Survey

Was your recent mid-point performance review (IPP) with your supervisor valuable?

Yes
No
Didn't have one

Results from last issue's survey question: When someone wants to communicate with me, I prefer contact via:

There were 37 responses: 26 chose email, 2 chose IM, 3 chose Phone, and 6 preferred "A personal visit."

Staff Profile

Bert Stubbs

Bert Stubbs came to Stanford in 1968. He has seen the IT department change from: Stanford Computation Center (SCC), to the Stanford Center for Information Processing (SCIP), to the Center for Information Technology (CIT), to the Information Technology Services (ITS), to Library and Information Resources (L&IR), to Information Technology Systems and Services (ITSS), to our present IT Services.

How would you describe your current job responsibilities?

My principal responsibility is to keep IT Services' Shared Communication Services running. This can be a challenge as we provide a broad spectrum of services to a diverse community.

Which aspects of your job do you enjoy the most?

What I enjoy about work is the challenge of working with the diversity of the Stanford community. There is never a dull moment and there is always something new to learn.

What did you do before you came to Stanford?

Before I came to Stanford (a very long time ago) I was in the US Navy.

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

When not at work I enjoy woodworking, hiking, and fishing. I also do a fair amount of recreational reading. The book I am currently reading is "The First American—The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin."

What is your favorite movie, book, song?

I really do not have a favorite book. I did like "The Lord of the Rings" and the Harry Potter series. I also enjoyed the movies made about them.

Staff Happenings

Dan Stillmaker joined the Shared Application Services team as Director of Storage Systems, effective Monday, March 27th. Dan comes to Stanford from PG&E where he has held various leadership positions in enterprise data and storage services.

In addition to Dan's technical and managerial experience, he has been a collegiate coach of men's water polo and assistant coach of women's swimming. Please feel free to introduce yourselves to Dan and welcome him aboard.

- John Freshwaters
Shared Application Services

Barry Magsanay joins IT Services to manage the Windows Systems Team within Shared Application Services. Barry comes to Stanford from Williams-Sonoma, Inc., where he spent 4–1/2 years managing infrastructure, operations, and desktop technologies departments. Prior to Williams-Sonoma, Barry spent 4–1/2 years with Gap, Inc., where he managed the global server engineering and operations teams.

When not at work, Barry volunteers much of his time to local school sports programs as a basketball and baseball coach. Barry's years of IT management experience will help SAS continue to provide high quality and valued business solutions for our Stanford community clients.

- John Freshwaters
Shared Application Services

You may see a new face helping you resolve desktop problems. Please join me in welcoming Peter Phan to our Field Support Team (FST). Peter is working with CRC through OnLine Technical Services. Most of his IT expertise comes from work experience at Scios Inc., National Semiconductor, and Wells Fargo. He has just recently finished his MCSE certification and has a B.S. degree in Computer Engineering and Pharmacology.

Peter has a strong technical background and is very customer service oriented. When I asked Peter, "what would be one thing folks should know about you," he said, "my wife and I are the proud parents of two month–old twin girls." Peter is very excited about the opportunity to assist with desktop support operations at IT Services.

- Brian Wankel
Client Support; Computer Resource Consulting

Comings and Goings

The following people have joined Information Technology Services. Welcome!

  • Shahn Karp (Maria Maravilla, Client Support; Computer Resource Consulting)

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

Tech Briefings

iTunes U at Stanford

As part of a group of schools piloting iTunes U, Apple's academic version of the popular iTunes music store, Stanford is providing content about courses through a Stanford-branded iTunes environment. Learn more about iTunes U, Stanford's role in the project, and how to get your department or group involved at this Tech Briefing.

April 14, Turing Auditorium, 2 to 3:30 p.m.

For the complete schedule, a map to Turing Auditorium, times, and a list of topics, visit the Tech Briefings site.

Technology Training Courses

Seats are still available for the following IT Services Technology Training class the week of April 17:

  • FileMaker Pro Level 1 (ITS-1801), Wednesday, April 19, 9:00–4:00, $275
  • IT Services Site Training (ITS-8301), Thursday, April 20, 1:30–4:30, free
  • Introduction to ReportMart Using Brio (ITS-8401), Thursday, April 20, 1:30–4:30, free
If you are interested in signing up for a course, please register by Monday, April 10. 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.

- Phyllis Olrich
Client Support; Technology Training Services

IT Employment Opportunities

There were eight additions to the IT Services job requisition postings for this edition.

Req.#10032 - CRC Director, 100% FTE continuing, Range 1M4, Jan Cicero, Manager.

The CRC Director sets direction, grows the consulting business, and has excellent business financial skills. The director develops leads and motivates high-performance teams of computer support professionals. These teams deliver on-site network and desktop consulting services across the University, as well as other services such as server support, application support, and data networking for campus and resident-based clients.

