July 2011 Archives

The ultimate goal for many higher ed institutions is to provide scalable resources on demand. But the greatest obstacle faced by most college and university IT departments during periods of growth is infrastructure sprawl. When IT infrastructure is deployed to meet growing administrative demands, the traditional approach has been to create distinct silos that support individual applications and services. Unfortunately, this results in an extremely slow, inefficient use of resources across the campus.

So how are we approaching this problem at Morris?

My approach today is to minimize our server infrastructure at the Morris campus, taking advantage of server hosting by OIT. We aren't eliminating our servers, but reducing our systems to what provides the most benefits to campus. We're leveraging the OIT virtual server hosting service, so OIT manages the operating systems and the hardware, and we support the applications and configuration.

Interestingly, I initiated the virtual server hosting right before I left OIT, so now I'm a customer of what I helped set up.

I'm also focusing on reducing individual "point solutions" in favor of shared services model. For example, moving our 5 web servers for personal web sites down to 1 server. This helps us reduce costs, while making it easier for Computing Services to support the campus. Especially because it allows us to focus their time on the faculty and students, and less so on managing a bunch of server hardware.

While cleaning out some file cabinets in my office, I uncovered a stack of old University of Minnesota newsletters. After checking with the various University library archivists to see if anyone wanted them (they already had copies) I started moving them to the recycling bin. One newsletter (from Academic Computing Services, the forerunner to the Office of Information Technology) caught my eye with this article: "Changes on the Horizon - The Role of the CIO" by Mark Luker, Acting Chief Information Officer.

I found the article an interesting snapshot of the state of IT at the University, and a good marker against how far we've come as "one IT" at the University. I'd like to share the entire article with you, verbatim. I don't think the University will mind.

University of Minnesota
ACS Newsletter
Information Services
Vol. 24, No. 4 - April 1991

Changes on the Horizon - The Role of the CIO
Mark Luker
Acting Chief Information Officer

In 1990 the University established a new administrative position, the Chief Information Offier, charged with creating a new, integrated approach to our information technology, one that spans academic and administrative computing, networks and telephones, video and multimedia instruction, libraries and databases, and strategies and policies across the entire institution. This decision recognized the new, critical importance of these services for quality instruction and research, as well as the fact that each is converging on the same basic technologies - digital electronics and computer networks - and so can benefit from coordinated planning and support. By taking the broader view, by working together, we can accomplish more and do it sooner. This new approach will require a basic shift in our ways of looking at information technologies and, eventually, our organizations that support these services in the University.

What is the nature of the shift? Some trends are clear - centralized computing is becoming distributed; libraries are making increasing use of networks to share and distribute information; data processing is giving way to information support systems; a small number of "open systems" are replacing many proprietary designs; point-and-click user interfaces are supplanting complex commands; client/server designs are simplifying access to information; graphics, FAX, voice, and video are moving into the workstations; and all will be linked together locally as well as nationally through the Internet. (Each of these points is a major topic of discussion in its own right.) Other developments are less clear, though probably even more revolutionary. All promise fundamental improvements in the ways we conduct our affairs as a University.

At Minnesota we will use two basic models to chart and maintain our new course. In the first place, we will use strategic planning across all departments and technologies to identify the fundamental issues, problems, and opportunities that confront us and to select our basic responses. These issues will likely as not involve funding, training, organization, and other non-technical matters, and must be identified by our academic clients and justified in terms of our institutional goals. Secondly, we will use Total Quality Management, TQM, to focus our daily operations on the actual needs of our faculty and students, to measure their information technology problems, and to help solve them. This approach leads to a process of continuous improvement punctuated by breakthroughs to entirely new methods.

Although both systems take time to work, a number of problems have already been identified and can be addressed now. We plan, for example, to establish a single "help line" for questions regarding microcomputers, LAN's, mainframes, national networks, administrative systems, libraries, and telephones. Similarly, we plan to redesign our newsletters to provide a more coordinated view of all information services available at the University, leading eventually to a single newsletter of general interest and a collection of supplements and on-line bulletins for special needs. Both moves will require an explicit definition of our combined service offerings, to be determined through strategic planning and TQM to best serve the needs of the community. In the end, this will lead to a simpler by more powerful system of support for our faculty and students, and one that will respond more rapidly to changes in technology and needs.

