Survey

Did you make a New Year's resolution?

Yes
No

Results from last issue's survey question: Will you be leaving the Bay Area over Winter Closure?

There were 45 responses. 27 said "yes" and 18 said "no."

Staff Profile

Frank De Martini

Frank De Martini started at Stanford in 2002.





How would you describe your current job responsibilities?

The IT Services Level 1 Help Desk is the first line of contact for the entire Stanford campus. We get requests for help that range from fixing a leaking faucet to complicated technical issues. My personal favorite is, "When will my cable TV be turned on?"

Which aspects of your job do you enjoy the most?

I really enjoy interacting with people and helping them solve their problems. We talk to students, professors, MDs, and staff.

I love working with Kronos issues before they actually go to the Kronos application folks. The process can be a real brain teaser.

What did you do before you came to Stanford?

Before I came to Stanford, I worked at Compaq Computers for four years. I worked at the IT Help Desk. I helped to combine three separate Help Desks into one local Help Desk for the entire Cupertino campus.

What do you like to do when you're not at work?

I love to play with my granddaughters, take lots of pictures, and take nature walks whenever I can.

I like to walk, especially if there is an opportunity to take pictures. Since I live in Foster City, I can walk on the edge of the Bay and see all of the wildlife.

What is your favorite movie, book, song?

I don't have a favorite book, but the one that has had the most impact on my life is Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukov. My favorite movie is What the Bleep Do We Know. Bubba Ho-Tep and Shawn of the Dead are close seconds.

Staff Happenings

Our congratulations and best wishes go to Gina Rebosura. My team's loss is Networking's gain with Gina moving to become a Networking Specialist. She is reporting to Gene Yep as of January 2nd, 2007.

Gina has been a valued member of the Administrative Services team over the past three years. She has also been a very good asset to the Networking team and IT Services for almost ten years.

While Gina is moving out of her role as the support person in Pine, Sonia Siu is moving to Pine from Laurel. Sonia has been the admin staffer for Client Support. Gina will remain in Pine, but move to room 135B, while Sonia will now be in Gina's former cubicle. Gina's new phone number is 736-1860. Sonia will keep the same phone number: 736-7832.

- Cholada Chenhansa
Finance and Administration

I am pleased to announce the addition of Nancy Baumann to IT Services Technology Training. Nancy comes to us from the University of Texas at Dallas, where she had been doing training development, coordination, and delivery. Some of you "old timers" might also remember Nancy as a former member of the Technology Training unit. She returns to Stanford on January 24 and will replace Leni Silberman as the group manager. Her office will be in Spruce F2.

So what happened to Leni? She just moved down the hallway to Spruce F6. After helping Nancy transition into the management role, Leni will take on a new role as the group's Curriculum Analyst, helping to develop new technology courses and development tools for the Stanford community.

Please join me in welcoming Nancy back to Stanford, congratulating Leni on her new role, and thanking her for eight years of service as the group manager.

- Jim Knox
Client Support

Welcome to Suzanne Schiessler! I am excited to announce Suzanne Schiessler is the new Director of Order Management. She comes to the position with a wealth of background at Stanford. She was a leader in the Oracle Campus Readiness effort and has a positive relationship with many of our clients. She has managed some difficult transitions, including the establishment of the Oracle Help Desk, and was able to produce positive results for staff and clients in the process.

I look forward to working with her as a member of our IT Services leadership team. She will start on January 15th and be located in Polya Hall, Room 165.

- Jay Kohn
Shared Communication Services

Please join me in welcoming Michael Dimaano to Stanford University in his role as a Help Desk Specialist working at the Level One Help Desk in Acacia.

Michael comes to us from AT&T were he worked at the Tier 2 Help Desk supporting DSL and Desktop client issues. We look forward to his bringing this additional expertise to the Help Desk.

- Steve McLenegan
Help Desk Services

Gerald Villabroza has accepted a Senior Storage Specialist position in the Storage group (and will be migrating from the Windows group).

