Majority of UIT moving to one building later this year

The lease has been signed, and now it’s official: University Information Technology (UIT) will reside under a new roof later this year.

Due to a number of factors, not everyone will be moving – but it’s a huge step towards reducing silos and increasing collaboration between UIT departments.

“We want to get our IT people together as best we can, to develop an IT culture and reduce some of the duplication and communication breakdowns that we have as a result of being in separate facilities,” said Steve Hess, Chief Information Officer.

The new building is called 102 Tower, located at 180 East and 100 South, and will be a welcome improvement for many UIT employees currently working in basement cubicles. 

“The space is going to be open landscape. That’s what IT shops are going to,” said Hess. “It enhances collaboration and increases productivity. People are much more willing to talk to each other.”

Office layout and design, as it turns out, are huge factors in recruiting new IT talent.

“The spaces at Oracle, Adobe, and others around the Point of the Mountain are very nice,” said Hess. “[They have] windows and nice open layouts where people can work and collaborate.”

UIT’s current facilities in 585 Komas and the Park Building simply can’t accommodate those kinds of layouts – but 102 Tower can.

“It’s a beautiful building,” said Hess. “There will be very nice restrooms, plenty of elevator space, lots of windows, high ceilings – the whole works.”

Located across the street from City Creek Center and Harmons, 102 Tower will also house its own deli for employees – in addition to the surplus of restaurants surrounding the building.

Those worried about potential extra commute time should rest easy.

“We’ve timed how long it takes to get from 102 Tower to campus [in a car], and it’s actually less time than coming from Research Park to campus,” said Hess.

The building is half a block away from the main bus line, and a block and a half away from the nearest Trax stop. Additionally, there will be a shuttle between 102 Tower and campus that runs every 15 minutes.

“Commuting times for many people will be cut down,” said Hess.

Those who choose to drive and park at 102 Tower will need to pay for parking, but UIT will provide a stipend to those employees to help reduce (but not erase) the cost.

“It should equalize [the cost] so that it costs about the same as an A permit,” said Hess. “The realities of going down there are such that when you go downtown, you have to pay for parking.”

Hess emphasized in addition to the parking at 102 Tower, there is a parking garage right next door, and even less expensive parking options within a block or two.

The move is expected to take place sometime between October and December of 2016. Department staff currently on the list to move – with some exceptions – are the Chief Technology Officer organization (including both help desks), Common Infrastructure Services (CIS), Finance, the Information Security Office (ISO), the Project Management Office (PMO), Strategic Communication, Unified Communications (UC), University Support Services (USS), and all Information Technology Services (ITS) employees who currently reside in 585 Komas (along with some from 650 Komas).

“Spatially, people will be with the people they work with most,” said Hess. “The collaboration should go up, and so should productivity."

“That building will come alive,” he said. “We’re going to have a lot of folks there.”

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Note: Photos sourced from The Boyer Company.

 

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