Information Technology Services 2013-2014 Annual Report ITS Mission The Information Technology Services unit at the University of Michigan-Flint is a team of professional staff committed to enhancing individual and organizational effectiveness through the use of information and computing technologies.
Table of Contents About ITS 2 ITS Staff..2 Year in Review 4 Data Information Management 4 Desktop Computer Services.5 Helpdesk..6 Mediated Classroom Services 7 Network Systems Support 8 Security Services.9 User Services.10 Web Services.10 Supporting the Community 12 External Publications and Presentations..12 Looking Ahead. 12 1
About ITS The Information Technology Services (ITS) department supports the technological needs of the University of Michigan-Flint. With the exception of the management team, each ITS staff member falls into one primary service unit within the department: Data Information Management, Desktop Computer Services, Mediated Classroom Services, Network Systems Support, Security Services, User Services and Web Services. ITS Staff ITS employs over sixty-five regular and student employees dedicated to serving the university. Student employees account for positions in the reception area, HelpDesk, and in each of the ITS service teams. The Management Team provides the overall decision making and supervision for the department. Scott Arnst, Director Information Technology Services Kenneth Heiser, Associate Director Information Technology Services Harvey Sherman, Associate Director Information Technology Services Data Information Management (DIM) maintains UM-Flint s central administrative databases, regulates data integrity, develops custom applications to enhance central processes, and offers consulting services for design, development and implementation of non-centrally-operated databases. Jennifer Daraiseh, User Liaison/Coordinator John Dittmer, Applications Programmer Senior Cleatus Henderson, Applications Programmer Senior Scott Hoover, ERP Business Analyst Intermediate Kelly Johnson, Applications Programmer Intermediate Mark Mercado, UNIX Systems Administrator Mary Mercado, Applications Programmer Intermediate Steven Nofs, Database Administrator Lead Desktop Computer Services (DCS) performs the installation and maintenance of all desktop computers and printers on campus, including software and connections from the workstations to the communication closets, and provides consultation and assistance on all computer-related purchases for the campus. Brendon Beede, Desktop Support Specialist Associate Dan Getty, Desktop Support Specialist Intermediate Jason Gooding, Desktop Support Specialist Senior Supervisor Anthony Mills, Desktop Support Specialist Associate Zachary Stone, Desktop Support Specialist Associate Eric Trantham, Desktop Support Specialist Associate The Helpdesk offers support and consultation via email, telephone and office hours, furnishes end user documentation for software and electronic processes supported by ITS, provides software training for faculty and staff, and staffs three public computer labs available to students, faculty and staff, including extended evening and weekend hours. Dana Woolcock, Helpdesk Coordinator Associate Dennese Bandyk, IS Training Specialist Intermediate Nick Dean, Customer Helpdesk Technician Associate 2
Benjamin DeMaar, Customer Helpdesk Technician Associate Tyler Long, Customer Helpdesk Technician Associate Jordan VanDusen, Customer Helpdesk Technician Associate Mediated Classroom Services (MCS) engineers campus computer labs and mediated classrooms, maintains classroom equipment, provides training on supported equipment and evaluates customer satisfaction with instructional applications, maintains the ITS Technology Center for video production and multimedia assistance, provides CD/DVD duplication services, and oversees distribution of mobile computer classrooms. In addition, they work with facilities management to keep the furniture count in general classrooms consistent and coordinate the purchase and installation of replacement furniture. Michael Daniels, Media Consultant Erik Hoffman, Audio Visual Technician Melissa Storch, Laboratory/Classsroom Services Supervisor Network Systems Support (NSS) develops and maintains the network and server infrastructure, administers access to the LAN, UNIX, and Windows servers for academic computing; administers campus-wide communication software, maintains network software and print queues, engineers campus computer labs and classrooms, provides support for Blackboard, Portal, and Merit s WAN, maintains a campus-wide backup system, and manages system security. Charles Allen, CS Operations Manager David Arnould, Access Control & Security Systems Specialist Harrison Bacon, Network Architect Intermediate Sidney Horton, Desktop Support Specialist Senior Jeff Kenas, LAN Administrator Intermediate Cuong Lai, Systems Administrator Intermediate Adam Robinson, Systems Administrator Intermediate Donald Stockley, Network Administrator Associate Erik Taipalus, Project Engineer Intermediate Security Services provides and supports