The Information Services header on the cover of this newsletter signals the beginning of this process. You can expect to see specific service improvements in the near future, as well as the increased communications with clients required to maintain our long-term process of continuous improvement. You, as a client of the University's combined information services, will play a central role in the planning for these developments and our evaluation of their success. Please let us know how we are doing. Please suggest improvements. Thank you for your help.

If you're curious what else was happening in 1991, some other items from the April 1991 newsletter:

• Lotus 1-2-3 on the VAX VZ
• ML3 on the VAX VX
• How to save LUMINA sessions on an IBM PC
• Using the AppleShare File Server from a Mac or PC
• Take a free computing class this Spring

Take a moment, and think back to what IT was like 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago.

In 1981, corporate IT was just beginning to take notice of the "personal computer" as a possible business tool. If you are old enough, you may remember that the late 1970s saw the introduction of the first Apple, the Commodore PET, and Radio Shack's TRS-80 personal computer. But it wasn't until IBM introduced the IBM Model 5150 (better known as the IBM-PC) in August 1981 that companies realized the desktop "microcomputer" as a business tool. Today, we've moved beyond simple "desktop" computers - our IT environment is filled with laptops, netbooks, tablets, and even smartphones.

In 1991, the World Wide Web was barely conceived as an idea on the alt.hypertext newsgroup on USENET. Today, we can hardly think of doing any business without the Web at some layer.

As each of these new technologies were introduced, old technologies fell behind. For example, the IBM-PC marked the eventual death of the mainframe. People no longer needed a big central system to do their work. By the 1990s, mainframes were rare finds in any IT backoffice, usually left supporting legacy financial systems.

Now shift your "lens" to look forward. What technologies will fall away? Global Knowledge provides their list of 10 tech skills that are heading the way of the dinosaur:

1. Software installation and support. More systems are moving to "The Cloud" and "Software as a Service" ("SaaS").

2. Email.

3. Telephony. PBX systems are large and expensive, compared to "Voice over IP" ("VoIP") and individual mobile phones. Messaging (chat) is also playing a role in pushing out telephony.

4. IPv4 networks. We're moving on to IPv6. Are you ready?

5. Typing.

6. Non-TCP/IP networks. How many IPX/SPX networks do you see anymore? (Do you even know what IPX/SPX is?)

7. Hardware.

8. HTML-only web development.

9. Older server operating systems and server-based applications.

10. COBOL. But we've been predicting this one for years. Will we finally see the "death" of COBOL as more conventional server-based applications are re-written for the Cloud?

I've talked before about how not to use Powerpoint in a presentation. In general, keep your presentation clear, concise, and only use a few highly illustrative slides to back up your talking points. A photo. A chart. 2 or 3 bullet points. Let your audience focus on you, not your Powerpoint slides. Powerpoint should not be a beautiful impediment to understanding.

There's also your presentation style. Steve Jobs has an excellent presentation style: very relaxed, but engaged, putting his topic in a context that reaches his audience on their terms. Go on YouTube and look for any presentations by Steve Jobs.

Let me show you how not to give a presentation. Last week, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would support video chat using Skype. Learning from Zuck's presentation, here are a few things he did wrong:

• Zuck started the presentation with a lot of complex charts and graphs. Did he really believe that his audience understood a "log-normalized" graph? The audience lost their attention and grew restless before Zuck had reached his big announcement about Skype.
• He wasn't relaxed, or didn't appear to be. Not the repeated use of "Umm", and the inflection at the end of sentences. Clearly he didn't practice his talk in front of a "test" audience before the big announcement.
• There was no "oomph" behind his announcement of Facebook's partnership with Skype. It almost seemed like Skype was "meh" to him.
• Use of technical terminology and jargon. "PM" is a typical abbreviation for "Project Manager" - but only if you work in project management. Again, did his audience know this term? Facebook's audience is everyone, regardless of background.
• After making your big point, if you have to stop and explain why it's important, you didn't set it up correctly.
• Check your appearance. Steve Jobs has cultivated a particular style - his "trademark" black turtleneck and jeans. He's instantly recognizable, and evokes "geek" or "artist" while at the same time remaining professional. In contrast, Mark Zuckerberg chose a plain grey shirt, faded blue jeans, and sneakers.