Aamir Chaudry has also accepted a Senior Storage Specialist position.

- Dan Stillmaker
Backup and Storage

I am pleased to welcome Fredrick (Rick) Lowe to Stanford as the new Production Control Group (PCG) manager. Rick previously worked at SUN as a technical manager. He has been a Bay Area resident for over 25 years.

Rick began working for us on December 13 as everyone was ramping down for the Winter Closure, so there are a number of people he has not had the opportunity to meet. If you are one of those individuals, please stop by his office in Forsythe 145A to introduce yourself. Rick’s contact information is available via StanfordWho.

- Bert Stubbs
Operations

I'm pleased to announce that Heather Flanagan will be joining IT Services on February 12th, as the new Director of UNIX Systems.

Heather will soon be transitioning from her current role at Duke University, where she has been leading the teams responsible for Duke's email infrastructure, AFS environment, the technical bits of Identity Management, the web hosting environment, the OS images for the Linux and Mac student computing labs, and general OS support for anything running Linux, Solaris, or Mac OS X.

According to Heather, when she is not staring intently at a computer screen, she acts as a cat bed for two lovely cats (a 24 lb. Maine Coon and a 14 lb. Bengal), or she's out practicing Aikido.

- John Freshwaters
Shared Application Services

Christmas came early for Stacy Lee (Windows Systems team) and his wife Helen Mah. On December 24th, they had a baby girl "Kristin Lee" at 10:26 a.m. Kristin weighed in at 7 pounds and was 20.5 inches long. They are home now, doing well, and recovering and changing lots of diapers.

- Stacey Lee
Windows Systems

Karen Cox has left Stanford. Please refer any questions to Suzanne Schiessler.

- Jay Kohn
Shared Communication Services

its in bits welcomes more detailed employee news submissions from all staff. Please submit to itsinbits-submissions@lists.stanford.edu

Tech Briefings / Tech Express

Tech Briefings: None this week

The 1/26 Tech Briefing will be "Updates from Apple" with Wyn Davies and Noah Abrahamson presenting.
(The 1/19 Tech Briefing on Vista and Office 2007 has been cancelled.)

Fridays
2:00 to 3:30 p.m.

Turing Auditorium

Check the Tech Briefings home page for specials and last-minute additions.

Tech Express: None this week

The 1/25 Tech Express will be on Microsoft Office with Shane Devenshire presenting.

Thursdays
12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
Turing Auditorium

Check the Tech Express home page for future sessions and to subscribe to the mailing list.

Technology Training Courses

Upcoming Tech Training classes of interest to IT Services staff.

  • 1/16, Excel Level 1, 9–4, $275
  • 1/16, FileMaker Pro Lite, 1:30–4:30, $150
  • 1/17, IT Services Site Training, 1:30–4:30, Free
  • 1/17, Introduction to ReportMart1, 1:30–4:30, Free
  • 1/17, Explore techport.stanford.edu (Open Lab), 9–12, Free
  • 1/19, Adobe Acrobat: The Basics of Using the Full Version, 1:30–4:30, $150
  • 1/19, FileMaker Pro Level 1, 9–4, $275
  • 1/22, Web Design Level 1: The Basics, 1–4:30, $150
  • 1/23, Photoshop Lite, 1–4:30, $150
  • 1/23, SQL Basics, 9–4, $275
  • 1/24, Security: Hardening Systems Through Hindsight, 10–12, Free (See below for course description.)
    • (The 1/24 Encryption class has been rescheduled for 6/20/07.)
  • 1/26, PowerPoint Level 1, 9–4, $275

We've just scheduled Security: Hardening Systems Through Hindsight on 1/24, 10–12, in Turing Auditorium, David Hoffman presenting.

There are hundreds of databases and application systems at Stanford and not all of them are secure "out of the box." This presentation will illustrate how penetration testers are able to compromise several systems using publicly available tools and information. The talk is intended for anyone who owns, develops, or maintains a Stanford information system and will provide basic defensive strategies that will help to harden those systems.