UM-Flint s information technology security, facilitates campuswide incident response activities, and provides security assessments, consultations, and network scans. Philip Erlenbeck, Data Security Analyst Intermediate Brandon Kaines, Data Security Analyst Associate User Services maintains six computer classrooms of various sizes and platforms for academic instruction, coordinates Security Awareness and Piracy Campaigns for students, and administers computing sales to students, faculty, and staff. Scott Arnst, Director Information Technology Services Kenneth Heiser, Information Systems Associate Director Angela Lawrence, Business Administrator Associate Melissa Storch, Laboratory/Classroom Services Supervisor Erica Burns, Secretary Intermediate Jennifer Daraiseh, User Liaison/Coordinator Jason Gooding, Desktop Support Specialist Senior Joel Howard, Web Software Developer 3
Web Services provides design and HTML programming assistance and technical support for university web pages, provides instruction and support for creation and maintenance of departmental websites using the university content management system (CMS) and blogging system, and supports online collaboration such as SharePoint. Tim Todd, Web Software Developer Joel Howard, Web Software Developer Donald Wilcox, Applications Programmer Associate The Information Technology Services (ITS) department worked diligently to supply UM-Flint with the most advanced, efficient technology throughout the 2013-2014 academic year. New solutions were introduced while several other technologies were upgraded and even more investigated. Year in Review Begin Construction on the remodel of MSB This project has started and we are heavily involved. Complete migration to our new web content management system, Drupal. This has been completed and was highly successful in delivering a simple to use web content management system in to the hands of the people that maintain departmental websites. Migrate all general classroom voice over IP phones to standard ITS Ann Arbor supported VOIP phones. We have migrated all of the general classroom VOIP phones over to the standard ITS Ann Arbor supported VOIP phones. Complete installation and configuration of an offsite disaster recovery solution in Dearborn that will allow for critical technology services to be restored in Dearborn quickly in the event of disaster on campus. During this project Amazon Web Services became available as an option and will allow us to provide a better DR solution at a reduced cost. Data Information Management Banner System Audit Ann Arbor s University Audits preformed an audit of the Banner system. The assessment only revealed a few minor risks that we have addressed to improve the overall security, privacy and continuity of operations of the Banner system. Mobile Application In September, we implemented the UM-Flint mobile app for students. The UM-Flint app is provides students with quick access to the Student Information System (SIS). Students will be able to view their class schedules, grades, the campus map, and other valuable information. Emergency Alert System In January, we transitioned the emergency alert system from Everbridge to BBConnect. Although this transition may have been transparent to students and employees, it was none the less an important 4
undertaking to keep our campus community notified in case of an emergency or campus closure. A new feature was added in SIS which allows students to not only add, but also remove telephone numbers from the alert system. Single Sign On We have already preformed the setup, configuration and testing of single sign on (SSO) for Blackboard and Internet Native Banner (INB), including two-form factor authentication of INB with Mtokens. We are planning to implement these into production in the near future. Desktop Computer Services For a third straight year, UM-Flint PT faculty members and Desktop Computer Services worked together to continue the Nigerian student orientation and the DPT program. This continued effort of ITS and PT has strengthened the DPT program in Lagos Nigeria. This past year with the combined effort of DCS and NSS we were able to offer a remote lab environment that allows the Nigerian students access to software, network drives, Blackboard services, and support via a Skype connection to the U of M Flint Campus. DCS technicians continued to renew their Dell and HP Certifications for repairing equipment under manufacturer s warranty for Faculty, Staff and Students. DCS Technicians assisted with the planning and implementation of Departmental moves that included Math, Psychology, Writing Center, CAPS and minor staff moves during numerous renovation projects. DCS continued to setup, install, and maintain VDI zero clients in student computer labs across campus. 5