I'd like to take note that I've been with the University of Minnesota Morris for 1 year. My first day at Morris, as Director of Information Technology, was July 12 2010.

What a year it's been! I work with a great team, and we've made a lot of progress over the last 12 months.

It's important to recognize our accomplishments during this time. A few of the things we have done:

• Migrated the campus to Gmail / Google Apps
• Implemented the Master Calendar
• Created the Morris Campus Directory web site
• Retired the VAX
• Installed an updated campus web cam
• Closed most of our audit findings (2007)

But it's not all about what we've already done, what we've delivered to campus. Here are a few projects that we are working on for the summer/fall:

• Campus network upgrade
• Active Directory implementation (file shares, network login)
• Personal web site hosting for faculty/staff
• Zimride (ride sharing)
• Pharos 360

Here's looking ahead to another great year at Morris!

The IT Leadership Alliance ("ITLA", the all-campus IT Directors group that I am part of) works with the Office of Information Technology ("OIT", at the Twin Cities campus) on IT strategy, including IT direction and tools. Recently, OIT announced a new IT service management tool. You may have used Service Center in the past, particularly if you are familiar with the OIT helpdesk. The new tool is called ServiceNow, and will replace Service Center.

ServiceNow will be rolled out across OIT starting this summer. IT departments (including Computing Services) will get ServiceNow in December.

From the OIT announcement:*

The Office of Information Technology (OIT) announces the selection of a new IT Service Management (ITSM) tool to replace HP Service Center, ServiceNow. The selection is the result of rigorous planning, investigation, testing, and negotiation in collaboration with the University of Minnesota IT community.

Like HP Service Center, ServiceNow enables ticketing, however its capabilities are expanded as it more thoroughly supports Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) processes. ITIL is the most widely adopted approach for IT Service Management in the world. OIT is adopting ITIL methodologies to create efficiencies and improve service. OIT intends to leverage ServiceNow to support key ITIL processes described below.

• Service Level Management (Monitor and review of the arrangements set with internal IT support providers and vendors)
• Catalog and Request Management (Provide consistent and current information about available services including their operational status, interfaces, and dependencies)
• Change Management (Add, modify, or remove anything with impact on IT)
• Knowledge Management (Ensure the right information is delivered to the right people)
• Incident Management (Be accountable for Incidents, or unplanned interruptions to service, from beginning to end)
• Problem Management (Diagnose the root cause of Incidents)
• Configuration Management (Discover University IT assets and how they support business processes)

These processes will be represented in ServiceNow's customizable interface as workflows that define what tasks need to performed when and by whom, with triggers for manager review and approval.

* Today's reflection is from the IT Directors group ("ITLA"), from several weeks ago:

On the topic of growing IT costs - At the Mid-West Educause Mark McDonald (of Gartner) explained how IT has become very efficient at implementing projects that don't matter and don't meet actual business needs. I wonder how much of the IT growth is due to project creep, flip-flopping, or re-implementation as IT struggles to determine needs (in a strategic competitive advantage sense)?

An interesting concept he brings up is: How much time you spend on something is not an indicator of how well you do it.

Cliff Lynch's keynote address Information Technology as a Strategic Campus Resource, presented at the Northeast Regional Computing Program (NERCOMP) 2011 conference - that we are moving from IT providing the infrastructure to providing expertise instead - is right on target and matches what Mark McDonald is also saying. Just as we've moved from a time when Universities built their own mainframe computers (yes, from scratch) to a time of commodity computers we are also moving from building applications to a time of commodity services.

We now operate in an environment where users select their IT services from a wide portfolio of commodity and customized service providers. I like how he points out that we need to move to a new risk model where we no longer provide the walled off system, but rather distribute the risk ownership to the end users who are selecting the services. Scary I know, but how many mobile devices (tablets, phones, ereaders) currently contain confidential or private U data with no professional IT support in place? In my mind the future has arrived and we need to learn the new landscape.

* Thanks to Steve W