A Note from Bill...
Employee Survey
Work Anywhere
Departmental Firewalls
Mac Access to TechPort
Microsoft Vista
Survey
Staff Profile
Staff Happenings
Tech Sessions
Tech Training Classes
IT Employment Opportunities at Stanford
Quote of the Week

Past Issues

Who will win the Superbowl?

Indianapolis
Chicago

Results from last issue's survey question: Did you make a New Year's resolution?

There were 39 responses. 13 said "yes" and 23 said "no."

Kim Seidler joined Stanford in 2001.

How would you describe your current job responsibilities?

My current job responsibilities are to manage a CRC team of technical consultants in supporting the School of H&S, the Office of the General Counsel, and the Stanford Humanities Center. I support the team in their day-to-day tasks, projects, and process management, and I interface with clients on a regular basis to continually provide the best client support possible.

Which aspects of your job do you enjoy the most?

I really enjoy working as part of an amazing team. The team works hard to do their jobs and to satisfy the many clients we support; I see it every day. I also enjoy knowing that I have a great support system in IT Services. No matter the department, no matter the title, if I have a Finance, DDD, Networking, WST, Help Desk, PMO—any group need—I have always received assistance in getting my job done. That is something I have never had at any other place I have worked. It's very impressive.

What did you do before you came to Stanford?

Prior to coming to Stanford I provided desktop, server, and networking support for Semtech, Quintiles, and Nanospace. Additionally, I was a software instructor at CompUSA. I think there is a competition to see how many people came from PG&E and how many came from CompUSA.

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

I don't remember. My son just turned one and as anybody who is a working parent knows, when you aren't at work you are taking care of your child. We are constantly playing with Legos, reading children's books, singing goofy songs, and by the time you get a moment to do something for yourself, you pretty much just want to sleep. For some reason, you love it.

What is your favorite movie, book, song?

I really loved the Matrix when it came out and I love Amelie. They are so very different from each other, but both are just so clever in different ways.

Favorite book: my most enjoyable read over the past year was The Power of One. For song, I've been pretty obsessed with U2 since I was knee-high to a duck and I guess out of loyalty, I would try and pick one of their songs. But I really do enjoy just about every type of music and could find a favorite song or two in each genre.

On January 16th, Acacia was invaded with a wave of new staff; the IT Services Service Desk Team. Please join me in welcoming Christina Gonzalez, Candy Lowe, Jonathan Randolph, and Janis Welch. Each brings a wealth of knowledge and many years of Customer Service experience to their new role.

Candy most recently worked for the Med School IRT, Janis comes from the Cashier's office at Student Financial Services, you all know Christina, the Admin for Forsythe, and Jonathan, our one newcomer, comes to us from The Clorox Company.

The staff will spend the next six weeks in training, preparing for our Go Live of the Service Desk.

Look out Stanford, 'cause here we come!

- Vicki Hallett
Help Desk Services

Please join me in welcoming Brian Spyksma and Kevin Tai to Computer Resource Consulting (CRC).

Kevin joins CRC from Administrative Systems where, in addition to server administration, he assisted with general support operations. Kevin has an extensive background with University systems and brings a great deal of technical expertise to CRC. Kevin will be working 50% of his time with the IT Services field support team (FST) and 50% of his time assisting Earth Sciences with Network Administration.

Brian Spyksma comes to CRC from Planar Systems. Brian has a wide range of experience in both technical support as well as quality assurance testing. Brian is currently contracting with us through Robert Half Technologies and will be working with the IT Services FST supporting areas in IT Services, GLAM, and Dean of Research.

As we close backfilling the open positions from the Departmental Firewall project, we have one last new consultant joining CRC. Please join me in welcoming Dave Acoba to Stanford.  Dave has joined the IT Services FST and will be taking over primary support operations for Internal Audit, Risk Management, and HR.

Dave has extensive support and technical expertise and has spent the last six years working at Synopsys Incorporated where he supported both local and global staff including senior level executive management. Dave’s kind demeanor and technical background will make a great addition to our team, CRC, and IT Services.

Dave started this week and his office is located at 651 Serra.

Welcome Brian, Kevin, and Dave to CRC! Keep your eyes on your calendar for a "welcome breakfast" invitation to be scheduled next week. If you're keeping track, yes, this now means there are two Kevins and two Brians in the IT Services FST, and all four of us are located in Redwood.

