Department Profile

its in bits occasionally publishes a department profile in place of a staff profile.

Facilities Engineering

The Facilities Engineering Group (FEG) is responsible for the design and construction of communication media in all University buildings including the Stanford Hospital and Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. The FEG provides telecommunications project management support to various construction departments on campus and the medical center, as well as to architects, civil engineers, general contractors, and electrical contractors. The FEG is also responsible for the design, installation, and project management of all types of underground communications conduit systems, as well as all types of underground copper twisted pair, fiber optic, and CATV coax cables that are the communications backbone for the University. The FEG manages all Telecommunication Service Outlet (TSO) installations.

In addition, the Computer Aided Design (CAD) group within the FEG is responsible for the creation and ongoing maintenance of several thousand drawings used to track the University’s telecommunications assets.

To put some size to the cable plant we manage, here are some statistics:

  • Approximately 500 linear miles of conduit
  • Over 600 Maintenance Holes/Service Boxes
  • Over 1,800 Fiber Optic cables in records
  • Over 2,100 copper cables in records
  • Over 1,800 Telecommunication Rooms
  • Over 100,000 Telecommunication Service Outlets (TSO's)

Who We Are

The Facilities Engineering Group consists of seven Communications Engineers and five CAD staff. About half of the FE's come from the old Bell Systems arena: Mike Peralta, Doug Fink and Gerry Chapman. Others, including myself, came from the contractor side of the industry: Dave Delia and Gary Gutfeld. Ken Flauding came from the systems sales side, but he also worked for the Bell Systems in a past life. Bill MacIntosh spent a good portion of his career in the Bell Systems and later in the contractor field.

The Lead for the CAD team is Relu Vasiliu. This guy knows AutoCAD! If you have questions about drawings and AutoCAD, Relu is your go-to guy. We have Gheorghe Vasiliu (yes another Vasiliu—actually a duplicate—they are twins) who is our web guru for the bible sheet web site. Mikayel Tatevosyan and Roland Acoba round out our CAD team working on all the updates we receive.

- Erich Snow
Facilities Operations

Tips From Your Admin

Did you know that...

In order for your admin team to place a Data Center order, remember to provide the following: a Service Number (PSAxxxx or CORExxxx), a University PTA, and a completed fulfillment form. 

Staff Happenings

Comings and Goings

Allison Falk, a Stanford senior, has joined Business Services as a summer intern. She'll be working on projects in Finance, the Project Management Office, and Metrics, and will be sitting in Polya and Spruce. Allison is a member of the Stanford Women's Varsity Soccer Team, so will be leaving us August 8 for pre-season training.

- Joyce Dickerson, Project Management Office, Business Services

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

- Peter Tam (David Macia)

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

Client Interaction Skills Tips

The goal of this column is give you tips and tricks that will help you improve each and every customer interaction.  Good customer care is not about saying "yes" all the time.  When dealing with our clients, good customer care is about giving them professional advice, dealing with them efficiently and effectively, treating them with respect, and delivering what has been promised.

These are some tips about making realistic commitments and promises to your clients:

  • Give your client a realistic expectation of what you can deliver by when.
  • Allow slippage time when telling them how long it will take to get back to them.
  • Monitor and manage expectations: keep your client up-to-date about what is happening and why.
  • Follow up with your clients, especially if you need to renegotiate your deadline or deliverable, or know you need more time to deliver due to unforeseen circumstances.

- Dani Aivazian
Organizational Effectiveness

Tech Briefings

Tech Briefings

Fridays
2:00–3:30 p.m.

Turing Auditorium

Friday, June 20

LabVIEW

Faculty, students, and staff are invited to attend a workshop on National Instrument (NI) LabVIEW, the graphical development environment. Conan McHugh, the Area Manager of NI in Northern California, will present. In this session, see software and hardware applications using the latest features in LabVIEW, learn how to integrate your m-file scripts created using MATLAB, and discover firsthand how LabVIEW can help simplify your design projects for virtually all of your technical computing needs. Also, learn how to create complete LabVIEW applications from scratch in minutes with interactive Express VIs and I/O assistants.

