December 2012 Archives

University of Minnesota Virtual Private Network (VPN) services is offering updated AnyConnect clients for Mac and Windows-based machines. AnyConnect clients support 32-bit and 64-bit processors, mobile clients, and native clients. Download AnyConnect VPN clients.

About VPN

The Virtual Private Network (VPN) service makes it appear as though you are inside the University network when you cannot be; it enables a more secure connection to the University network when you are:

• Using wireless
• Connecting from a non-University Internet Service Provider
• Transmitting sensitive data accessing restricted University resource

VPN is offered at no charge to University affiliates.

The annual data center maintenance outage is scheduled for 6 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 5, with restoration scheduled to begin at 6 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. It is expected that all affected services will be restored by noon Sunday. The maintenance outage requires a complete shutdown of the main data center in WBOB, and will affect many IT services.

The outage is required in order to perform necessary maintenance, testing and repairs to facility infrastructure, and involves a complete shutdown of the main data center, resulting in interruption to IT services during that time.

As planned and socialized during the 2011 annual maintenance shutdown, the first full weekend in January following the New Year's holiday was established as the regular maintenance shutdown weekend each year going forward. The work is being planned through coordinated efforts with the IT Change Approval Board.

A complete list of affected services is available online. Regular updates also will be shared as they become available. Updates also will be available on the Data Center Operations Services website, and on the University's system status page during the service interruption period.

Posted by it-comm on behalf of Jim Hall, Director of Information Technology, UM Morris

March 18-20, 2013 | Chicago

Collaborating for the Future...Now!

Join your colleagues in Chicago for the EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional Conference 2013. Together, we'll explore the importance of creating a reflective and change-oriented IT culture.

Sessions will highlight key topics such as emerging uses of data analytics and business intelligence, enriching learning through technology, and the changing roles of IT leadership.

Don't miss this opportunity to exchange ideas with peers, grow your network, and find targeted solutions to bring back to campus!

In September, President Kaler charged University of Minnesota Information Technology to align, standardize, and professionalize our core operations. Since then, the IT Leadership Community of Practice (ITL CoP) formed. Its membership includes more than 90 IT leaders from across the University system. Collaboratively, they are working to define what alignment will mean for IT staff, units, and services. They are working to help all of us who work in IT at UMN--regardless of department or unit--learn to work as a unified group, to become a "we." I encourage you to review the list of men and women who are participating in this community. Reach out to anyone on ITL CoP to learn more about what we are doing, and what alignment means to them.

I firmly believe that, together, University of Minnesota IT can work better and smarter; we can achieve more and waste less. IT leaders from across the UMN system share the aspiration that increasingly, IT professionals will share opinions, ideas, and good practices, that we will challenge, inspire, and learn from one another.

View this three-minute video to hear what IT leaders are saying about alignment.

Google announced recently that it has extended the limit for the number of people you can invite to a Google+ Hangout from 10 to 15.

Hangouts provide the opportunity for groups of people to have a video chat using this shared space for anything from study sessions or club meetings to collaborating with colleagues all over the world. You can share your screen or add a Google Doc to get even more done with your team.

Hangouts with extras, which combines multi-person video chat with screen sharing and collaboration in Google Docs, lets you work together on projects even when your team can't be in the same room.

Students interested in Windows 8 are encouraged to do their research before changing their operating system. Because this OS is so different, designed to operate on either a tablet or a PC, Carlson School has set up a laptop for with Windows 8 installed where Carlson students can test drive prior to making the decision to install on their own PC. If you would like to learn more about our plan and process, you may contact Carlson Student Services, at csomhelp@umn.edu.

Over the past four years there has been a dedicated informal community working to improve processes in our units across campus. The group is called the Workflow Consortium, and it is has taken as it's mission to be the harbingers for process improvement at the University. Drawing members from ten different units on campus, the Workflow Consortium has advocated for a University-wide solution that provides generic workflow automation. Now, after a rigorous analysis, the University is rolling out an enterprise workflow tool, and the Workflow Consortium is excited to become a hub for an even more active community of users.

In many ways, the Workflow Consortium is an example of what a community of practice can be. The group has a team charter that is renewed annually by the members, has developed a vision that has sustained participation over more than four years, and now, with the adoption of WorkflowGen at the enterprise level, the group is excited to help the University leverage the tool and meet local business needs while creating shared operational efficiencies.

The Workflow Consortium meets monthly to share experiences, provide feedback, and strategize next steps. If you are interested in improving and automating processes in your shop, check out the Workflow Processing web page and the Workflow Consortium's Google site!