Req.#10064 - Sr. Order Processing Coordinator, 100% FTE continuing, Range 3P2, Karen Cox, Manager.

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

Req.#10087 - Support Analyst, 100% FTE continuing, Range 4P3, John Freshwaters, Manager.

Manage the operation of Remedy, Change Management, and Timesheet applications. Manage distribution of user licenses and oversee the adequate supply of licenses. Make necessary data configuration changes to the application as requested by service providers. Add menu selections, auto-routing rules, notifications, etc.

Req.#10033 - Administrative Associate, 100% FTE continuing, Range 1A4, Cholada Chenhansa, Manager.

The Administrative Associate is responsible for the full range of administrative support including, but not limited to: initiate and process purchase requisitions using Oracle Financial System; re-bill clients using Pinnacle System and reimbursement requests; coordinate travel arrangements; schedule meetings (coordinate calendars and handle logistics); reconcile monthly office operating and expenditure statements and telephone bills; maintain general office and kitchen supply inventory; handle new staff coming in/moving out of and transferring within IT Services and Stanford.

Req.#10112 - Computer Research Associate, 100% FTE fixed term, Range 4P1, Karen Cox, Manager.

This position is responsible for ordering, inventory, distribution, up-to-date billing entry, record-keeping, and vendor and Hospital collaboration on all matters related to Paging Administration. The position works closely with Operator Services and with the Systems Group to facilitate AMCOM as the delivery system for paging. This position requires significant client interface expertise and requires initiative and minimal supervision.

Req.#10102 - Telephone Operator, 100% FTE continuing, Range A18, Carolyn Kane, Manager.

The Stanford Telephone attendant works in a 24/7 operation answering, processing, paging, and directing calls for Stanford University, University Hospital and Clinics, SLAC, Medical School, as well as faculty, students, and staff. The attendant also serves critical special call functions of the Stanford Hospital and Clinics and the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, including hospital paging, after-hours physician on-call rosters, and coordinating critical code calls.

Req.#10101 - Sr. Order Processing Coordinator, 100% FTE continuing, Range 4P1, Karen Cox, Manager.

Responsibilities include all core processing activities such as billing, issuing credits, completing account number changes, assigning personal billing numbers and calling cards, reconciling monthly reject billing reports, responding to numerous service requests for verification of charges, investigation of past due accounts, distribution of invoices or statements, and requesting the services of Stanford's collection agencies where appropriate.

Req.#10135 - Senior Financial Analyst, 100% FTE continuing, Range 3P4, Sam Steinhardt, Manager.

This position will be responsible for consolidated reporting, financial analysis, and decision support for the IT Services organization, development of systems and infrastructure to support finance and strategic planning activities, and working collaboratively with all levels of staff within IT Services and Business Affairs. This position will also report to the Director of Finance for 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 open positions from: itss.stanford.edu/staff/itssjobs.html

Quote of the Week

"You don't write because you want to say something, you write because you've got something to say."

-F. Scott Fitzgerald

News

Employee Survey Results

The results are now available on the Web. The information is provided at the IT Services level, by Executive Director area, and at the level of major work groups.

Hopefully, you have already had an opportunity to review the results at a recent work group meeting and are already discussing any need for changes.

If you have questions about the information or suggestions for ways to improve, please let Bill, Jan, Jay, or John know.

-Nancy Ware
Planning, Metrics, and Communication

The Mailman Cometh

IT Services is slated to complete the transition of the "@lists" mailing list service from the current Majordomo system to the new Mailman system in Autumn Quarter. Work is underway to transition the active mailing lists. At the start of Winter Quarter, the Majordomo system housed just over 28,000 mailing lists. The Mailman system currently houses over 350 lists, but that will change.

Earlier this month, the Mailman team began contacting list owners about lists that have no subscribed members or appear to have been inactive since September of 2005. Approximately 10,000 mailing lists have been queried. In March, the Mailman team deleted almost 4,000 lists from the system and has received directed responses from approximately 3,000 list owners about whether to keep or remove their mailing list.

April and May will be busy months for the Mailman project team. In early April, active lists without subscribed members will be converted from Majordomo to Mailman. On May 1st, mailing lists that do not have nested membership (list addresses subscribed to other lists) will be converted.

Information about Mailman and the @lists service is available online.

Kudos to Hua Zheng, Xueshan Feng, Kevin Hall, and Meei-You Lee for all their hard work so far.

-Tim Torgenrud
Client Support; Project Management Office

Order Management Business Process Re-engineering Project

I received a staff report last April on the workflow within the Order Processing group, focusing primarily on voice (phone and voicemail) services. We made some initial progress toward implementation in the fall, forming eight teams to carry out the recommendations from that report. However, as we began to move forward it was clear that we needed to incorporate all IT Services orders, not just voice, in our process. The original eight groups were placed on hold while we did the IT Services analysis. This should keep us from having to do the same work twice, and should provide consistency for our clients.