Sign up at http://axess.stanford.edu.

Classes with low enrollments may be cancelled one week in advance. More information on courses, registration, and training is available at the Technology Training Services site.

- Leni Silberman
Technology Training Services

IT Employment Opportunities

There were six new job postings for IT Services this week.

Req#23348: Integration Analyst, 100% FTE, continuing position, Range 4P5, Jay Kohn and Bryan Wear, hiring managers.

The Integration Specialist provides technical leadership to IT Services and clients campus-wide or implementing technology solutions that connect to the campus infrastructure, such as the campus-wide file system, web services, directories, information registries, and the campus security suite.

Req#23478: Project Manager, 100% FTE, continuing position, Range 4P4, Joyce Dickerson, hiring manager.

The Project Manager (PM) will oversee multiple projects related to IT infrastructure. Responsible for all project phases, from original concepts through final implementation and transition to ongoing operations, the PM is responsible for full project management.

Req#23502: Technical Analyst, 100% FTE, continuing position, Range 4P2, Tom Goodrich, hiring manager.

The incumbent works to perform technical computing support and information systems analysis requiring in-depth knowledge and experience in consulting, training, and support skills. Working primarily from requests submitted via Remedy ARS, the incumbent will assist faculty, staff, and students in using technology to access University resources, and in using Stanford-supported desktop applications.

Req#23402: Sr. Order Processor, 100% FTE, continuing position, Range 4P2, Jay Kohn, hiring manager.

The Senior Order Processor works primarily with the following organizations: I&M for creating and distributing daily workload packages and assisting technicians in the field regarding records and bible sheet location lookups, Facilities Engineering for cable orders, and with Systems Engineering for LEN adds and balances.

Req#23371: Help Desk Specialist, 100% FTE, continuing position, Range 4P1, Steve McLenegan, hiring manager.

Receive, analyze, resolve and/or triage computing hardware, software, telecommunications, billing, and networking problems reported by Stanford faculty, staff, students, and residential clients by way of telephone (live phone calls), voicemail, email, and self-submitted requests through HelpSU/web system.

Req#23671: Administrative Assistant, 100% FTE, continuing position, Range 1A4, Cholada Chenhansa, hiring manager.

The Administrative Associate is responsible for full administrative support for the directors, managers, and staff of IT Services. Responsible for independently applying department and University policies and procedures in performing a wide range of procurement, record-keeping, and administrative support tasks for the 300 staff members of IT Services.

To view the complete listings or to apply for a position, visit the StanfordJobs web site at: jobs.stanford.edu.

There are other open Information Technology positions at Stanford. To see what other opportunities exist on campus, link to the full list of all open IT positions at Stanford

Quote of the Week

“When they tell you to grow up, they mean stop growing.”

- Tom Robbins

News

A Note from Bill...

As many of you know, the services we provide as part of the Data Center are key aspects of our current overall strategic planning. There are many reasons for this and I think it is important that all of us understand them.

Undoubtedly, the most critical factor influencing our Data Center strategy is the increased faculty interest in having IT Services host and manage Stanford's research computing resources. Computing generally, and research computing specifically, continues to become more and more complex. Researchers who may have previously needed a 16 node cluster now need a 128 node cluster, with the increased burden of improved security, improved performance, and 24/7 availability. Further, as research continues to become more interdisciplinary, faculty's need for flexible models that leverage the University's infrastructure is no longer a luxury, but a requirement. 

In addition to the services we provide, it is also imperative that the University have a world-class Data Center facility. IT Services is actively working with SLAC and other University schools and departments to determine the best approach to building a research computing facility worthy of Stanford's work and reputation.