Helpdesk Over the past year ITS has been working very hard to improve the ITS Helpdesk and labs on campus. We have extended the hours of WSW 3174 lab, allowing access with card swipe any time that the building is open. This addition now allows students to utilize the ITS open labs in 3 buildings (French Hall, William S. White Building, and Riverfront Residence Hall 24/7) by card swipe any time the building is open. In all of our labs we have also improved the computing services offered by upgrading the scanners, improving speed and reliability of the VDI s, and creating a regular schedule for visiting and cleaning each of the labs to better meet the needs of the students. In the Helpdesk we have made the transition to full-time staff. This transition has allowed the Helpdesk to provide more consistent support as well as a higher level of support for faculty, staff, and students on our campus. The Helpdesk now consists of 5 full-time employees and 2 students. The addition of the full-time staff has increased the number of support cases completed in the Helpdesk from 70.22% to 79.65% and reduced the call wait time drastically. Having full-time staff working in the Helpdesk is also helping to bring fresh ideas to the Helpdesk and ITS on how to improve our daily functions. Some examples of these improvements include the addition of video support in many of our common quicknotes, the reduction in paper forms in the Helpdesk thanks to the ideas and time put in by many of the Helpdesk and ITS staff, and improved documentation and training for the Helpdesk staff. These changes are only the start of what we have planned for the ITS Helpdesk and labs. Over the next year we have many more changes that we feel will help us to provide the best support possible for the UM-Flint community. Some of these improvements include: A redesign of 206 MSB Helpdesk that will provide a better support environment for anyone visiting the Helpdesk. A new ticketing system and support center allowing better tracking and notifications and more efficient use of time for anyone who interacts with the ITS Helpdesk. The continuation of our going green project in the Helpdesk with the end goal being to be completely paperless for all of our daily activities. 6
New printers in all of the ITS open labs providing both black and white and color printing as well as copying and scanning for all students on campus. Mediated Classroom Services MCS has completed the upgrade of room 3159 in the William S. White building over Spring Break. There was little space for the smartcart to be utilized properly resulting in a very small image for such a large wide classroom. The new dual projection classroom is fully automated with Crestron equipment. The projection system uses a wide screen format allowing the image to be displayed to each of the room. The system also gives the instructor the ability to display a different source to each screen. MCS upgraded all of the document cameras in the Murchie Science Building and William S. White building from the Epson to a new model Aver similar to those used in French Hall. The new document camera will provide a better image, more Crestron control, is easier to use, and requires less maintenance than the previous document cameras. The MSB upgrade was completed during summer 2013. The WSW upgrade 7
was completed during spring 2014. Also during the spring semester, MCS reprogramed the Crestron General Classrooms with the ability for the system to turn the document camera and light on by the push of a button. MCS acquired a new general classroom during the 5th floor FH renovation project when our old FH 554 room was turned into office space. MCS took responsibility for installation and cabling of this single projection Crestron room. We are piloting the KI Learn2, new form of tablet chair, that we could maybe implemented around campus. The Learn2 is mobile to better facilitate classroom or group work. It also adapts to personal space and dual-handed work surface. Blue Jeans, a new videoconferencing service, is available to all U-M faculty and staff on Ann Arbor, Flint and Dearborn campuses. Blue Jeans is a cloud-based video conferencing service that provides a useful collaborative tool, virtual meetings, and presentations using high-resolution video conferencing and content sharing. Blue Jeans allows people to meet without the hassle of traveling using a laptop, tablet, or smartphone as well as a standard telephone for audio only connections. Information about video conferencing and Blue Jeans including how U-M faculty and staff can register for a Blue Jeans user account and get started using Blue Jeans is available at http://www.itcom.itd.umich.edu/videoconferencing/bluejeans/ Network Systems Support ITS completed the installation of a new Uninterruptible Power Supply for the Murchie Science Building Datacenter. This UPS provides power in the event of a power outage; keeping our servers and switches running until the building generator can power up and resume providing main power. The datacenter out grew the old system which was unable to provide adequate runtime during a power loss. This new UPS is expandable and can be scaled up in both power output and runtime to meet the growing needs of our faculty, staff, and students. It has already proved its worth. In the first few months it had been operational, we experienced several unexpected power outages on campus. Implemented a dedicated IP address Management system called Infoblox which simplifies and combines all aspects of DHCP and DNS network services. This improved both the performance and reliability of these services for the entire campus. Finished upgrading the entire wireless network infrastructure on campus which included new 802.1x radius authentication and a guest access captive portal with the ability to register game consoles by mac 8