A second team was formed recently with a broader set of staff. The team reviewed the report from the original group and provided suggestions on how it could be modified to incorporate all IT Services. In addition, we arranged for a client focus group to get specific feedback on their experiences using our ordering system. Finally, we retained the services of a consulting group that has familiarity working with Pinnacle both at Stanford and other universities. Western Telecommunications Consulting (WTC) will help us in figuring out how best to use the Pinnacle system at Stanford.

I am excited to be moving on from planning to active implementation, and look forward to improving our client and staff experiences in order placement and support. As an initial step, seven teams have been formed to review and document the process steps that a client request will follow through the IT Services area. These teams will report back on progress in mid-April and with their draft documents at the end of April. The groups and leads are as follows:

Service Desk: Lead, Chris Lundin. This group will evaluate the single point of entry for orders and transfer of the order to the various work groups.

Data Center: Lead, Steven Swinkels. This group will evaluate the process that orders follow for five main data center areas—Unix, Windows, Database, Storage, and Backup—including the provisioning of new equipment.

Communications: Lead, Erich Snow. This group will evaluate the process that orders follow for the primary Communications areas: voice and associated services, Net2Jack, etc.

Client Support: Lead, Jim Knox. This group will evaluate the process for orders that are outside the two above areas such as software licensing, training, etc.

Billing: Lead, Sam Steinhardt. This group will evaluate establishing a new process to QA orders and to make sure all orders are closed for each billing cycle.

Life Cycle: Lead, Bert Stubbs. This group will evaluate the process for orders that have been closed and are in maintenance mode, but have a trouble or problem that needs to be resolved.

Campus Readiness: Lead, Christopher Kittle. This group will coordinate the client and staff communication on the project.

In addition to these teams, Christine Yelda, Kim Seidler, and Ann-Marie Lancaster of WTC will participate on all teams to provide consistency between teams and insure clean hand-off of orders between groups.

On a related note, effective April 1, a number of functions within Order Management including Billing, Counter Sales, and Order Processing will be re-assigned within the group. Karen Cox will continue as manager of the group. The Service Consulting function will report directly to me while we evaluate a change in their role to one that more broadly supports IT Services overall, rather than just Communications.

We'll keep you informed as we make progress. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please direct them to me.

- Jay Kohn
Shared Communication Services

Desktop Systems Group on the Move

Our IT Services Desktop Systems Group (Jim Brown and Tony Silveira) will be moving into Shared Application Services under Barry Magsanay effective April 1.

This change is being made to more closely align the work of this group with others who are providing tools and systems development to enhance campus-wide desktop security and management. Tony, Jim, and an open position being posted will continue to work with Barry's Big-Fix team to capitalize on the interest by the campus in automated software management (our Desktop Configuration Management and Host-Self-Registration are great examples).

The Desktop Systems group will continue to maintain very close linkages to our Client Support organization, where they provide invaluable support as a "Tier 3" desktop support group assisting our Help Desk Services and Computer Resource Consulting staff with their expertise.

So adieu, and bien venue, all at the same time!

- Chris Lundin
Client Support; Help Desk Services

- Barry Magsanay
Shared Application Services; Windows Systems

HostReg Progress

The Host Registration Project Phase II is plugging away. Recent activity includes preparations for policy-based routing on the campus network, load-balancing preparation, and Java coding work of the phase II application. Phase II plans to be testing in May, with campus launch this summer. While things are working their way up to a frenzy in the Phase II work, Phase I is still burbling along.

Phase I service has been available for the CompSci Robotics Lab, Earth Sciences, the Graduate School of Business, the Institute for International Studies, and the Law School. A few changes were made to the Phase I software, so that the Medical School could participate as well. While the flurry of host registration activity tends to be in August and September with the influx of new students on campus, Winter Quarter 2005/06 saw 173 hosts registered from the Phase I clients.

The Host Registration Project now has a project web page available. You may want to check out the use-case flow diagram to see what's being put together.

- Tim Torgenrud
Client Support; Project Management Office

Stanford ePay (Student Online Payment Service)

On April 17, 2006, Student Financial Services along with Commerce and Banking Services (Controller's Office) will introduce an online student bill presentment and payment service called Stanford ePay. The Stanford ePay web site will provide a convenient way for students, their parents, or other non-scholarship authorized payers to view and make payments to their University Bill, 24/7.