- Brian Wankel
Help Desk Services

The IT Services Finance Team is delighted to welcome Tracey Ramirez as our new Billing Analyst. Tracey joins us after working in San Francisco as the in-house Sr. Finance Billing representative for Navigant Consulting, Inc. She comes to the position with over 17 years of Billing and Finance experience. She is a certified trainer on 13 software billing applications.

Tracey is already immersed in learning her key role on the billing services team for the OMR project, and we are relieved she is here. In Tracey's own words:  "My transition to Stanford University has been exciting and for the first time, I am enjoying employment in the beautiful city of Palo Alto where I live. My commuting days are over as I continue to educate myself with the new software applications, the wonderful campus, and my new working environment."

- Christine Soldahl
Finance and Administration

Comings and Goings

The following people recently joined Information Technology Services. Welcome!

• David Acoba Jr. (Brian Wankel)
• Craig Bernstein (David Macia)

The following people have left Information Technology Services. Please contact their manager if you need to follow up on any open items.

• Desiree Jafferies (Shared Services, CNS Operations)

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

Tech Briefings
Jan 26: Updates from Apple

Come join Stanford's Apple team as they talk about and show the latest and greatest Apple products from Macworld 2007 as well as a sneak preview of Leopard, Leopard Server, and the new Intel Xeon-based Xserve.

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

Turing Auditorium

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

Tech Express
Jan 25: Office Tips and Time Savers

Most administrative staff use Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint on a weekly, if not daily, basis. This session will cover some of the lesser- known features of these products that can help save you time and get more done.

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.

Upcoming Tech Training classes of interest to IT Services staff.

• 1/26, PowerPoint Level 1, 9–4, $275
• 1/30, Excel Pivot Tables, 8:30–12, $150
• 1/30, Excel Tips and Tricks, 1–4:30, $150
• 1/30, Access Lite, 1:30–4:30, $150
• 1/31, Excel Level 2, 9–4, $275
• 2/1, Access Level 1, 9–4, $275
• 2/1, Tips and Tricks In Sundial, 1–4:30, Free
• 2/5, Web Design: Designing a Web Site, 1:30–4:30, $150
• 2/7, Mac OS X Fundamentals, 1:30–4:30, $150
• 2/7, PHP Workshop, 9–4, $275
• 2/8, Excel Level 1, 9–4, $275
• 2/8, Securing Windows Systems and Domains, 10–12, Free
• 2/9, Securing UNIX and Linux Systems, 10–12, Free

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

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

Req# 23699: Sr. Storage Administrator, 100% FTE, continuing position, Range 4P4, Dan Stillmaker, hiring manager.

Responsible for providing technical storage and backup systems design and support to the academic and administrative client community. This individual's primary responsibilities are to support and maintain Enterprise Storage infrastructure, and ensure that storage and backup systems, platforms, and the operating environment are functionally secure, available, and reliable.

Req# 23771: Sr. Windows Systems Administrator, 100% FTE, continuing position, Range 4P4, Barry Magsanay, hiring manager.

The Senior Windows Systems Administrator position is responsible for the design, specification, installation, and administration of all environments needed to support Windows Systems Team (WST) client systems.

Req# 23772: Campus Readiness Specialist, 100% FTE, Fixed term position, Range 3P3, Jim Knox, hiring manager.

The incumbent participates as a key member of project implementation teams serving as a client advocate while providing expertise for the planning and delivering of communication and training that prepares the Stanford community for service and system introductions and changes.

Req# 23787: Production Control System Analyst, 100% FTE, continuing position, Range 4P2, Rick Lowe, hiring manager.

The Production Control Group is responsible for incident management from detection through post-mortem analysis of incidents for service outages or service degradations. Uses a combination of automated tools, procedures, and processes to track the health of central IT systems and coordinate Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and vendor incident response efforts.

Req# 23402: (three available positions) Senior Order Processor, 100%FTE, continuing position, Range 4P2, Suzanne Schiessler, hiring manager.