address. The system now also utilizes role-based network assignment when connected wirelessly so specific resources can be accessed (and only accessed) by appropriate staff (Examples include DPS and UHWC). The entire enterprise wireless network is now, more secure, provides for denser coverage, and supports speeds up to 450mb/s. Lastly, it is also easier to wirelessly connect devices with the deployment of a Wi-Fi service called Setup your wireless which automates the correct wireless security settings for personally owned laptops. Security Services Installed new Palo Alto next generation firewall. The new firewall is application and user aware which allows us much greater flexibility and granularity when creating rules for our campus. We were able to simplify and condense over 1,300 rules down to under 100. The new firewall will also allow us to enable our 10 GB internet connection to Merit and also includes threat prevention technology that blocked nearly 1,000,000 attacks in the month of June. Security Services continued efforts in vulnerability detection and remediation. These efforts allowed us to quickly respond to the Heartbleed bug in the popular OpenSSL software, one of the worst such bugs in the history of networked computing. For 2014 we will be expanding our scanning techniques to include dedicated web application scanning. Over the past year we have worked on a solution to a common problem in higher education computing which is how to support the use of Java and Java dependent applications in a safe manner. In 2013 Java contained 193 vulnerabilities. Cisco s 2014 security report found 91% of all web exploits targeting Java vulnerabilities. We will be piloting our solution using Microsoft Application Virtualization this summer. 9
Printing Sales 17.39% Dell/HP Warranty 4.35% Alumni Sales 4.35% Software Sales 73.91% User Services Sales of various technology related products and services provided ITS an additional $65,000 this year. Our primary source of this additional funding comes from software sales, which includes products such as Microsoft Office 2013 for Windows and Microsoft Office 2011 for MAC s, and Microsoft Windows 8 32 & 64 bit that are up to eighty percent off retail prices. For example, Microsoft Windows 8 Pro for sells in store for $199.99 and ITS sells it for only twenty dollars! Another portion of ITS revenue comes from printing. After depleting the allotted 400 pages per semester, students and departments are able to purchase additional pages. This year additional printing revenue totaled $11,946 which helped cover the cost of expenses related to the printers, such as paper and toner. Other revenue for 2013-2014 included $2,987 for Dell/HP Warranty work and $2,985 for Alumni accounts. ITS also receives funds from departments to compensate for servers and web hosting which this year ended with a total of approximately $15,264. Web Services The Drupal transition project moved the university away from the Autonomy enterprise-level content management system to Drupal which is an open source system. Used by 11 of the 15 public universities in Michigan along with other leading higher education institutions across the country such as Cornell and Dartmouth, Drupal is highly recommended by the technology research giant Gartner as well. Implementation began in February of 2013, and the new website was launched on October 1, 2013. Over 110 university websites were migrated, and we trained 230 users. We also began weekly Open Drupal Sessions, that give content contributors a chance to drop-in for both technical and content related help. 10
My UM-Flint, is a portal to resources for students, faculty, and staff, that gives you access to all of the most frequently used resources. Users can also customize which links will be included in their My UM- Flint drop-down menu, creating their very own Quicklinks. A more user-friendly software sales store has been implemented utilizing the open source platform, OpenCart. The new software sales is themed to match the rest of the University s website, ties in with our existing payment gateway platform, allows ITS to better keep track of purchases, and is overall, easier to use. ITS sought to find an alternative, no-cost, ITS supported, Digital Signage solution for University departments. This system was built on the same platform as the university website, Drupal, which has proven to be easy to use. ITS has developed several content widgets, including a weather widget, a rotating image banner, department hours, ITS lab stats, and a text widget, that will allow departments