With Stanford ePay, students will be able to:

  • View their billing history
  • Schedule their payment
  • Manage their authorized payer's access
  • Pay with electronic transfers (eCheck) or with MC, AMEX, or Discover credit cards (convenience fees will apply to credit card payments)

In the initial rollout (April to July, 2006), the electronic bill will include tuition, room, board, and other miscellaneous charges that are currently on the University Bill. Starting in August of 2006, IT Services charges for telephone features, long distance calling, and cable television will appear on the University Bill. At that time, students will be able to use Stanford ePay to make payment for those services.

Caren Kammeyer, from the IT Services Project Management Office, is the project manager for the integration of the student IT Services billing (Pinnacle) into PeopleSoft. Eric Armstrong, from Student Financial Information Systems, is serving as the overall project manager for the Stanford ePay project.

Student Financial Services and Commerce and Banking Services are currently working with IT Services and Administrative Systems to identify and develop HelpSU processes and operating level agreements for support of the service.

If you have any questions about Stanford ePay, please check out the web site or contact Teresa Janeway.

- Teresa Janeway
Client Support; Promotion and Publicity

Community Partnership Day

The University is introducing a new community service program to encourage faculty, staff, and students to volunteer their services in the surrounding communities.

The new program, set for Friday, April 28, will include up to four hours of paid "release time" for staff members who are participating in volunteer service projects that day. Faculty, students, and alumni will also be invited to participate. Visit the site above for volunteer opportunities.

For those who are unable to participate on Friday, April 28 due to work commitments, there is also an opportunity on Saturday, April 29 (which doesn't involve "release time"—just a valuable contribution).

Stanford Facilities (which is welcoming volunteers) has taken on a project in Menlo Park. Family Connections is a tuition–free, parent–participation preschool for low–income families. Parents can learn positive parenting skills while their children develop the necessary skills to succeed in kindergarten and beyond. The site consists of a portable classroom/modular building that is in real need of repair and also an outdoor area for the kids to play.

They are still looking for volunteers with skills including (but not limited to) carpentry, electric, plumbing, and HVAC.

If you'd like to participate in Community Partnership Day, please visit the web site above to sign up.

And for those who are busy on Saturday, April 29th, there's even a pre–work/preparation day on Saturday, April 22nd, to prepare the site.

Come join us and help make this project a success!

- Chris Lundin
Client Support; Help Desk Services

Identify Yourself and Add a Solution Please

When sending email to a customer from within HelpSU (with the Reminders functionality), please include your name and a reference to either your workgroup or "IT Services." Since those emails come from our generic "remedy@remedy-prod.stanford.edu" account, it provides a much nicer customer interaction for them to see the name of the individual helping them.

Note the difference:

Recommended (example):

"The URL to reach the Sundial application is http://sundial.stanford.edu. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

- Chris Lundin
Stanford IT Help Desk"

Not Recommended:

"The URL to reach the Sundial application is http://sundial.stanford.edu"

Please remember to put a brief recap of the solution to each HelpSU request in the Summary field on the Solutions tab. All we're looking for is a brief, one-line statement of the ultimate resolution to the customer's request. What is really not helpful are "Solutions" such as "See work log" or the quick "swl" or the ultimate "." (Solution is a required field and some folks have resorted to putting a period as the "Solution"). That is not at all helpful when we run reports comparing user's questions with the solutions provided, as we do when looking for FAQ material.

Please take the time to put a real, brief, "Solution" in that field. Thanks.

- Chris Lundin
Client Support; Help Desk Services

Quarterly Account Management Report

The Account Managers' and Liaisons' Quarterly Report (MS Word document) for the Autumn Quarter is now available for review.

This report is for the months of October through December, 2005, and summarizes some of the work accomplished for clients, lists requests that IT Services has received for new services, and tracks some of the larger client-impacting outages for the quarter.

We'll use it when Account Managers and Liaisons meet with their clients to review past months and plan for the future.

- Phil Reese and the Accounts Management Team
Client Support; Process and Account Management

Quarterly Celebrations

We are changing the monthly celebration of work anniversaries to a quarterly event. Each quarter, staff members celebrating their work anniversaries will be invited to join the Executive Directors for wine and cheese. The purpose is to celebrate and to say thanks for your contributions. When your quarter arrives, you'll receive an email invitation and notice the date and time on your Sundial calendar.

These informal sessions provide an additional forum for you to tell the EDs what is on your mind. You can let them know how we're doing in meeting our various goals and objectives. They also want to hear about barriers and obstacles to our success as well as your ideas about options or possible solutions to address these issues.

In case you are planning ahead, here are the dates for 2006:

Celebrating April–June work anniversaries: Tuesday, June 27
Celebrating July–September work anniversaries: Friday, September 29
Celebrating October–December work anniversaries: Thursday, December 7

- Nancy Ware
Planning, Metrics, and Communication

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.

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 new subscription list itsinbits-subscribers@lists.stanford.edu. People outside of IT Services can self-subscribe via majordomo.

The next its in bits will be published on Wednesday, April 19, 2006