer Course Articulation and Degree Audits.

The goals of the new student information system are to:

Provide a rich experience for students, parents, faculty and staff
Address current functional and technical system limitations
Provide enhanced features and functionality
Provide flexibility, extensibility and the ability to integrate with other systems
Create a unified relational data repository for all student information system data
Leverage the currently available technologies and contemporary user interfaces
Provide better integration of collegiate systems, processes, and data

The current plan is to implement the new student information system over a five-year period, starting in the fall of 2006 and ending in the spring of 2011.

Improve support for electronic communications

Executive Sponsors: Molly Langstaff, Rex Pruess
Project Leads: Romy Bolton, Dave Shafer

In July 2005, ITS convened a multi-collegiate team to conduct an in-depth study of the current and future requirements for electronic communications, especially focusing on e-mail. The results of their study, published in late 2005, included a set of recommendations to address the themes identified by the study. To respond to the recommendations, ITS formed an E-Communication Implementation Team. Over the past year, the team has made significant progress toward refining and implementing the recommendations.

The project has reached a critical milestone and given the length of the project, the rapidly changing technology in this area, and recent local and national environmental changes, ITS is conducting a thorough review of the project. The purpose of the review is to 1) identify the "health" of the project (financial, environmental, infrastructure), and 2) determine what, if any, adjustments are needed in the direction and deliverables of the project. The results of the review and any recommendations will be available by mid-January 2007.

With the campus, develop an IT Strategic Plan, and follow that activity with additional ITS planning

Executive Sponsor: Steve Fleagle
Project Lead: Steve Fleagle

The IT Review report published in April of 2006 recommended the University of Iowa develop a campus-wide IT strategic plan. The IT Review recommended the plan be developed with broad campus engagement and coordinate IT activities across the campus.

The planning process is now starting and a planning group from across the campus has been formed. The plan will be based largely on the information gathered and discussions that occurred as a part of the IT Review process. Significant themes from the IT Review will form the foundation of the plan. Additionally, several new areas will be investigated.

Themes From the IT Review

IT Governance
Effective Collaboration and IT Process Improvement
IT User Skills, Knowledge and Support
IT Staff and Community
Core IT Infrastructure and Facilities
Security and Compliance

Areas requiring additional investigation

Campus-Healthcare IT Integration
Data Storage and Storage Management
IT Support of Research
Future Technologies and Future Use of Technology
External Impacts
Alignment with Collegiate Strategic Plans

The plan will be developed in an iterative manner. Versions of the plan will be shared with the campus and each subsequent release will incorporate feedback from the previous version along with additional information resulting from the ongoing investigations. Releases are expected at about 1 month intervals with the final plan complete in April.

More information can be found at: http://cio.uiowa.edu/strategicplan

Enhance data storage and management services

Executive Sponsors: Molly Langstaff, Rex Pruess
Project Leads: Boyd Knosp, Dave Shafer

Data storage demands continue to evolve and grow dramatically across the campus. To ensure reliable, cost effective, and secure data storage, ITS must be prepared to offer a comprehensive set of data storage and management services that meet the needs of the campus. Our data storage and management initiatives include:

Engage the campus to better understand data storage and management needs
Identify and clarify existing data storage and management services
Align data storage and management service efforts within ITS
Enhance existing services and design new services to better meet campus needs
Investigate options for hierarchical storage and tiered storage services
Continue to increase online, archive, and backup data storage capacity

Enhance identity and access management

Executive Sponsor: Michael Noel
Project Lead: Chris Pruess

An Identity and Access Management (IAM) infrastructure is an integrated system of policies, procedures, business rules, and technologies used to facilitate and control user access to critical online applications and resources while protecting confidential personal and business information from unauthorized users. IAM solutions support user authentication, access rights, service profiles, password strength requirements and changes, and other processes that enable simpler sign-on for campus applications and services.

