Download - Facing Change Together: Collaboration at the Core Lake Forest College & Kalamazoo College
Commonalities between LFC and Ko Small schools with small
endowments o Merged organizations with
similar philosophieso Oberlin Groupo Jenzabar schoolso Both working on new library
building projectso Both struggling with small staff
size and inadequate budgetso MITC/NITLE members
Getting to Where We Wished to Be
o Executive level discussion at LFCo Improve IT serviceso Add staff expertise
o Temporarily fund through grant?o Conclusion: collaborative
approach best chance of grant support
o Contacted Kalamazoo o They said yes (the fools)o Applied to Mellon - received
$200,000 grant for collaboration
What Were We Thinking?
Donnelly and Lee Library Lake Forest College
May 2003 – September 2004
Upjohn Library Commons Kalamazoo College
June 2004 – December 2005
Both Colleges were undertaking major library renovations during collaboration.
Morphing of The Concept
o Idea changes through further discussions (or, just what is it we really need, anyway?)
o Difficult to find the ideal candidate
o NITLE Conference in Lisle, IL provided more fodder for this crazy idea
Diagram 1: Productivity and Innovation Competitive Gain for Institution
Productivity Innovation Few Technology Users
III IV
Imp
act
Many Technology Users
I II
Using IT for Competitive Advantage
4. Training
1. Administrative
8. Student
6. Hardware Installation
3. Desktop Repair
2. Helpline
9. Network
7. Web
5. Curricular
Decision to Hire Consultant
o Dynamic Campus Solutions (DCS) selected to advise us on collaboration opportunities and prepare us to collaborate
o A solid technology foundationo Reliable systems and network
connectivityo Sufficient/spare Internet
bandwidtho Integrated networks and
systemso Directed, knowledgeable,
committed staff
Successful Collaboration Needs
Opportunities for Collaborationo DCS recommendations for possible
collaboration :o Network Services
o Shared network maintenance & supporto Shared Groupware system
o Help Desk Serviceso Shared phone operatorso Shared Help Desk system
o Phone Serviceo New Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP)
phone systemo Shared PBX administration
o Web Serviceso Shared Liquid Matrixo Shared Content Management
o Administrative Computing (ERP)
Selection of Projects o Shared Help Desk environment-
Help Desk softwareo Shared Groupware – (email,
calendar/scheduling system)o VoIP analysis and deploymento Install campus-wide shared
network monitoringo Upgrade Internet connectivityo Review administrative shadow
systemso Consolidate and optimize
servers
Evaluation & Implementationo Groupware evaluated
o Novell Groupwiseo LotusNoteso Microsoft Exchange
o Help Desk systems evaluated
o Track-Ito FrontRange HEATo RT (open source)
Groupware
o Do you have a Groupware product?
1. Exchange2. Groupwise 3. LotusNotes 4. Oracle Collaboration Suite 5. Open Source 6. Other
Track-ITo How many of you have Help
Desk software?o Is it homegrown, commercial
or open source product?1. Homegrown2. Commercial3. Open Source
o Are you satisfied with your product?
History of Collaboration2003
Spring LFC and K decide to collaborate on a Mellon Grant
August$200,000 Grant received
Fall Meeting in Kalamazoo, Jim and Lisa discuss approaches
History of Collaboration2004
Feb LFC and K meet potential consultants for the first time—still thinking about ERP collaboration
Winter Discussions with GLCA Director resulted in suggestion to hire consultants
for project rather than hire a shared project manager
Spring Negotiations with consultants
Summer Consultant campus Visit to Kalamazoo College
Fall Consultant campus Visit to Lake Forest College
Nov Technology Improvement Plan received results in staffing changes at K
and LFC
Nov NITLE conference in Lisle, Illinois-further discussions ensued with
Presidents and CIOs
Dec Meeting at LFC to discuss specifics of collaboration after both reviews – “Preparation for Collaboration”
History of Collaboration2005
Jan Signed implementation agreement with consultants
Feb-Dec Implementation
April Demos of Groupware and Help Desk systems
May - August Implementation of Groupware and Help Desk systems
September Fall Semester roll out
Dec Wrote second grant to Mellon for training
Political issues (or now the fun begins)
o System architecture
o What architecture do you use?
1. UNIX2. Microsoft 3. Novell 4. HPux
Data Center
o Evaluation of our current centers led to decision to contract with a data center in Chicago to house servers
o Redundant power, multiple access to multiple ISPs
o Expansion if collaboration grows
Outcomes
o All servers in Chicago data center
o Separate server farms for groupware and network file storage
o Shared server for Help Desk systems
Immediate Savings
o Not as significant as could beo Negotiated for DS-3’s together o Better pricing on Microsoft
software than if negotiated separately
o Some savings on purchase of hardware
o Definite savings on purchase of Track-IT software and hardware
Where We are Nowo Informal sharing of resources
o Staff expertiseo Staff assistance
o Track-ITo Running on same servero Can see each other’s ticketso Poised for further collaboration
o Groupwareo Separate servers, but sharing
back-up strategyo Poised for further collaboration
Where We Hope to Be
o Positioned for sharing staff
o Systems administrationo .NET programming expertiseo VoIP implementationo Help Desk — deeper
collaborationo Sharing tools and best
practiceso Adding additional partners