IT Support & Maintenance Annual Review (2014) Jim McCarter Senior IT Technologist II Brock Ellis IT Technologist II Facilities Services, Comm & Info Services Oct. 30, 2013
Change continues to be a theme this year and IT Support & Maintenance is playing a vital role in the evolution of Facilities as a whole. First and foremost, by introducing new technologies into the workforce, in a time where it is more common to own a cellphone instead of a house phone, we are moving in a direction to make our workforce more mobile and put information at our employee s fingertips. This is why IT Support & Maintenance is an integral part of Facilities Services moving forward. With the introduction of new technology into every division of Facilities Services, the demand for IT Support & Maintenance will continue to grow in the future, as will our role in streamlining day-to-day operations. Some highlights this year included: The installation of a new computer station for general employee use, at Berry Hall Facilities Services web site was updated to give it a new look and to make it easier to use. Assisted in merger of Facilities and Security s Skyboxes IT Support & Maintenance continues to grow and evolve to meet the new challenges given to us. We explore new technologies daily in order to find what methods are best tailored to meet the requests of our diverse department and look forward to another year of doing so.
IT Support & Maintenance consists of four subservices: infrastructure, data management, communications, and PC support. These make up the vital technological backbone for all of Facilities and will lead the way for a more responsive and customer oriented Facilities Services in the future. Infrastructure includes all hardware, networking, and operating system software in the department, including: Infrastructure (4) Primary Servers soon to be moved to a virtual server system All Network Equipment & Cabling will maintain in current building and oversee new equipment in future building PC Support System Software planned replacement schedule: every 4-5 years Other software maintenance/ support Data Management MS-Access client/postgresql Server database software: to be converted into new Archibus database Web portal systems: Chemical Inventory, Event Solicitations, Housing Key Management, SCADA interfacing, etc. Communications Motorola Radio System Cell Phone Support in a (BYOD) Bring Your Own Device System Soon to add several hundred of tablet devices. Website Support - Re-designs and updates
IT Support & Maintenance has continued to deliver superior support for communications, infrastructure, and PC Support to all of Facilities Services. Helped merge Facilities Services and Security skyboxes into one cohesive enviroment. Assisted in the installation of fire alarm and A.C. control systems accross campus. Satellite computer labs have been installed across campus to allow easier access to employees online paychecks and to take advantage of our training initiatives. Computer security has been strengthened with the removal of user s Administrator rights from all PCs. The Facilities web site has been updated to give it a fresh new look and to allow for easier access to information for both customers and internal employees. Overall I believe that our team has excelled this year in all aspects of IT support and customer service. With the administration s perennial support, our team can continue to flourish and exceed expectations throughout the next year, and well into the future of our department.
Needs Assessment Looking at our group s needs for next year and the years following, it is clear that we will face some daunting tasks. With the introduction of a new database and work order system there will be a need to introduce new technology to maximize the potential of said system. Some form of a tablet will have to be acquired and distributed in order to streamline our new work order and inventory systems. IT support will continue to lean on our good relationships with the Training and Development division to help educate our staff members on this new technology. In order to prepare us to train others, several different types of tablets will need to be acquired in the near future to test and educate ourselves. With the steep rise in the amount of technology that we support, there is more than enough work to go around. We need to look at the possibility of hiring another (FTE) Full Time Employee to help support our current systems and hardware, or at the very least hire more student employees to take on the more medial everyday tasks. One of our goals last year was to institute more remote service solutions, and utilizing a program like Bomgar would help us do so. It is also important to institute a career ladder for IT support & Maintenance to help retain employees, with a more competitive salary and give them a roadmap for advancement.
The future of Communications and IT Support & Maintenance looks bright. Opportunities for growth and expansion through employee awareness & communications, technology, and training is unbound. Information Technology continues to move rapidly toward mobile apps and cloudbased computing. Hardware is also moving in that direction as well (smart phones, tablets, and other handhelds); ultimately, mobile apps are what will drive all those devices. Not only will IT Support & Maintenance need to convert our web sites to be more mobile device compatible, but the applications we currently run on our PCs will need to be migrated toward that movement as well. Creating WEB 2.0 compliant web sites and portals will allow Facilities Services to be more accessible to more people in more locations. Providing more robust and reliable remote user support to end-users will also free up IT personnel, making them more readily available to all end-users throughout the day.
For IT Support and Maintenance to realize our full potential it is paramount for us to continue to work in unison with the other divisions within our department, especially Communications & Public Relations and Employee Training & Development. With the organization s new efforts to better prepare our employees and to encourage a more customer oriented image with the University, our divisions will need to continue to build upon our already strong relationships with one another to help everyone realize their goals. Points of emphasis for IT Support & Maintenance in the next year should be: Implement new IT system; migrate data; train users Keeping up with the newest technologies and how best to use them Convert account structure to new reorganized units Maintain aging network wiring not cost effective to upgrade until physical move Put a stronger emphasis on security and end user education of cyber threats Research solutions for backing up user data on their individual PCs. (Especially the computers that are kept in Environmental Controls)
IT Support & Maintenance Goals and Objectives (2015): Archibus System Implementation (support users & system once we implement in January) Radios/pagers (continued support/ maintenance) PC Software support/maintenance (SCUPP for 2015) Peripheral support/ maintenance (printers, hubs, other hardware) Mobile device implementation (before and after Archibus go live date) Find create ways to secure devices and lock down access Server moves into OIT s virtual environment -phase out servers (Web server to OIT virtual environment, PP3 to SharePoint, DBS to Archibus) Web site development (Entire Website redesign; continued updates; Archibus integration) Mobile Apps (look at supplying smart phone/tablet apps to campus community Archibus & BRG clients) Barcoding implementation once Archibus is online and familiar
Perfomance Tracking To track performance of our goals, certain benchmarks need to be reviewed on a regular basis. These follow-up meetings and performance evaluations act as a checks & balance system to both track the progress toward completion of our goals, and to make sure that our goals are still viable. Weekly meetings are held with the entire Communications & Information Services unit to provide a brief summary of the week s projects as well as projections for the next week s projects. Briefs are given from each division: Office of Sustainability, Communications, IT Support & Maintenance, and Employee Development & Training. Quarterly meetings are held with each individual division to review divisional goals and to modify them when necessary. An annual review is required of each division between October and November to formally lay out a new vision and strategic plan for the individual divisions. Performance reviews in January are directly tied to performance of divisions in their efforts and actions toward reaching their set goals for the year.
Jim McCarter Sr. Computer Support Specialist Network/ Hardware/PC support Brock Ellis IT Technologist II Computer support specialist backup/ Web programming/ Mobile Devices Laurel Folger Student Intern IT Support & Maintnenance