navigating technology change campus-wide technology assessment report overview june 13, 2008

Navigating Technology Change www.plannet.net

Campus-WideTechnology Assessment

Report Overview

June 13, 2008


Agenda • Report Layout

• Summary of Findings

• Recommendations and Roadmap

• Rough Order of Magnitude Costs

• Questions


Report Layout • Executive Summary: Summarizes findings and recommendations

• Project Background: Summarizes purpose of project and methodology utilized

• Infrastructure: Identifies architecture, hardware / software, organizational, and operational gaps and recommendations in the following areas:

o General: Focuses on VVC network

o Web: Web-based servers and applications

o Instructional Technology: Learning / classroom technologies


Report Layout(continued)

• ADA: Makes recommendations for better use of AV technologies for meeting ADA standards

• Business Continuity: Evaluates business continuity plans and processes with an additional emphasis on backup and restore methods

• Technical Services: Two topics are covered:

o Staffing: Assesses the Tech Services department’s staffing and organization model

o IT Services: Recommends improvements for customer service and operational policies, processes and systems


Report Layout(continued)

• Application Performance: Evaluates five applications (Blackboard, Datatel, GroupWise, Financial 2000 and the county financial system [Snow White]) and makes recommendations for improved performance

• Registration: Presents ways to enhance VVC’s registration system

• Implementation Roadmap: A prioritized list of implementation actions

• Financial Considerations: ROM costs for recommendations

• Appendices


Summary of Findings

• Infrastructure

o The VVC network and web infrastructure design does not meet the college’s stated 24 x 7 availability service levels

o There is little or no policy, procedure, or general documentation for the campus network, servers or applications

o Lack of instructional technology standards has created an unsupportable and ineffective environment


Summary of Findings(continued)

• ADA: VVC does not have a program for ADA compliance, this includes accessibility standards, course content standards, and training for both staff and end users

• Business Continuity

o There is no business continuity capability / program. This includes the lack of a risk officer, business and technical recovery plans, an emergency communication plan, and workflow documentation.

o VVC has insufficient storage infrastructure and backup capability to ensure data recovery

o Industry accepted storage management practices are not being employed



• Technical Services Staffing

o VVC lacks technology leadership and governance

o The majority of Technical Services departments are understaffed and there is little or no professional development and staff evaluation

o Lack of a functional IT help desk (insufficient structure and process) handicaps the ability to properly load resources and respond to demand

o End-user training is not occurring for key enterprise systems



• IT Services

o Technical Services does not have an effective communication plan

o VVC lacks a well articulated catalog of services

o VVC lacks fundamental IT policies and documented standard operating procedures

o Industry accepted project management and IT delivery methodology are not utilized



• Application Performance

o VVC lacks formal performance benchmarks

o There is no communication plan to notify end users of system outages

o Blackboard performance and capabilities are generally regarded as suitable, although faculty state there is a critical lack of training

o Staff and faculty are frustrated with the limited feature set of GroupWise Web Access

o Financial systems management is satisfied with Financial 2000

o Some county financial modules are running on an unsupported and obsolete operating system



• Registration

o WebAdvisor is suitably customizable and extensible for future registration needs

o Priority online registration and course wait-listing via WebAdvisor is not offered

o VVC experiences an excessive amount of walk-up registrations, although student information kiosks reduce some of this traffic


Recommendationsand Roadmap

• Phase One

o Governance:

Hire a CIO

Establish a new governance structure

Develop core IT policies

Establish a communication plan

o Organization:

Establish an IT service desk

Staff new positions

o Services: Publish a catalog of services with stated service level objectives and technology standards



(continued)

• Phase One (continued)

o Infrastructure:

Architect appropriate SAN backup and recovery solution

Implement an off-site storage solution

o Applications:

Modify file resizing activities for Datatel

Implement secure protocols for GroupWise



(continued)

• Phase Two

o Governance:

Establish Web Design and Information Assurance task forces

o Organization:

Move instructional technologies resources under the deputy superintendent / executive VP of Instruction

Create training programs for technical staff and faculty

Implement budget allocations for professional development

o Services:

Establish standard IT procedures, including change, configuration and capacity management processes

Institute a business continuity program



(continued)

• Phase Two (continued)

o Infrastructure:

Deploy a redundant network core

Establish a plan and budget for refreshing end-of-life hardware

Solicit a secondary path to the Internet

o Applications:

Implement a Web content management system

Deploy a decentralized report writing utility

Roll-out a more robust IT services ticket tracking system

Upgrade hardware and licenses for Datatel



(continued)

• Phase Three

o Services:

Centralize all technology purchases through Technical Services

o Infrastructure:

Expand network monitoring tools to include performance analysis, alerting, and end-to-end application performance

Upgrade wireless infrastructure



(continued)

• Phase Three (continued)

o Applications:

Upgrade legacy instructional systems

Establish an instructional content production facility

Relocate distance learning room to a permanent location

Pursue a path toward a fully functional Datatel ERP

o Registration:

Within Datatel, implement priority registration, course wait-listing, a faculty-accepted grade book program, and chat capabilities


ROM Costs Estimated

Area Item Cost Notes

Infrastructure Implementation of redundant core $403,000

End-of-life switch replacement $1,811,000

Wireless network upgrade $189,000

NMS replacement $21,000

Sub-total for Infrastructure $2,424,000

Instructional Technology Upgrade smart classrooms $29,000 Per room

Upgrade distance learning room $100,000

Establish streaming media recording studio $20,000

Podcasting server $8,000

Recording / editing hardware and software $4,000 Per room

Sub-total for Instructional Technology $161,000

Business Continuity Redundant SAN for backup of critical data $60,000

Redundant tape drive $12,000

SAN for archive data $60,000

Software package to backup open files $15,000

Sub-total for Business Continuity $147,000

IT Services Service desk ticket tracking software $30,000 Includes integration

Sub-total for IT Services $30,000

Staffing Staffing recommendations $1,019,000 An increase of $1,019,000 over current budget

Sub-total for Staffing $1,019,000

Applications ODS (Datatel Reporting software) $25,000 Licensing and implementation

Sub-total for Applications $25,000

Grand total $3,806,000


Questions

navigating technology change campus-wide technology assessment report overview june 13, 2008

Documents

navigating technology

o staffing

o general

governance o

technology leadership

vvc network o web

organization model o

staff evaluation o lack