Major aspects of the UI IAM infrastructure include:

Enterprise Directory Services
Enterprise Authentication (HawkID)
Active Directory
Security and Protection of Confidential Data
Web Services
Service Provisioning
Tools for Administration and Self-Service Policy
Enablement of campus applications

IAM initiatives planned in 2007 include:

Continue strategic upgrades to replace back-end directory processes and servers with current technologies
Improve framework for delivery of data and provisioning of services
Improve and extend enterprise authentication service (Hawk IDs) across disparate systems
Support University ID as a mechanism for protection of Social Security Number
Support adoption of SSN policy with tools to support replacement of SSN as key in campus databases
Provide authentication to support collaboration (federation, special populations, guest accounts)
Deploy extensible, supportable directory tools
Support institutional efforts to reduce risk with appropriate and timely de-provisioning

Clarify ITS service offerings for customers

Executive Sponsor: Molly Langstaff
Project Lead: Tracy Scott

ITS offers a wide variety of services to the UI Community and our partners, but descriptions of the services are not available in one easy-to-find place. In addition, the information presented about our services is not always consistent and easy to understand, thus making it difficult for customers to select which service is most appropriate for them. The goals of this project are to:

Publish a comprehensive list of ITS services
Provide relevant information about services, including costs, features, and documentation
Provide search capabilities, allowing customers to easily find the services that meet their needs
Work with customers and campus partners to insure that all service descriptions are clear, for example:
- What can people expect from a service?
- How can someone request a service?
- How can I get help with a service?

This process may reveal additional services desired by campus and might lead to follow up projects or service reviews.

Improve IT support models and tools for broad campus use

Executive Sponsor: Molly Langstaff
Project Leads: Lance Bolton, Romy Bolton, Maggie Jesse, Tracy Scott

Basic IT support resources for faculty, staff, and students are not uniformly available across campus. ITS can play a role to improve the general level of support across all units on campus. Some existing ITS programs, like the SITA program and the student-staffed Web Services group, provide models for increasing IT support through student services. This project will:

Promote and expand the Student Worker IT Training program to place trained student workers in areas of need
Explore, define, and promote broader centralized managed desktop services such as Microsoft?s Systems Management Service (SMS)
Identify campus needs for web site management, including content management and improved search capability, and increase use of the ITS Web Services Team
Identify appropriate areas to expand the use of centrally-provided, local support models
Coordinate and promote the training efforts offered by ITS to the campus
Develop self-service tools that allow faculty, staff, and students to more easily manage the services they use
Expand and promote the use of IT support tools such as call tracking and knowledge management

Improve disaster recovery plans and data centers

Executive Sponsor: Steve Fleagle
Project Lead: Rex Pruess

Information Technology (IT) disaster recovery is the ability to restore one or more IT services to a point in time prior to a disaster. Disaster recovery is a crucial component of risk management and is essential for business continuity. Our current efforts to minimize the impact of a disaster and to prepare for disaster recovery include the following:

Enhance electrical power and cooling capability in our data centers
Develop specifications for a new, hardened data center
Explore options for co-locating servers and storage at remote data centers
Improve logical and physical security via firewalls and remote monitoring
Assist with Pandemic Flu Planning efforts

Extend the campus wireless network

Executive Sponsor: Mark Katsouros
Project Lead: Jason Mueller

Wireless network service is an enabling and facilitating technology providing convenient access to network resources beyond wired boundaries.

The use of wireless network technology to support a broader diversity of locales on The University of Iowa campus is steadily increasing. Access to networked resources through a wireless connection is expected to become more strategic to teaching, learning, research, and the business of the University.

ITS has provided wireless network access on campus at some limited level for approximately four years under pilot initiatives while testing various technologies. The thrust of the service to date has been to provide coverage in high visibility areas (libraries, student gathering areas, conference spaces) and some classrooms and labs primarily to support faculty and students.

The goal of the campus wireless network expansion initiative is to offer broader service coverage that continues to augment the campus wired network service as quickly as is possible. Key to service expansion is:

Getting from the current service to a better defined and supported campus-wide service by establishing a wireless service advisory group representing faculty, students, staff and technologists.
Settling on an architecture and solution that provides the functionality and supportability needed today with potential to evolve to meet the needs of the campus in the next few years.