The Order Management Process team is responsible for receiving, reviewing, processing, and closing orders generated through the IT Services and My IT Services sites, Customer Service Orders (CSOs), 5-HELP ACD, and Remedy tickets that support network and telecommunication needs. These include voice, data, cable, fiber, voicemail, card services, and outside vendor services for the University, Hospital, Stanford Housing, Students, Vendors, and Stanford Affiliates while maintaining and reconciling the integrity of the data in the inventory/billing systems.

Req# 23818: Administrative Associate, 100% FTE, continuing position, Range 1A4, Cholada Chenhansa, hiring manager.

Working under minimal supervision, the Administrative Associate is 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.

Req# 23842: Systems Administrator, 100% FTE, Fixed term position, Range 4P3, John Freshwaters, hiring manager.

This individual’s primary responsibilities are to operate and maintain Stanford’s secure email application platform supporting secure messaging. Additional responsibilities include facilitation of client meetings and communications relative to secure messaging, as well as support of the UNIX/Linux operating system and system-level products that operate in the UNIX environment.

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

"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismograph."

- Ken Kesey

A Note from Bill...

On Thursday afternoon, January 18, we had our annual Service Awards ceremony, which focuses on our dedicated staff who have ten or more years of service to Stanford University (as of 12/31/06). This is a wonderful time to pause and think about how these staff members have really paved the way for the rest of us. It was remarkable to hear the tales of accomplishments and contributions made over the years and decades. Naturally there was plenty of laughter since many of the tributes contained one or two morsels of potentially embarrassing memories. We are deeply indebted to the contributions of these staff members and continue to look forward to many more years of collaborations and memories.

These are remarkable milestones. Please take time to congratulate the following staff on their Stanford anniversaries!

10 Years of Service: Jim Brown, Cynthia Endriga, Nelson Fong, Anthony Hom, Trang Kristic, Misty Rivera, Anita Yen.

20 Years of Service: Narlen Blue Arm, Bill Clebsch, Michael Cummins, David Delia, Gayle Delia, Robert Drewes, Laura Hamai, Jay Larson, Lynne Myers, Judy Pincus.

25 Years of Service: Jim Knox, Ronald Otero.

30 Years of Service: Kusum Kumar, Donald Pelton.

35 Years of Service: Fran Carlyle.

40 Years of Service: Lea Roberts.

- Bill Clebsch
IT Services

Employee Survey

One of our strategic goals for Business Affairs is to conduct an employee survey designed to be a measurement of how we are are doing in creating an environment in which people feel valued and can do their best work. Some of you may recall that IT Services (formerly ITSS) had contracted with Great Place to Work to conduct an employee survey in December of 2002 and May of 2004. 

In June, 2005, Business Affairs decided to conduct its first employee survey across the entire organization. Since IT Services had recently conducted a survey, and were working on action items, we elected to not participate in the Business Affairs survey. However, we did conduct a short survey about our progress.

This year, we will participate in the employee survey with the rest of Business Affairs. The online survey will be conducted from February 1–9 and should take 30–40 minutes to complete.

The survey will allow employees to anonymously share opinions and ideas about their work environment, help us understand our strengths, and show us where we have opportunities to improve. We will be able to measure our progress since the last survey and, once again, develop action plans to move toward creating an environment where all people feel valued and can do their best work.

We would like to sincerely encourage everyone to take advantage of this important opportunity to improve our work environment. Please take the time necessary to complete the employee survey in February.

You will be hearing more information about the survey in the coming weeks. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact Nilda Bonet or Jan Cicero.

- Jan Cicero
Client Support

Work Anywhere

The Work Anywhere task force was established June 1, 2006. The goal is to provide a road map that will allow University management to enable eligible employees to work more flexibly:

• Between different SU campus locations
• Between SU campus locations and home offices
• Anywhere there is a device and a connection

Six working teams evolved out of the North Campus Workplace planning group.

• Project Management/Process Facilitation
• Technology Toolkit & Hoteling
• Human Resources Policies
• Management & Participant Training
• Health, Safety, and Risk Management Policies & Practices
• Information Security Practice, Policies, & Support

The teams worked to design a standardized approach and tools which allow a mobile workforce to work flexibly and efficiently between different work locations and schedules. We plan to provide the foundation for this approach by integrating work place options and standards, work technologies, technology support, information security, University policies, and management/employee best practices.

