top issues facing information technology
TRANSCRIPT
Top Issues Facing Information Technology
at UAB
Sheila M. SandersUAB Vice President Information Technology
February 8, 2007
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Areas of Focus
Top Issues Facing IT in Higher Education Top IT Priorities and Plans at UAB IT Organizational Changes to reflect priorities IT Vision
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Top IT Concerns in Higher Ed
Campus Computing ProjectTop Five Concerns Network and data security Helping faculty integrate technology into instruction Upgrading/replacing ERP systems User support Funding hardware and software replacement
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Top IT Issues in Higher Education
2006 EDUCAUSE Current Issues Survey Critical for Institutions’ Strategic Success
Security and identity management Funding ITAdministrative/ERP/Information systemsDisaster recovery/Business continuity Faculty development, support, and training
Expenditure of Most Human and/or Financial ResourcesAdministrative/ERP/Information SystemsInfrastructureSupport Services/Service Delivery Models Security and Identity Management Electronic classrooms/Technology Buildings Models
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Top Trends in IT (Educause Current Issues)
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Top IT Priorities at UAB
Data Security Program Replacement of our Administrative Systems Support for Research Support for Teaching and Learning Portal and Web Strategy
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UAB Data Security Program
Developed a data security program in 2006 with the following key elements:
Appointed a Data Security Officer and recruited staff
Began revising of our Data Security Policy Defined the roles and responsibilities for all members of the UAB community Added responsibilities for those maintaining sensitive information
Developed a standard for data security incident response Appointed a Incident Response Committee Published a process for reporting incidents on the Data Security web site Weekly review of incidents
Developed a Security Training Plan General training and awareness for all employees
Purchased an on line security module Will be made available through BlazerNET to all faculty, staff and students
Targeted IT Security training Charged IT Directors with documenting employees responsibilities for security in job
description and review annually
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Replacement of our Administrative Systems
Recent Successes: Oracle HR/Payroll and Finance modules Development, Alumni and Equipment Accounting
Systems
Underway: Student Information System
Implement for the Fall Class of 2007 Important ancillary projects
Operational Data StoreXtender imaging system
Integration with BlazerNET portal for single sign on Improved reporting environment
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Research(Support Systems)
Research Support Systems: Trends
Increased regulatory environment New requirements for online grant submissions Competition for research dollars
Underway and under consideration Replacing paper forms and routing for grant documentation, IRB, IACUC Web access to the ESYS grants pre-award budget system Review products on the market
Oracle pre-awardsExternal grant submissions systemsOracle workflowNo one vendor solution
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Research(Networks and Computing)
High Performance Networks Continue to invest in on campus upgrades and infrastructure Evolution of the Internet
1980s UAB joins BITNET which evolves into the Commodity Internet
1990s UAB becomes an Internet2 member Today -
» Final Stages of completing our connection to the Southern Light Rail and the National Lambda Rail (Internet 3)- Dark fiber obtained by UA, UAB, and UAH- Partnered with NASA and Georgia Board of Regents- Lower cost Internet and Internet 2 connectivity- Extends the boundaries of the campus network for external
collaborations
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Research(Networks and Computing)
High Performance Computing Today Enabling Technology Lab and the Shared High Performance
Computing Lab Expertise in Grid Computing on Campus
In the process of connecting the CS cluster with the ETL (eng) cluster
Participant of SURA Grid Academic Computing middleware research – scheduling and
identity management Recently added to our compute power by purchasing the IBM
Blue GeneL Supercomputer
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Research(Networks and Computing)
Next Steps Organize a strategic planning effort sponsored by the VPs for
Research and IT Widespread involvement of stakeholders Direction and validation for infrastructure planning, networks,
computing, tools and support
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Support for Teaching and Learning
Recent successes: Moved to one standard for all course management systems at UAB –
WebCT Vista Increased use in employee training
Hospital Compliance Data Security Research Compliance
Integrated with BlazerNET on my courses and training tab
Next steps Organize for better support of online and in person classes Initiated a Classroom Enhancement Project
Joint Charge by Provost and VP IT Make recommendations for the following areas
Room layout and designStandards for technology Support (technology and training faculty)
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Portal and Web Strategy
Critical to our image and in the way we communicate with our constituents
Next Steps Continue role based service delivery Continue to implement single sign for most systems at
UAB through BlazerNET Continue to refine our search capabilities Support standards for external facing pages Development of dark sites for emergencies Web site contingency plan
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The Vision for IT at UAB
Information will be easy to find and easy to use
IT will be a partner in Research, Teaching, Learning, and HealthCare at UAB