Faculty are increasingly aware that the complexity and risk inherent in today's research computing make central hosting and management in the best interest of the entire University. This is particularly exciting and rewarding for it was only a couple of years ago that faculty were resistant to putting their computers in Forsythe, much less having IT Services manage those resources. We continue to work with schools and departments to demonstrate how IT Services can help reduce that complexity and risk.

Ideally, researchers should be able to focus their time on their research, not on maintaining the computing resources that help them do their research. Stanford is looking to IT Services to provide the research computing infrastructure and support that help achieve this goal. We have become a key catalyst in effecting that change, and enhancing Stanford's reputation as a world leader in computational research. It is a tribute to the hard work of many within the organization that faculty continue to understand and appreciate the value we bring to this service. 

- Bill Clebsch
IT Services

Support Strategies Planning

Keeping with the New Year's tradition of making resolutions, here's a suggestion for all IT Services staff who want to be better informed about how we support our clients (and isn't that all of us?):

The Support Strategies Planning (SSP) group is one of IT Services' most successful, yet little-known teams. SSP's role is to anticipate the campus readiness and client support needs associated with new IT Services products and services. SSP strives to make sure that plans are in place to meet clients' support needs when new products and services are rolled out to the campus community.

The group first started about four years ago with the explicit goal of preparing the Help Desk to support the community's use of new products, tools, and services. Over the years the scope has broadened to address documentation, training, marketing, and billing as well as technical support.

SSP typically extends two invitations to product managers to come talk about their projects. The first visit, preferably early in a project's development, describes the technology and/or service, the problem it's designed to solve, and the community to which it will be offered. The SSP members, most of whom represent client support functions, identify support needs that will need to be addressed. 

As the rollout target nears, the product manager returns to SSP with a completed checklist detailing the specifics of the various support strategies. This careful attention to customer needs has resulted in better internal communication between IT Services staff, better planning, fewer surprises for technical teams, and smoother rollouts.

For the past year, SSP's work has been documented on an internal web site accessible to IT Services staff. The site includes the group's charter, upcoming presentations, regular meeting attendees, and meeting minutes. 

IT Services staff are encouraged to visit the site to stay up-to-date on what's on the horizon for us and our clients. The meeting notes can help those who are focused on technology to understand the behavioral and organizational factors that impact the adoption and use of new tools and services. And, the growing archive of meeting notes provides a useful and impressive historical record of the new products and services we are providing for Stanford.

There is an SSP mailing list for regular attendees as well as for "lurkers" who want to keep up with the group's activities, but don't necessarily come to the bi-weekly meetings. SSP meetings are open to all IT Services staff on a drop-in or regular basis. If you'd like to be included on the mailing list, come to meetings, and/or if you have a project that SSP should know about, please contact Jane Marcus.

- Jane Marcus
Client Relations

Internet 2 Meeting

There were a couple of notable Stanford happenings at the Internet 2 member meeting last December. First of all, Rob Riepel and Sunia Yang of Networking held a session in which they announced the open sourcing of NetDB. Most of the administration of SUNet is performed using NetDB and the Stanford community enjoys an extremely good quality of network service due to NetDB use. Now, with NetDB made available through open source, other institutions can know what we've known for years: NetDB rocks!

Another very high-profile event helped close this ten-year anniversary Internet 2 meeting: Stanford was one of three schools asked by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Internet 2 to show some of the fruits of several years of grant-funded middleware development. Specifically, Stanford's implementation of the Shibboleth Federated Identity Management system was used to demonstrate login to FastLane, the online grant submission service of the NSF.

In the case of Stanford, our production InCommon Federation Shibboleth service was highlighted with some last-minute integration magic added by Scotty Logan of the Strategy and Architecture group. Scotty only had about ten days to get everything pulled together and then deployed by the Shibboleth operations team. I was able to arrange for Dr. Parvati Dev of the SUMMIT program in the Medical School to demonstrate a live login (using Shibboleth and WebAuth) to her NSF FastLane portal account.

Having everything done using production services, and by a known Principle Investigator, made Stanford's demonstration look great to the Internet 2 community and to the granting agency. The complete story is available online.