Enhance IT security practices on campus

Executive Sponsor: Steve Fleagle
Project Lead: Jane Drews

Security as it applies to information technology has become a very important part of the technology environment. The University of Iowa has made great strides to improve our ability to avoid or react to security incidents. But this effort must continue. The goals of this initiative are to study:

Firewall and network access control
Policy awareness and enforcement
Physical security and the availability of secure space for servers
End user device protection
Two-factor authentication

The evaluation might result in recommendations to move forward to implementation in some, or all, of these areas.

Assist campus users in migrating to newly released Microsoft and Apple software

Executive Sponsors: Molly Langstaff, Rex Pruess
Project Leads: Lance Bolton, Romy Bolton, Guy Falsetti, Chris Pruess

During FY07, our campus will experience an influx of new software product offerings from Microsoft and Apple Computer. These new products will provide a variety of enhancements to a number of key software applications used daily on our computers, as well as present significant changes in how these products look and how users use them.

This project will marshal and organize ITS resources to assist and support users as they deal with adopting and integrating these new applications in their work lives. The project will also collaborate with IT professionals across campus to present a unified message and coherent approach to the changes. The ITS Help Desk website http://helpdesk.its.uiowa.edu/ will be a key component of communicating about the changes and sources for assistance.
The first product to be released in this wave was the web browser Internet Explorer version 7, released in the Fall of 2006. Other new products coming in the near future include a new Microsoft operating system (Windows Vista), a new version of Microsoft Office (Office 2007), a new version of Microsoft Exchange Mail/Calendar system, and a new Apple operating system (OS X Leopard).

Review management and support models for campus instructional computing facilities

Executive Sponsor: Molly Langstaff
Project Leads: Maggie Jesse, Chris Clark

As technology continues to permeate our academic landscape, technology-enabled learning spaces — computer labs, classrooms, and testing facilities — continue to be vital to the success of our educational mission. In order to make the most of these spaces, our project team plans to review the management, governance and support models for instructional facilities across campus, including:

Identifying ways to increase efficiency and coordination of central and college-managed facilities that support the use of technology in teaching, addressing current and future curricular needs for these spaces.
Leveraging current advisory structures and increasing opportunities for faculty members to influence IT-related services in campus technology facilities.
Reviewing support and service models for the various computer labs, technology classrooms, and ITCs on campus, and identifying best practices, management efficiencies, and ways to improve UI community satisfaction and understanding of the facilities.
Exploring ways to support the growing need for computer-based testing facilities.

Expand communication and collaboration within the IT campus community

Executive Sponsor: Steve Fleagle
Project Lead: TBD

Significant progress has been made in expanding communication within and building the IT community. Because this is vitally important to the successful application of IT at the University of Iowa, we will continue to make improvements in this area.

The Campus Information Technology Leaders has been instrumental in building the IT community on our campus. During the summer of 2006, the group held a retreat and based on the feedback received, a planning committee recommended ways CITL could be even more effective. These recommendations include forming an executive committee, forming a communications subcommittee, and developing a formal charge for the group.

ITS and the CIO Office plan to add staff during the upcoming year in order to improve communications within the IT Community. Additionally the external ITS website will be redesigned in order to better communicate information about ITS projects, services and updates to the campus.

Internally Focused Initiatives

Implement a new system to manage telecommunication infrastructure and service requests (TNSConnect)

Executive Sponsor: Mark Katsouros
Project Lead: Pamela Bulmahn

TNS' current facilities management system (FMS) is actually a hodgepodge of legacy applications and manual processes with little to no integration capability, resulting in redundant data (and data entry) that reduces our data correctness, efficiency, timeliness, and overall ability to be more responsive to our customers' needs and requests.

