December 2008 Archives

As we transition into 2009, it's time to reflect on our goals for the coming year. I've spoken with many of you about particular projects that we are working on. But I believe all our projects are consistent with the general direction of:

1. Simplify
2. Standardize
3. Automate

We are all aware that the University faces some important budget challenges this fiscal year, and as a result OIT is being asked to do "more with less." That's a phrase that turns up whenever an organization experiences a budget shortfall. Simply put: we don't have the resources to spend like we used to, but we are still expected to deliver on services to students, faculty, and staff. And every year, those services grow - just as the University continues to grow. So we've been asked to do "more with less."

I believe the effective way to do "more with less" is to focus on what we do best, and strive to do those things in the most efficient way possible. To do that, we need to simplify how we deliver those services. By simplifying a thing, we make it easier to support, even as it grows.

For example, I recently wrote about how web hosting reached 200 sites. We realized that important milestone - without stressing out the Linux team - because central web hosting is defined very simply: customers can choose between "Basic" (http only) or "Premium" (http or https) service, and can use html, PHP, or CGI to create their web pages.

Keeping things simple also makes it easy for us to standardize the service. For example: imagine if all our Oracle database servers all ran on __ servers, with __ memory, running operating system version __. Sure, we may "over-buy" on a few systems that support smaller databases - but when every server looks the same, the Solaris team spends less time debugging system configurations. So by sticking to those standards, we lower the total cost to maintain that service over the long term.

And for a simple service that has well-defined standards, it is easy to automate the administration of the service. Using the above example, if every Oracle database runs on the same hardware configuration, improving database performance becomes a matter of the System DBA's copying the same file to all database servers - which can be done through a script. That's less time to manage an individual service - leaving more time to work on other things.

My vision with simplify, standardize, automate is to allow us all to build bigger systems, and support more of them. And that is what will allow OIT to do "more with less."

I'd like to welcome Steve Carlson and Andy Wattenhofer to the team, forming our System DBA team. Steve and Andy will focus on developing and implementing the system/operational aspects of DBA responsibilities. They will be in cubes 678A & B. Stop by and say hi!

This is a continuation of OIA organizational changes that began in October. This re-alignment will focus the responsibilities of database administrators to either the infrastructure ("System DBA") or the applications that run on it ("Application DBA"). The transition will happen over the next several months, to separate "system" from "application" processes.

Clark Johnson, Kim Laabs, Pragati Tripathi, and Jen Schepers will continue reporting to Tim Gagner, and will soon move to new offices on the south end of 6th floor WBOB. Their focus will be on the database portion of the applications that OIA currently supports. They will work closely with application support teams to continue to provide solid production support for the customers that use the applications.

In Spring 2008, OIT participated in the Pulse Plus Survey, which enabled us to understand employee perceptions of the work environment across OIT. Following the survey, senior leaders in OIT assembled a Climate Survey Action Team and charged the team to investigate areas of concern revealed by the survey and provide recommendations to improve the climate across OIT. A crucial step in the team's process was to seek additional insights beyond the survey data directly from OIT employees through focus groups and other feedback mechanisms. As a result, we have a high degree of confidence in our understanding of the issues, and senior leaders join me in fully supporting the recommendations. I join the action team in thanking all who have taken time to provide feedback throughout this process.

On Tuesday this week, the OIT supervisors participated in a very productive discussion of the recommendations generated by the Climate Survey Action Team. The recommendations report is being made available in the OIT internal wiki - Ann will send out the URL in her weekly email, tomorrow. In the coming weeks and months, all OIT supervisors together with the Strategic Leadership Team will begin implementing these recommendations. If you have any comments or feedback on the recommendations, please feel free to contact a member of the Climate Survey Action Team.

Serving on the Climate Survey Action Team: Brad Cohen, Maria Binder, Pete Bartz, me, Louis Hammond, Linda Jorn, Alyssa Peterson, Victoria Sheehan. And our deep appreciation to our partners in OHR, Susan Rafferty, Mary McDiarmid, and Patty Bales, for their invaluable expertise and guidance in helping the team meet its charge.

We reached an important milestone with our central web hosting service. As of this month, we now support 200 sites!

Central web hosting provides free or low-cost web site hosting for departments at the University - think iPowerWeb or GoDaddy, but made available specifically to departments at the U. We provide two "tiers" of service:

1. Basic (http only)
2. Premium (http or https)

If you're curious, It took us 15 months (from October 2006 to January 2008) to host our first 100 sites, but only 11 months (January 2008 to December 2008) to support those next 100 sites. The central web hosting has been a very stable service, and it's obviously still in demand. Big congratulations to the Linux team!

We all are aware of the University's current budget challenges. President Robert H. Bruininks talked about this in a recent update to faculty and staff (and to students.)

Many vendors are feeling the same economic pinch, and as a result a sales rep may contact you, trying to stay on our "radar" for upcoming projects and new work. However, with the budget the way it is, we must watch our spending even more closely than usual. That also means limiting our contact with vendors.

I'm asking all of you to help me. If a vendor calls you, simply explain we can't make any purchases that aren't already on my or Doug's list. If you're uncomfortable saying that, feel free to give the sales rep my number, and I can talk to them.

But the real problem is arranging a meeting with a vendor. Whether or not we mean to say it, having a sit-down meeting sends a message that the University is interested in buying something. And honestly, we won't be able to make any unplanned purchases for at least the rest of this fiscal year (the University's fiscal year begins and ends on July 1.)

A few months ago, we asked managers not to meet with vendors (either on-site or off-site) unless that meeting was approved by their senior manager (for Operations & Infrastructure, that's me.) Regular update meetings with vendors to discuss upcoming products, etc. are probably okay, but we still need to track them. Email approval is fine - just let me know in advance, so we can discuss it if there's a problem.

Some of you have asked about the meetings with Doug that have appeared on some of your calendars. What's "behind" the meeting? Doug would like to get to know everyone a little better, so is trying to schedule a half-hour meeting with staff in OIA and AAS, once a year. It's just a "get to know you" meeting, so bring whatever topics you would like to discuss.

However, please understand that Doug sometimes gets pulled into meetings at the last minute. So you may find your meeting with Doug gets cancelled with very little notice. This is just Doug getting double-booked, probably with something related to EFS. If a new meeting with Doug doesn't reappear on your calendar, ask JoLene Elliott to reschedule for you. JoLene is in the cube between Heather and Cleo.

This week, I received a great email spam. It wasn't great because it was spam; it was great because the message unintentionally underscored an important part of being successful. In part, the spam said:

Ever wish you could ...

• Tailor your message to achieve complete buy-in on your ideas and proposals?
• Disarm others' "hot buttons" and put people at ease — even in the heat of an argument?
• Win arguments without losing friends?
• Deliver razor-sharp instructions that get things done — without coming off like an annoying perfectionist?
• Become so persuasive that your requests are rarely denied?

The email was advertising a workshop about communication (Solution Publishing, for CareerTrack's "How to Communicate with Tact and Professionalism") but really most of this is achieved automatically when we set the context of a conversation.

Think about the meetings you attend, and the conversations you have with others. By not providing context, requests are perceived as demands, questions are taken as criticism, vision statements are interpreted as orders. The rest of the conversation "inexplicably" takes on a negative tone. How many meetings have you attended where this has happened?

When we take a few moments at the beginning of the conversation, provide background information and explain the context of the questions, everything is perceived differently by your audience. Context sets a positive tone of the conversation that follows.

Take a moment in your meetings to create context, and evaluate with others if you have provided sufficient background information before discussion begins. I think you'll find that your meetings will go much more smoothly.