Wolverhampton weekly newsletter #7

Here's a final update for 2017 - Season's Greetings to all our readers!

• Started week with discussions about purchasing contract for new desktops and laptops.  IT and procurement have been leading the NDNA process and this week we were holding final selection interviews.
• Ran through the final feedback on the original capital plan submission and prepared a one-pager on essential versus highly desirable investments for 2017-18.  This was circulated to IT team leaders although we haven't yet gone through it together.
• Attended my first Estates and IT working group which was a very useful session. It feel like we have a good basis for building relationships between the teams. We discussed some of the capital projects in progress as well as a number of teaching room projects.  There is a desire to proactively manage the estates elements of projects which was very welcome.
• There was a separate discussion about AV tender in the New Year with procurement including IT and Estates. We came up with viable options which should not hold up any urgent or ad hoc requirements that emerge.
• Held several 1-2-1 catch ups which are now scheduled regularly in diary with direct reports.  
• Attended Finance workshop on budget and forecasting.
• Business Continuity discussed for Christmas/New Year and a briefing pack created and circulated.  Doing some more work on this will be a priority ahead of the next extended break at Easter 2018.
• Met with Faculty of Arts - Dean and Faculty Manager - about the desktop replacement program which has been approved.  Have agreed a timeline and process for IT to present options and recommendations in New Year, and will pull team together to support that.
• Introduction meeting with Director of HR and OD.  Some of the good things were mentioned that had been picked up about DAS and Digital Campus (tackling culture issues for example).

Good News Stories

• Lots of positive stories in DAS Newsletter - good piece about Enterprise Architecture for example.
• First IT Task and Finish Group met and agreed follow-up actions for January meeting and way forward for 2017/18 IT capital bid.
• Generators in MI and MX refuelled and tested in time for the Christmas break
• NDNA process moved on to next step.

Wolverhampton weekly newsletter #6

Update from week six

• Sunday and Monday brought us lots of challenging weather so didn't travel to Wolverhampton as planned first thing Monday morning.  Spent time on a variety of admin activity - it was useful to catch up on  some of the things in my "to do list".  Since week one I have found myself in meeting after meeting and limited time to do any of the actions that I have agreed!  Just one of these which has been rumbling around is SAMS maintenance - now all sorted.
• There was a "P1" incident Tuesday morning due to another power interruption affecting one of our server rooms. We will make sure a lessons learned report is produced and any actions identified and allocated.
• Got up to speed with recent work on "lead nurturing systems" which had involved two workshops.  Arranged next workshop for mid-January and a pre-session with those involved from IT.
• Held a number of  "account management" meetings this week:  made introductions and a very positive meeting with Strategic Planning; spent a couple of hours with External Relations on the list of outstanding issues - all now being picked up;  met with Purchasing about the upcoming contract reviews and those in progress.
• Met with Ultimedia who had been involved in an Estates/IT workshop in the Summer about requirements for content management system.  Agreed follow up actions which will be picked up with Estates in the New Year.
• A very positive meeting with Estates and Facilities colleagues. An extensive list of follow-up actions was circulated for review and comment.
• After the JISC learner analytics meeting followed up with our JISC account manager and among other things discussed getting some outline costings for potentially moving/upgrading the core network.  The standard lead time is maximum five months from placing orders which is worth knowing - probably longest lead time items.  We also followed up about accessing further information about the JISC Shared Data Centre with our internal legal and procurement people - next steps agreed as this is not yet completed.

Good News Stories

• Estates and DAS discussing and agreeing responsibilities for Server Room infrastructure.
• Night out at Slaters to celebrate Christmas and a successful Christmas Jumper day for charity.

Wolverhampton weekly newsletter #5

Brief update from week five

• Learned about a major African research project currently based in the Congo and met with the academic lead about hosting and "on premise" alternatives.
• Met with local support teams and toured Telford and Walsall campuses.  Circulated short follow-up notes and took some photos.  Key issues raised by teams were staffing levels to provide professional service and AV support issues.   We noted potential for front of house "face to face" support provision for students (and staff).
• Attended Cyber Security Centre Project Board and exciting £9M new build project in Hereford.  IT team has been actively involved in verifying and agreeing the numbers which are audit tracked.  Good to be involved early on in such a development.
• Tender for AV next steps in progress with colleagues in Purchasing.  Various options under consideration with advice from external expertise.
• Organised the Panopto Working Group on technical workstream - some great feedback from the team including those directly involved with the roll-out.  Notes circulated and next steps agreed to feed into Panopto Project board.
• Organised useful Logicalis account management meeting.
• DAS IT managers inaugural meeting covered a number of areas - meeting weekly from the start of the New Year.
• Completed review of IT elements of the DAS risk register.
• Introductory meeting with Schools Liaison including integration requests relating to systems in this area and tableau reporting.
• Attended Tableau Implementation meeting with Planning and IT.

Good News Stories

• DAS Leadership Team workshop - number of positive and specific outcomes.
• No P1 major incidents in first week December.

Wolverhampton weekly newsletter #4

Brief Update from Week Four

• Cascaded briefings from Leadership Team meeting.
• Attended first DAS Exec meeting - good discussions on change management and service management system project as well as process for taking forward discussions on new DAS structures.
• Met up with SUMS consultants ahead of initial workshop on Digital Strategy exercise
• Discussed KX (catering/accommodation) system improvements and agreed action plan
• Organised briefing session with Faculty IT  and set up team leader meetings from New Year along with others who have IT related responsibilities.
• Involved in review of Library Platform award and procurement process.
• Undertook a detailed review of project and program management observations presented by Faithful & Gould  as part of scope of works.
• Ran a budget review event with Finance and allocated primary and secondary budget holders for all IT related budgets - next step is monthly budget profiling.
• The team completed a review of capital investment projects (16/17 funding).
• Attempted to understand some more about the FLEFTwatch research project ahead of audio conference with academic leaders next Tuesday.
• Involved in several escalation discussions to resolve internal issues with services.

Good News Stories

• Christmas drinks event at Slaters arranged (Wednesday December 13th).
• Obtained GDPR Foundation qualification.
• No P1 major incidents in November and survived major power outage and subsequent interruptions to resolve power issues, without any significant IT service disruption.