An efficient FMS is critical to TNS' success, as it encompasses and integrates so many day-to-day functions, including:

Work orders
Trouble tickets
Cable plant management
Component (data gear) tracking
Phone number, IP address, and subnet tracking
Port-to-jack mappings
Costing/Billing (including invoice delivery)
Business process workflow
Time accounting
Reporting
CDR (Call Detail Record) analysis
Corporate directory (directory assistance)
Warehouse inventory (including asset management; Phase II)
Customer portal (Phase II)
External application integration (Phase III)

We anticipate that we will cutover to the new system (Phase I) during the spring of 2007. More information can be found at: http://www.its.uiowa.edu/tns/tnsconnect

Relocate ITS staff from Lindquist Center, Quadrangle, and University Services Building to University Capitol Centre & lower level Lindquist Center

Executive Sponsors: Steve Fleagle, Molly Langstaff, Mike Noel, Rex Pruess
Project Lead: Nancy Grout

Several events have come together to allow for the relocation of most ITS staff to central locations on campus. ITS staff currently located in Lindquist Center will move to the University Capitol Centre. Most of the ITS staff located on the third floor of the University Services Building will move to the University Capitol Centre, and some will move to the lower level of Lindquist Center.

As a result of the relocations, ITS staff will be housed in the following facilities:

University Capitol Centre
- CIO Office (CIO)
- Academic Technologies (ITS-AT)
- Administrative Information Systems (ITS-AIS)
- Campus Services (ITS-CS)
Lindquist Center Lower Level
- Systems & Platform Administration (ITS-SPA)
- Telecommunication & Network Services - Video (ITS-TNS)
North Hall
- Telecommunication & Network Services (ITS-TNS)
Jessup Hall
- Systems & Platform Administration - Operations (ITS-SPA)
Warehouse (or replacement facility)

ITS will eventually vacate most of first floor Lindquist Center, Quadrangle, and third floor University Services Building, thereby freeing that space for other University needs.

Construction is well underway and we anticipate that we will relocate our offices to UCC sometime after February 15, 2007.

Develop a service lifecycle management philosophy and processes for ITS

Executive Sponsor: Mark Katsouros
Project Leads: Tracy Scott, Boyd Knosp, Guy Falsetti

Currently, ITS has few formal service management processes in place. This initiative will focus on the creation of formal service lifecycle processes to be used to manage existing services and create new ones (project to service transition).

Toward this end, we plan to take the following steps:

Analyze what is being done currently in ITS for service management
Learn what is possible - what are others doing (on campus and at peer institutions), what possible methodologies or frameworks have been developed, such as ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library)
Educate the ITS community on the possibilities of service management
Visualize where we want to go - what the ITS service management environment should look like
Implement - design and carry out a plan to create the processes and resources necessary to achieve the vision

Implement project and portfolio management processes in ITS

Executive Sponsor: Molly Langstaff
Project Lead: Boyd Knosp

One of the recommendations from the ITS Communication Team was to improve project management and project-related communication in ITS. In response to the recommendation, the Project Management Task Force was formed. The task force, along with the Project Management Advisory Group, has been working over the past several months to collect ideas and input from staff toward developing a project management framework for ITS. The task force is on target to present its recommendations in January 2007 for consideration by the Advisory Group, the ITS Directors, and ITS staff. An implementation project will follow.

Design, develop and implement an ITS Intranet

Executive Sponsor: Mike Noel
Project Leads: Tracy Scott, Dave Shafer

One of the recommendations from the ITS Communication Team was to improve the ITS Intranet. An improved ITS Intranet would facilitate improved communication between ITS staff and provide a central location to find internal tools and information. Goals for the project include:

Create a central communication tool for ITS staff to share information and collaborate more effectively
Improve search capabilities, allowing ITS staff to find information more easily
Help staff to more easily locate and organize SharePoint sites
Provide staff with personalized content relevant to their roles and working styles
Implement strategies to ensure the ITS Intranet continues to provide value in the future

While many intranet and portal server products are available, this project will focus primarily on piloting and implementing Microsoft Office SharePoint Server as a potential solution.