Transcript PPT - EDUCAUSE Library

A Federated Model of
Computing Support at a
Large State University
Maurice Leatherbury
Senior Director of Academic Computing
and Assistant to the Associate Vice
President for Computing and
Communications Services
University of North Texas
“Federated”
Federal – “of or constituting a form of
government in which power is
distributed between a central authority
and a number of constituent territorial
units”
“Formed by a compact between
political units that surrender their
individual sovereignty to a central
authority but retain limited residuary
powers of government”
UNT Background
27,500 students
Fourth largest in Texas
9,000 desktop computers
Gigabit fiber backbone, 10/100Mbps
Ethernet throughout
DS-3’s to both I1 and I2
Netware, Windows NT, Sun Solaris, Linux,
OS/390, Apple OS’es supported
Computing Support
Structure
Computing Center – 160 FTE’s
 Administrative Computing
 Academic Computing
 Mainframe Technical Services
 Networking and Communications Services
(datacomm, telecomm)
Each of eight colleges/schools plus major
administrative units has its own LAN/desktop support
personnel
 About 45 FTE employees
Microcomputer Maintenance Shop builds and
supports desktop computers, sells and maintains Dell
laptops
Classroom Support Services provisions classrooms
with data projectors, VCR’s, etc. and maintains them
Computing Governance
Computing Center reports to Vice President for Business and
Fiscal Affairs
Information Resource Council represents all colleges and
schools as well as major administrative areas (administration,
budget, etc.)
 Major policies and computing decision recommendations
come from the IRC
Information Resources Steering Committee (the President and
Vice Presidents) make final decisions or recommendations to
Board
General Access Lab Committee represents 13 computer labs
that are funded through student fees, makes policy and sets lab
budgets from a student technology fee
General Access Lab Managers Committee composed of lab
managers
Distributed Computing Support Management Team composed of
managers of major desktop support units on campus (i.e.,
excludes CC administrative and academic units)
Funding Model
Computing Center gets capital equipment funding from
HEAF “off the top,” salaries and operating from M&O
Distributed units get equipment/software funding from
HEAF through VPAA’s allocation to the colleges and
schools (computing needs compete with other capital
equipment needs such as research equipment)
Distributed units’ personnel and operating costs come
from general college/department funds
Computing Center pays for many central functions:
 Novell Netware
 Microsoft Campus Agreement
 Remedy Call Tracking
 SAS and SPSS licenses
 Sun hardware and software maintenance
 Data communications (no chargeback)
Brief History
February, 1996 the IRC formed Ad Hoc
Committee on Distributed Support Issues
because of problems with support across
campus
Charged it to study:



Organization, training, career development, cross
training of distributed support staff
Server consolidation
Software tools to facilitate network administration
Consider formal coordination of
decentralized computing units
Develop guidelines or standards for
computer support staffing levels
Brief History (con’t)
July 1996 Provost established Distributed Computing
Support Management Team (DCSMT)
 Membership from all major desktop support units
on campus (colleges, administrative offices, etc.)
 Chair is Director of Academic Computing, who also
advises colleges and administrative units on hiring
and evaluation of support personnel
Ad Hoc Committee established “CSQ” (Computing
Support Quotient) goal of 100 support units {(users +
machines)/2} per support person
Range of CSQ was 44 (Library) to 275 (Physical Plant.)
Average was 140
Faculty Senate passed resolution requesting
additional staffing in computing support
Additional Staffing
11.75 new positions were added
Majority went to colleges/schools
Three positions were upgraded to
provide equity among units
$351,000 new funding, 75% first
year, 50% subsequent years
provided by VPAA
Current CSQ
Central Administration
College of Arts & Sciences
College of Business Administration
College of Education
College of Music
Computing Center
Housing
Library
Physical Plant
Registrar
School of Community
Service/School of Merchandising &
Hospitality Management
School of Library & Information
Sciences
School of Visual Arts
Student Development
University Union
132.80
134.06
79.78
125.10
123.67
116.00
50.57
77.50
28.00
30.25
51.00
54.87
100.00
135.95
81.00
Computing Support
Salaries
Grade
Computing Support Specialist I
CSS II
CSS III
CSS IV
Computing System Manager I
CSM II
CSM III
CSM IV
Salary
(entry)
$30,270
$33,732
$36,960
$40,536
$44,532
$49,008
$53,916
$59,424
Distributed Computing
Support Management Team
On the Web at http://www.unt.edu/dcsmt
22 members, including the computing support
manager at UNT’s System Center in south Dallas
Chaired by Director of Academic Computing
Meets every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month (System
Center participates via videoconference)
Additional persons usually attend: CC security
coordinator, Assoc VP for Computing and
Communications Services, campus-wide networking
support personnel, etc.
DCSMT Functions
Coordinate efforts of central and
distributed computer support units
for efficiency and effectiveness
Improve distributed computing
environment
Implement recommendations of Ad
Hoc committee on computing
support
DCSMT’s Relationship to
Other Computing Groups
Chair of DCSMT reports on its activities to the
IRC
DCSMT recommends policies and procedures
to the IRC (it DOES NOT make policy!)
Many DCSMT members are also members of
the General Access Lab Managers Committee
Most colleges/schools have technology
committees with DCSMT members
participating
Major DCSMT Initiatives
Campus-wide call tracking system (Remedy)
Desktop OS standardization (Windows 98, NT)
Laptop computer standardization (Dell)
Productivity suite standardization (MS Office,
some Corel Wordperfect)
Virus checking standardization (McAfee)
PDA support (Palm OS)
Major DCSMT Initiatives
(con’t)
Students in the Novell tree
Network management tools
(Managewise, DSExpert)
Y2K readiness
Hourly worker wage study
CSS/CSM classifications minimum
requirements change
Major DCSMT
Accomplishments
Communication! (CC to distributed units)
Communication! (Distributed units to CC)
Communication! (Distributed units to
distributed units)
Communication! (Computing support to
campus in general)
Most DCSMT meetings end with status
reports from each attendee, discussing
problems, solutions, etc.
Distribution of
Responsibilities
Computing Center
Fund campus-wide software (MS
Campus Agreement, Remedy, etc.)
NDS tree, Active Directory
coordination
Data communications funding and
maintenance
Help Desk for students,
administrative computing
questions, general computing
questions
Compaq server maintenance
Administrative systems
Central planning (DIR, etc.)
Security planning & coordination
Distributed Units
Fund local hardware and
software
Support all of their users’
computing needs except
for administrative systems
Help desk for their users’
questions
Conform to campus
standards (datacomm,
NDS, security, etc.)
What Makes the Model
Work?
Standardization

