IT Services Newsletter #16

Here is the January newsletter. As usual, it only highlights a few things which I hope are of general interest and as an update to the various things we are progressing. What with the adverse weather before and after Christmas, the IT “at risk” period, and the student examinations and assessment period it has once again been an extremely hectic month for everyone. Thank you to everyone for persevering and continuing to “make things happen”.

Graham

From the IT Systems Team

A new version of the online module catalogue has been developed, and is ready for launch. The major step forward with this version of the module catalogue is that is draws data dynamically from the SAINT student information system – previously pages were only visible following publication by Academic Administration (ASSU).

Online applications have been developed in eVISION and have been launched. This is the conclusion of a major piece of work which pulled together four strands;
i) Enhanced Undergraduate online application process with standardised forms.
ii) Enhanced Postgraduate online application process.
iii) Online applications for School of Health non-UCAS courses.
iv) A “portal approach” to allow Agents to enter applicants online and track status.

From the IT Support and Telecomms Team
We have another month’s worth of customer feedback and job tracking statistics which are now being published on the IT Services web pages. In December, the total number of jobs completed was 773, with a completion rate before or on target of 89%. There were 560 jobs carried forward to January 2010. This month’s survey results showed 99% of respondents giving a rating of satisfied or very satisfied. A Sample of the comments includes:
“A minor job, very quickly dealt with.”
“I was very happy with the service offered and with the time Tariq took to correct my problem.” “Prompt response and explanation of how to solve the problem.”
“Could not wish for better. Excellent service”
“Prompt response and explanation of how to solve the problem.”
“Friendly, helpful, quick and would not hesitate about calling again”
“Job couldn't be resolved initially, but not through John's fault. John kept on the case and informed us once resolved”
“This job was done almost immediately - couldn't have provided better service!”
“This job was done very efficiently and within a couple of hours of being logged.”
“Went a lot better than expected with very little for me to sort out once the PC was handed over.”

From the IT Infrastructure Team

The IT “At Risk” period involved a considerable number of service changes and improvements which pretty much went according to plan. They involved many in the team, and for some it also involved out of hours and weekend work to minimise service interruptions, which is appreciated.

Proactive Service Monitoring is one of the many more “invisible” things that we do but which deserves recognition. Sue Gregson and colleagues in IT Infrastructure team have been setting up improved service monitoring. This service (called nagios) is now monitoring the external facing email servers. It checks the logs to see if they have stopped responding, enabling us to be proactive about possible service interruptions through improved monitoring and alerting.

General Items

Update on IT Services structure
The IT management team has agreed a significant number of actions in relation to the final stage of implementing our new structure. We have set target dates for completion, assigned responsibilities and identified team members where we need to involve others in the process - including colleagues in HR as we take this forward during February. We were a little delayed by the adverse weather. We will continue to consult with those involved and keep staff informed through the staff announcements process. In the meantime we have received approval to the final version of the new IT Strategy at this week’s Information Systems Committee (ISC) and also presented the draft annual plan for the current session 2009/10.

IT Services Annual Report on the web
Jacqui Cuthbert has kindly fettled the IT Services annual report for last session 2008/09 and uploaded it to the web: it is a menu item here. Jacqui has also created a summary page for students. I know that we have circulated this information already but not in these accessible formats. We have also produced and circulated an updated paper for the Information Systems Committee titled: IT Service Improvements which looks back at some of the activities of the last six months.

Delete Tigers
And finally a contribution from the University Chaplain in a recent email exchange:
The tale is told of a Victorian employee on the Cairo to Khartoum railway who telegraphed the head office: "Station surrounded by lions and tigers." With Victorian fastidiousness, Cairo cabled back: "There are no tigers in Africa." The besieged railway man thought for a moment, then replied "Delete tigers."