It was nice getting a high-five from the Director of Internet 2's Middleware initiative, Ken Klingenstein, after this closing event. We did Stanford proud!

- Bruce Vincent
Strategy and Architecture

Rate Setting Process Improvements

Rate-setting is a critical process for IT Services.  The rates that our service centers charge must cover our expenses, be palatable to our clients, and pass regulatory scrutiny.  Until this year, the rate setting process was somewhat mysterious, including just a few members of the finance organization along with the Executive team.

In October, we launched a project to re-design how we go about reviewing and setting rates.  Our objectives were specific.  We wanted to design a process that was organized, documented, and repeatable—to simplify our rates where we could—and to be finished by February 28 so that we could communicate our rates to our clients in early March.

Throughout October and November a group of finance staff, along with Nan McKenna (Director of Client Relations) and Suzanne Schiessler (Project Manager), developed a process that we are now piloting.  The process includes the creation of a Rate Setting Committee (RSC) that started its work in December and will meet weekly throughout January and February. The RSC is made up of subject matter experts from various areas across IT Services.  Membership is balanced with client-facing members as well as constituents from each major area of the organization.  The purpose of this committee is to review and recommend (to the Executive team) rates for all of IT Services' services.  At pre-determined intervals, the RSC will check in with the Executive team. The team will ultimately finalize rates for this year prior to the end of February.

During March, we will assess how well the process worked, document our findings, and make changes, as necessary, so that each year the rate setting process will become part of our standard annual cycle.

- Sam Steinhardt
Finance and Administration

Seasonal Flu Prevention

Environmental Health and Safety, the department at Stanford responsible for the disaster plan, has asked University departments to make staff aware of the information available for the prevention of seasonable flu and what the University has done for pandemic planning.

This information is available on the EH&S web site. Please visit the site on seasonal flu to see and download color posters on flu prevention strategies. These posters identify simple behavior patterns that will help people avoid catching seasonal flu and simultaneously will start patterning good habits in case of an actual pandemic flu outbreak. This site contains a number of resources to help educate people on the risks and issues presented by a pandemic flu outbreak.

While you are on the EH&S web site you should take the time to view the short video on proper sneeze and cough etiquette. This video is humorous as well as informative.

- Bert Stubbs
Operations

Holiday Party Pictures

Pictures from the IT Services 2006 Holiday Party at the Faculty Club are available for viewing. Here's proof a good time was had by all....

- Cholada Chenhansa
Finance and Administration

TIPS Meeting

All IT Services staff are invited to attend the TIPS Meeting, Wednesday, January 17, 8:30–10:00 a.m. in Hartley Conference Room, Mitchell Earth Sciences building.

Bob O'Leary, Executive Director of Administrative Systems, and others from his staff, will provide an update on the organization and on the systems they support.

- Jane Marcus
Client Relations

Eco and GO Passes

Let P&TS help you avoid traffic, decrease driving costs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by helping plan your free commute with Caltrain, VTA, or Line U.

To get your free Caltrain GO Pass and VTA Eco Pass, bring your valid Stanford ID to the Parking and Transportation Services office (340 Bonair Siding, open 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday).

Complete information is available on the Parking and Transportation Services web site.

- The Editors

About its in bits

A regular summary of IT business, news about personnel, and pointers to other information of interest to IT Services staff. Coordinated, compiled, and published by the Communication Strategy and Standards Team. its in bits is published on the first and third Wednesday of the month. Note: The January schedule varies due to Winter Closure.

Submissions are due by Noon on the Friday before the scheduled issue, to itsinbits-submissions@lists.stanford.edu for consideration. its in bits is distributed via email to its-all-staff@lists.stanford.edu and the subscription list itsinbits-subscribers@lists.stanford.edu. People outside of IT Services can self-subscribe via mailman.

The next its in bits will be published on Wednesday, January 24, 2007