GEORGE MASON ATRIUM MIGRATION Auxiliary Enterprises Mason Card Office Danny Anthes
PRESENTATION OVERVIEW Introduction Systems Overview Pre-Cloud Architecture Timeline Complexities Migration Review Current Landscape Budget Review Feel free to ask questions along the way
GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY Opened in 1957 Largest Public Research University in Virginia 5 Campus Virginia South Korea Other satellite offices 34,000 Students, 6,500 live on campus 100+ million in research A Force for Innovation Growth Incredible growth over the last 10 years New Housing New Dining Halls New Academic Halls
INTRODUCTION Danny Anthes Senior Manager of Information Technology Overseeing technology for the departments including: Physical Security Mason Card Office Dining Operations Print Services Housing and Residence Life Student Centers Parking Services Other groups in Auxiliaries Currently oversee these systems entire life cycle, from planning to deployment to maintenance and development.
BACKGROUND MASON CARD OFFICE Access Control 2,000 Online Locks 3,500 Wireless Locks Vending Readers 100 Coke 100 Snack Other Integrations Book Store Events Contracted Dining Off Campus Laundry Sequoia POS 12 Kiosk 70 Registers Pharos 250 Copiers 60 Release Stations
PRE-CLOUD ARCHITECTURE Central IT Managed Many Systems Networking Firewall Server Group Challenges Faces Coordination issues Multiple systems Multiple failures
PRE-CLOUD ARCHITECTURE Centralized Failure Points Servers Services Single Data Center for network and server Complicated Environment Multiple Systems Systems managed by IT Central staff Mistakes easy to make Reliance on Central IT Finger pointing Limitation of schedules
CONSOLIDATION AND MODULATION Consolidation of Systems Multiple POS Systems Copy card and Pay-for-Print Systems into single solution Modulation Vending Copy Card & Pay-for-Print System POS Access Control Card Production Off Campus Laundry
CHANGE IN ARCHITECTURE New architecture:
TIMELINE: MOVING QUICKLY Original Timeline:
TIMELINE: MOVING QUICKLY Actual Timeline:
TIMELINE: SCHEDULING COMPLEXITIES Timeline Complexities: State purchasing difficulties System Review and signoff Getting the order through state procurement IT Security Involvement First cloud hosted campus solution Blazing new paths Review of every aspect Staff Leave Departments with single person dependency Sharing of staff Buy in from supported departments After RFP, wasn t motived to make the change
MIGRATION REVIEW Migration Review Atrium (Cloud) Notable achievements Import process Support from Atrium Some difficulties Learning impact of our actions Outage eve of opening week Sequoia (Cloud) Lots of scrambling Time for training new staff Import process wasn t perfect (but neither was our data) Sequoia was on-hand to bail us out Learning what was different
MIGRATION REVIEW - CONTINUED Migration Review Pharos (Not cloud) Staff resources were tight Beg, borrow, and plead Install of new resources, bring up new server Scraping old readers Photo ID (Cloud) Lots of learning ZERO documentation of how our Photo ID software was implemented Importing data went well Distractions from other departments
MIGRATION REVIEW - CONTINUED Migration Review Vending (Cloud) Assist vendors with installing new readers Some learning by staff Other Vendors Barnes and Noble: Install side cars Have now migrated to direct register integration Off Campus Vendors Configure and deploy new readers (contract change over anyway) Campus Partners Heavily utilized the Atrium web reader Some groups wanted handhelds Scrambling to configure
REVIEW AFTER IMPLEMENTATION Review Card Staff prospective Staff happy Glitches sometimes but downtime is usually brief Still coordination with IT Larger system affecting actions Developing scenarios New emergency plan Application support Dining Staff prospective Love the increased uptime Some difficulties with initial migration Learning a new system (forgetting their accounts) Student prospective They have no idea Administration prospective I still have a job
LAND SCAPE CURRENTLY A few years later New Vice President New ideas Animosity Some groups still frustrated Budget Crisis (sort of) What can we cut? Time for a system review Proof in the pudding Spreadsheet time
COST BREAKDOWN Install Cost Cost Comparision Implementation Atrium Sequoia Pharos Licensing and Implementation Reused all existing hardware Licensing Rip and Replace USA Tech New Readers Off Campus (Milk Money) New Readers 550 Atrium 187 Other System Upfront layout - BIG $550,000
COST BREAKDOWN Licensing Cost Comparision Software Costs Atrium Sequoia Pharos etc. Atrium: $500,000 Other: $800,000 1050 987 Atrium Other System
COST BREAKDOWN Hardware costs Cost Comparision Really only two categories Registers Readers Costs Atrium (open bid): $290,000 Other (requirement to purchase): $550,000 1340 1537 Atrium Other System
COST BREAKDOWN Staff/System reallocation Cost Comparision Servers Paying a server administrator salary Just to manage our servers Cloud hosted now Server cost Refresh cycle for new system 1340 2067 Cost Savings Other: $530,000 Atrium Other System
COST BREAKDOWN Increased Uptime Cost Comparision Reduction in downtime Estimated 60-72 hours per year saved 2067 Cost Realized ~$60,000 a year 1040 Impact Dining benefit Students and staff not impacted Atrium Other System
OTHER IMPROVEMENTS Unrealized improvements Atrium Web Readers Popularity has been huge Student groups Administrative offices Library University Life Other campus venues Almost 200 readers
LAND SCAPE CURRENTLY Unrealized improvements Colloribation and Innovation Custom development Raspberry Pi Options as features released New Level of Service Custom plans Quicker reactions to events
QUESTIONS Questions? Contact Danny Anthes (IT Manager) danthes1@gmu.edu 703-993-2627