Desktop computers, LAN servers, Laptops, Novell,
Microsoft, Etc.
Funding


Computing Center supports campus-wide
initiatives, has “carrot” to gain acceptance
Distributed units have enough to meet most
computing needs
Staffing

Generally adequate to provide desktop support
Cooperation

Partnership between central computing and
distributed computing
EL PASO COMMUNITY
COLLEGE
SCT BANNER 2000
INTEGRATED ADMINISTRATIVE
SOFTWARE SYSTEM
EVALUATION AND SELECTION
Integrated Administrative
Software System
Evaluation and Selection Process
May 1996 - ORACLE DBMS purchased
June 1996 - IASS Committee Formed
July 1996 - Jan 1997 - IASS RFP drafted
Feb - April 1997 - RFP issued for consultant to
review IASS RFP
Sept - Nov 1997 - Consultant selected and review
of IASS RFP completed
Dec 1997 - Feb 1998 - IASS RFP draft finalized
March- May 1998 - IASS RFP issued & evaluated
June - August 1998 - on-site demos
Integrated Administrative
Software System
Evaluation and Selection Process
Oct - Dec 1998 - Software Evaluation Team, 11
members; 2 Vendors Evaluated with Four Offsite
Visits
Jan - March 1999 - Vendor Negotiations
March 1999 - SCT Banner 2000 approved by
Board of Trustees
May 1999 - Kickoff & Business Process Analysis
Dec 2000 - Finance Module Go-Live
March - June 2001 - Finaid & Student Go-live
Jan 2002 - H/R Go-live
Integrated Administrative
Software System
Evaluation Criteria
Weighted scores by criticality
General System
Admissions
Registrar/Records - Credit and CE
Financial Aid
Financial System
H/R
Technology
Vendor
Other - WEB, Reporting, Support
Integrated Administrative
Software System
SCT BANNER Selection
Price
State of Texas/DIR
TX Connection Consortium
Functionality - General, Student, Financial Aid,
A/R, Tuitions, G/L & Accounting
WEB & V/R functionality
Technology
Less Strong in H/R and Purchasing
SCT BANNER Implementation
TIPS
Budget - doubled estimated implementation
hours, overtime and part-time, departmental
equipment (PCs, monitors, network printers),
materials duplication, licensing, servers and
network equipment, upgrades, Summit &
evaluation trips
Site evaluations - Pick sites that are on same
version if possible
Training - Dedicated training rooms, Train the
Trainer, Internal training documentation, smaller
training areas
No Base Line Modifications
SCT BANNER Implementation
TIPS
Business Process Analysis - EPCC ready/SCT
not, Change processes not system
Project Management - Internal Full time, external
part time, Change Management is key
Staffing - backfill key positions, develop vacation
accrual policies
Project Management Team - Senior Management
Level including Functional Team Chairs
Functional Teams - Chaired by Director level or
above, users assume ownership
Document & record all meeting and decisions
SCT BANNER Implementation
TIPS
Functional - Cumbersome maintenance;
Approval Queues, User profiles, Security Matrix,
etc
Integrated General Person - Triple Caution
Reporting - State Reports solution in progress,
canned reporting not great, ODBC reporting has
security and performance issues, Get Help!!
Technical - Licensing, Training & Hands on, Staff
Retention, multiple Servers needed, installations,
PC’s, network printers,
Extras - A/R Cashier system, Counseling and
Testing MS ACCESS system, Payment server
SCT BANNER Implementation
EPCC Status
On track overall
Outstanding issues - Reporting, Internal Training,
Departmental Equipment, Banner Installations,
Credit Card Payment
Vendor Support Good overall
Banner General
GEAR UP FOR BOOT CAMP!!