Our first deliverables were a set of examples, tool kit definitions, policies, training options, support programs, and cost estimates. These were presented to the Budget group on November 15, 2006. There was a good discussion and a lot of interest in moving forward with this initiative. Next steps include further development of the policies and support models, creation of the training program and best practices, incorporating the profiles, testing the tools, and choosing the pilot locations.

- Jan Cicero
Client Support

Departmental Firewalls

In September of 2006, the President and the Provost funded an IT Services initiative to implement firewalls across campus at the departmental network perimeters. This service will be offered at no cost to all departments wishing to participate.

The firewall has been designed to take advantage of the recent ten gigabit upgrade to the SUNet backbone. In addition to enhancing the physical network infrastructure, the upgrade provided an opportunity to add resiliency to the network by defining eight Operational Zones (OZ), each with redundant network devices including firewalls. OZ firewalls can be partitioned into multiple virtual firewalls or “security zones.” Each network will have its own virtual firewall/security zone capable of having a unique set of security policies.

Project team members are now scheduling meetings with LNAs to discuss the firewall service, including the process for migrating networks behind the firewall.

The deployment of the firewalls is scheduled to occur in two phases:

• Phase 1, from February through December of 2007: Networks will be migrated behind the firewalls with a general security policy template in effect and traffic logging will be established.
• Phase 2, from February of 2007 through November of 2008: Project team members will work with LNAs to review the traffic log files and craft enhanced security policies.

More information about the Departmental Firewall project is available. If you have any questions, contact Michelle Collette.

- MIchelle Collette
Project Management Office

Mac Access to TechPort

If you are a Mac user who has been waiting for TechPort to work on your computer, the wait is over. TechPort, Stanford's online technology training service with over 1,000 online, self-paced, technology-related courses and thousands of online technology-related books, now works on your Macintosh.

To celebrate, Stanford's Technology Training Services is inviting everyone on campus to try out the courses and books for one week at no charge. A demo site will be available Monday, February 5, through Sunday, February 11. Don't miss this opportunity to try out TechPort. We are sure you will be impressed with the interactive courses and unabridged books that serve as vital tools for just-in-time learning and ongoing professional development.

Courses and book topics include: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Dreamweaver, programming languages, project management, and more. The demo site will offer full usage of all courses and books for one week.

Once you discover how valuable TechPort is, you can sign up for just $175. You can even use your STAP funds. This low price gives you access to all courses and books through August 31, 2007. That's seven months of training for about the cost of a single hands-on course.

Go to the TechPort site for access to the demo site or to get details on how to register for around-the-clock, seven-days-a-week access to TechPort through August 31, 2007 for just $175.

- Leni Silberman
Technology Training Services

New Microsoft Vista Operating System

After many years of development, Microsoft is releasing its new operating system, Vista, to general distribution on January 30, 2007. See http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/ for Microsoft's information on this new product.

IT Services staff and others on campus have been beta testing this software for some months, and we are in the process of compiling the results. At this time, while our testing continues, IT Services recommends users do not upgrade or order new machines with Windows Vista, especially if they are dependent on campus business applications.

Here are some initial determinations:

There are multiple versions of the OS available, but due to security concerns and incompatibility with our campus computing infrastructure we will not be supporting the "Home" versions. The likely supported versions will be Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Enterprise, or Windows Vista Ultimate (without supporting Media Center for home use). The new OS offers significant changes in the user interface, which will require user familiarization and, reportedly, greater security (always an elusive target).

At this time there are no compelling reasons to upgrade...and some reasons to wait a bit:

• Users will need to make sure their system can handle the minimal requirements of the OS. In some cases, users may wish to wait until ordering a new computer to acquire Vista.
• Many vendors are still writing drivers for peripheral devices, so before upgrading, make sure drivers exist for your printers, scanners, etc.
• Most Essential Stanford Software applications work with Vista, with some exceptions:
  • Symantec Anti-Virus (vendor preparing new version)
  • SpySweeper (vendor preparing new version)
• Campus business applications have not yet been fully tested.

We will announce the location of the Vista web page in a future issue, and that page will contain additional information as it is collected or developed. Our testing will continue. And if you're interested in Vista, please discuss your particular situation with your CRC support staff.

- Chris Lundin
Client Support

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.

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, February 7, 2007