Goal 3: Develop, sustain, and periodically replace our core services

The severity of the recession changed the course of our strategy to replace our core administrative systems. While the steps taken have enabled us to make incremental improvements, they are not long-term strategies. If we do nothing, several core systems will reach an unacceptable risk of obsolescence or failure. Further, our ability to support new strategic directions such as globalization, increased collaborations, growth in research and on-line education will be diminished. In the next two years, Brown must select and begin to implement a course of action to replace our HR/Payroll, finance, development, and identity management systems. In so doing, we must also develop a point of view as to how cloud computing and other innovations might facilitate the modernization of our core services, including telephony.

Phase II objectives addressing this goal:

Phase I Accomplishments:

Money saving initiatives

• Submitted money saving proposals to central administration.
• Decommissioned FOCUS and ZVM.
• Initiated project to decommission Novell for file/print  services.
• Business Process Improvement projects underway, EPIC, e-PAF, e-Voucher
• Drafted new policy for cell phones and PDAs.
• Shared/collaborative hiring piloted with PAUR, Library.
• Outsourced student email.
• Participated in organizational review teams.
• Deferred HR/Payroll replacement project.
• Initiated project to move faculty, staff, grad/med students to Google Apps

Data Storage

• Formed a working group which developed a report on a proposed storage model for Brown.
• Ordered a half petabyte of storage from IBM to be located at 180 George St.  This storage will be used exclusively for research data.
• Deployed storage for lecture capture
• Piloted Greenbytes storage service
• Launched research storage service
• Upgraded and installed equipment at 2 campus locations and IBM Sterling Forest to support Disaster Recovery storage requirements

Email Replacement

• Outsourced and migrated student email to Google Apps for Education completed. 
• Analysis underway for providing student email addressing for life, with alumni addresses existing in the alumni.brown.edu domain.  
•  Shored up Exchange 2003 infrastructure for Faculty/Staff/Grad/Med email and increased quotas for Grad/Med Students
• Completed assessment of various solutions for Faculty/Staff/Grad/Med email/calendaring ; recommended Google Apps for Education.     

Data Center Planning

• Commissioned 5 & 10 year plan for CIT datacenter  by external consultant (ID Group)
•  Initial steps taken to capture requests for data center space from academic departments and in grant proposals in order that they may be reviewed by CIS and Research.
•  Completed survey of DCC/Sys Admin ‘data center’ space inventory.
• HPC space installed at 180 George Street
• Planning meetings commenced for concept of a regional data center
• CIT Data Center construction (rehab) began in Fall 2009 and first phase with full integration testing of all new systems scheduled for completion in June 2010.

Telephone System

• Wilson Hall Battery Plan upgraded
• SL-100 upgraded to CS2100
• CIS-Davol offices converted to VoIP
• VoIP deployed in RI Hall, Wilson Hall and 2 Stimson
• VoIP planned for installation in Dyer House, 190 Hope St., 131 Waterman St.

Course Management System

• Established Academic Technology Steering Committee to identify campus’ functional needs to be met by next solution.
• Committed resources to the effective delivery of course management including enterprise level support and administration. 

HR/Payroll

• Deferred HR/Payroll replacement project for 3-5 years due to economic conditions.
• Evaluated a series of smaller projects which could incrementally improve or supplement the current HR/Payroll System.
• Conducted HR risk assessment on 2/23/10 and issued report (semi-annual process).

Other

• Created Technical Architecture Group (TAG), and established regular meeting schedule
• Technical Architecture Steering Group Charter is under development - due for presentation to CIS management team in late June '09
• The Shibboleth implementation project has worked to establish Shibboleth as a foundational service.  Shib documentation for service providers (SPs) will provide a model for documenting future foundational services.
• Dropbox service has been put into production 
• Foundational services defined as part of Service Catalog Project 
• Developed a list of all CIS services, assigned ownership and created descriptions for each
• Integration of external Touchnet Electronic Bill & Presentment service for students and parents (Banner)
• Rewrite of departmental "Greensheets" application as a fully integrated custom Banner add-on.
• Improved Person Search function in Banner
• Implemented Registration Override using signature PINs (Banner)
• Evaluations are under way for the following HR/Payroll incremental improvement projects. Project Proposals will be presented at June or August ITPRC meetings.
• Developed a web-based Personnel Action Form (ePAF)
• Develop a web-based Voucher Request application (eVoucher)
• Extended use of Kronos Time & Attendance to include student employees
• Outsourced Payroll Printing and other selected Payroll processes
• Automate Faculty Hiring process
• Evaluation of Budget System is underway; team is defining scope, defining requirements, and developing an RFP.
• Novell print services replaced with Windows (2/10).
•  Novell file services replacement analysis and planning 1/2010.