UIT has successful fiscal year, looks to improve in FY17
It’s been a busy 12 months for University Information Technology (UIT). The past fiscal year (FY16) showed a whole lot of wins for the organization, and, ultimately, the University of Utah.
“Overall, I’m just really pleased with the staff and how they’ve responded in catching up on our IT projects,” said Steve Hess, Chief Information Officer (CIO). “I think we’ve got a good team, and we have a strategic plan now, both for UIT and an overall draft for IT governance.”
 |
|
Steve Hess, Chief Information Officer |
"We are going through some exciting times here at the University, especially in IT. As I was reviewing our accomplishments over the past year, I was extremely proud of all the work we have done," said John Nixon, Senior Chief Administrative Officer and CFO. "Technology is at the core in supporting the academic, research, and clinical missions of the University."
During FY16, UIT engaged Deloitte Consulting to perform a holistic assessment of information technology services and operations, with a primary focus on the central IT services offered by UIT. The 13-week assessment resulted in 28 recommendations from Deloitte.
"Looking forward, we are very pleased to have the Deloitte study as a road map of the critical things we need to do to optimize our use of technology here on campus," said Nixon. "Under Dr. Hess's leadership, we have transformed the governance process and we have the right team in place to implement Deloitte's recommendations."
“We’ve already gotten a lot done,” added Hess. “But we’ve still got a lot to do.”
Major accomplishments during the year included network improvements, a new IT governance process, the creation of a Project Management Office, catching up on PeopleSoft upgrades, significant progress on the Identity & Access Management (IAM) program, combining the ITS and UIT help desks under the same organization, and finding a new home for the majority of UIT employees – just to name a few.
Looking ahead, Hess has already identified new priorities to focus on.
“We need defined common services and performance expectations,” he said, “with a standard technical architecture across campus for new technologies that we’re going to adopt.”
 |
|
John Nixon, Senior Chief |
Hess added that having unified standards within our network that meet the needs of colleges and a stable funding model were also major priorities.
Overall, Hess seemed pleased with the progress made during FY16.
"We're working to get staff in the right positions, where they'll be more productive in their work," he said. “And we're working towards an honest and fair culture, which should make emplyoees more happy and productive."
Nixon echoed Hess's sentiments, and voiced his thoughts toward UIT employees.
"I want to personally thank each one of you for your hard work and dedication. While we have accomplished a lot, there is a lot more work to do and I will do everything I can to support you in your efforts," he said. "The administration is pleased with what you've done, and is very supportive of where UIT is headed."
Nixon added, "Working together, we will be able to achieve great things over the coming months and years."
Achievements
We asked each UIT department to identify its top highlights from the year's accomplishments, and those are listed below.
| Center for High Performance Computing (CHPC) | Deployed innovative solutions such as science DMZs, data transfer nodes, and cloud object storage | Expanded research facilitation, consulting, and technology exchange with other groups | Reduced increasing software costs by deploying open-source solutions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common Infrastructure Services (CIS) | Network improvements, including moving 90 buildings to the new high-speed campus backbone infrastructure and replacing 1600 wireless access points | Improved student housing network by upgrading 1100 apartments in University Student Apartments (USA) to high-speed internet access, and installing 1100 access points in HRE | Reduced missed customer commitments by 92% |
| Enterprise Data Architecture (EDA) | Initiated shared service transitions with five organizations; one complete, four in progress | Developed metrics framework to report on major UIT metrics to Chief Administrative Officer and CFO | |
| Finance | Helped Purchasing and others refine UShop system as early adopters | Worked closely with Deloitte Consulting to gather and validate University and UIT financial data | Developed and deployed increased security at Komas warehouse |
| Information Security Office (ISO) | Final approval of new University-wide Information Security Policy along with 15 new security rules | Deployment of network-based advanced cyber attack solution | Deployment of email and web data loss prevention solution |
| Process Office | Facilitated the RFP, selection, and contract for the IT assessment with Deloitte Consulting and managed project, data collection, and report review; incorporated key recommendations in UIT's strategic plan and new campus-wide IT strategic plan for governance review | Cut the "Place and fulfill an order less than $5,000" process to 24 steps (down from 122) and to 65 minutes (from 112); cut "Place and fulfill an order greater than $5,000" process to 22 steps (down from 114) and 90 minutes (from 267) | Process improvements identified for scholarship, financial aid, changing majors, international student recruitment, and admissions, Continuing Education and Community Outreach and incident-problem-change management for UIT's ServiceNow implementation with ITS |
| Project Management Office (PMO | The formation and staffing of a dedicated Project Management Office for UIT | Management of the Deloitte Assessment | |
| Strategic Communication | Assisted in creation and editing of numerous communications campaigns & collateral across entire UIT organization (e.g. network backbone upgrade, wireless AP replacement, Skype phone migration) | Directed communications for change leadership events (new CIO, Deputy, other leadership changes; Deloitte Assessment, etc.); acted as liaison between UIT and IT Professionals board and membership; carried out UITL decisions re: budget changes and communications methods | Wrote and published Node 4 newsletter and 50+ stand-alone articles; launched new redesign of Node 4 page; produced 11 articles about UIT for publication in campus-wide This Week @TheU email newsletter and website |
| Teaching and Learning Technologies (TLT) | Configured and deployed high-performance storage array for video editing and storage | Implemented administration tool suite to improve experience for those taking UOnline exams | Revamped TLT website and knowledge base to improve user experience |
|
Unified Communications (UC) |
Implemented Avaya contact center solutions, including work-at-home agents, chat, and call back assistance | Deployed Skype for Business 2015 enterprise-wide | UTV expansion with high definition streaming of all channels available |
| University Support Services | Split PeopleSoft student and employee databases to better support modular upgrades per Oracle's technical direction; major upgrade of PeopleSoft HCM, implementation of Benefits Administration (BenAdmin) to automate all aspects of HR benefit processing | Access U initiative for SLCC students; integrated college scheduler implementation to enable students to more easily build class schedules; Degree Audit Records System (DARS) upgrade; data warehouse work to support the student graduation data | Integration of SciQuest Contract Director into University computing environment to provide centralized purchasing functionality; online PAR certification ePAR - Automation, Compliance, and elimination of paper; BI initiative for Finance - creation of a data warehouse to capture data for the University's financial ledger and UShop Spend Analytics |
If interested, you may download the comprehensive list of all UIT departments’ accomplishments (.pdf).
Node 4
Our monthly newsletter includes news from UIT and other campus/ University of Utah Health IT organizations, features about UIT employees, IT governance news, and various announcements and updates.