to display their content using a handful of predesigned layouts. ITS will begin rolling out the new digital signage solution with ITS computer labs this summer, and other university departments may begin to take advantage of it starting this fall. The new UM-Flint Social web application pulls in feeds from all major social media sites tagged with #umflint. The feeds are stored locally and presented to the user on a single page that they can scroll through, seeing a timeline of posts tagged with #umflint. This system also lets users flag things deemed as inappropriate, as well as back-end administrators. The Single Sign-On Notification System allows administrators of systems using Co-sign, our single sign-on platform, to provide a description of their service, as well as post messages to their login page, before their user authenticates. This system also allows ITS to post global messages related to major system appropriate messages. In May, we launched the ITS training web application which is a training registration platform allowing the ITS trainer create training events and open them up for registration to campus users. This system allows the trainer is able to track registrations, set a quota on registrations, and keep track of attendance. Users are now able to see a full list of training courses they have attended, as well as print of this certificate of completion for courses. The new UM-Flint Emergency site allows administrators to put our website in Emergency Mode, which will direct all users to our emergency page, providing critical information pertaining to any active emergency, as well as sets a cookie on the user s browser, allowing them to conduct their normal dayto-day business without being redirected to the Emergency site. The Events web application allows departments to setup events and allows users to register or optionally pay for events. This is a fully featured registration system that tracks registrations, ties in with our payment gateway system, Nelnet, and sends registrants an email notification confirmation when they complete a registration. Better functionality for users. The user experience has been described as similar to Word Press. 11
Unlimited users. No more license fees per user which is a cost and efficiency savings for all university departments. A large network of developers who work in the realm of higher education to offer innovations and solutions as needed. We developed a web application that integrated with the Graduate Programs application process in SIS over six years ago. This year, we re-engineered the web application to be more user friendly and easier to manage on the back-end. Supporting the Community Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service - January 20, 2014 Several ITS staff spent the day volunteering at local sites including the North End Soup Kitchen and Adopt-A-Pet in Fenton. Participants experienced a diversity of ways to lend a hand to others human and not, on this day of celebration, recognition, and service. External Publications or Presentations N/A Looking Ahead Continue to meet the technological demands of UM-Flint while concentrating on customer service Complete Labanywhere so that students, faculty and staff can access an ITS computer lab machine from anywhere either via a web browser or through client software. Release campus wide digital signage system developed on Drupal. ITS sought to find an alternative, no-cost, ITS supported, digital signage solution for University departments. This system was built on the same platform as the university website, Drupal, which has proven to be easy to use. ITS has developed several content widgets, including a weather widget, a rotating 12
image banner, department hours, ITS lab stats, and a text widget, that will allow departments to display their content using a handful of predesigned layouts. Make significant progress on placing server backups as well as stand by servers in Amazon Web Services for the purpose of disaster recover. Implement the EDUROAM wireless network which is a world-wide service that allows patrons visiting different universities other than their own to seamlessly connect to campus Wi-Fi using home university credentials. This greatly enhances the Wi-Fi experience that UM Flint staff and students will have when visiting other higher education institutions as well as visitors to our campus because Internet access can be obtained without having to create a guest account. Make Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) system available to administrative and academic departments on campus. While the acquisition costs for VDI is very similar to the cost of traditional PC s, the technology used should last significantly longer than a traditional PC and will consume on average 1/10th the power. In addition, VDI desktops would be available to use from employees homes, mobile devices, and even in ITS open labs. Users would access their PC from anywhere and their PC is backed up so that issues like a hard drive failure would not cause a loss of University or personal data. 13