Friday, June 27

Green IT: Sustainability and Energy Management in IT

Joe Stagner, the Executive Director of Sustainability and Energy Management, discusses the impact of IT energy use on the environment. Joe will discuss the effect of IT's energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and water consumption. He will also speak about the generation of electronic waste and a few other sustainability issues related to IT. The scale of impact that campus IT operations has on campus energy use, water use, and waste generation will be discussed. Some good work has already been done, but Joe will review the major opportunities for reducing energy use and waste generation that have already been identified at Stanford. Bring your questions about how you can help make a greener IT.

Tech Express

Once a month
12:00–1:00 p.m.
Turing Auditorium

Thursday, June 19

Stanford Integrated Email and Calendar. First Look—A quick demo by Ammy Hill, IT Services, will be geared toward day-to-day use of the new Stanford Email and Calendar. There will be a quick tour of the system with plenty of time for questions and answers.

IT Services staff: This is your last chance to see the new system before your email converts on Monday, June 23!

Check the Tech Briefings home page for future sessions and to subscribe to the mailing list. Also see the Tech Express home page for information on upcoming presentations.

Technology Training Courses

Tech Training Courses

The full listing of Current Courses is available on the Tech Training web site.

Upcoming Tech Training classes of interest to IT Services staff:

Excel 2007 for Finance Level 1, Fri, Jun 20, 9:00–4:00, $325

Mac OS X Fundamentals (Leopard), Mon, Jun 23, 1:00–4:30, $195

Excel 2007 Level 3, Tue, Jun 24, 9:00–4:00, $325

Web: Securing Computers, Documents, and Web Sites, Tue, Jun 24, 1:00–4:30, $195

Excel 2007 for Finance Level 2, Fri, Jun 27, 9:00–4:00, $325

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

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

- Nancy Baumann
Technology Training Services

IT Employment Opportunities

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

Req. #30691 & 30692: Business Partner, 100% FTE, Range 4P5, Sam Steinhardt, hiring manager (two openings; only one req. #30691 was posted, to eliminate duplicate resume).

The IT Services Business Partner is a senior level position that reports to the Director of Service Management in IT Services. The Business Partner is the primary client-focused position in the Services Management organization, and is responsible for working directly with key clients to build relationships which will enable IT Services to help clients determine their IT strategies and understand where central IT services are a match for their needs.

Req. #30726: Financial PTA Analyst, 100% FTE, Range 3P3, Christine Soldahl, hiring manager.

The Financial PTA Analyst is an integral part of the IT Services Finance Department that monitors over $80 million in annual IT Services budgets. This position provides financial analysis and decision support to the Finance Department and internal IT Services senior management by applying individual expertise in accounting.

Req. #30607: Sr.Database Analyst, 100% FTE, Range 4P4, Bryan Wear, hiring manager.

The Senior Database Analyst is a member of a database administration team in the Computing Services (CS) group. This individual will work in the Oracle environment and will manage complex production and development environments.

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

“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.”

- George Bernard Shaw

News

A Note From Bill...

Recently, a laptop storing large amounts of restricted data was stolen from a Stanford University employee. The type of data lost was summarized in the official memo that you received from Randy Livingston, and included social security numbers, home phone numbers, and salary information for tens of thousands of current and former Stanford staff. While the vast majority of such thefts are simply for the purpose of reselling the hardware and not for the data the computer contains, there is still a significant risk. The University sent notifications to keep the community informed and will continue to monitor the situation closely.

Last autumn, IT Services launched an intensive project to increase security across all of our systems. While the security effort was focused primarily on servers, storage, and other central facilities, it also extended to desktop and laptop computers. We continue to run biweekly scans, as well as semi-annual penetration tests, to identify potential risks so that we can correct them before they are exploited. To date, we have significantly improved the security of our central servers and storage and the data they house. I want to thank each of you for all of the work that you have put in to achieve this noteworthy progress.

Our work on the desktop and laptop environments is just now beginning to become more widely visible. IT Services, in conjunction with the Information Security Office, has launched a new data encryption service for clients using Windows desktops and laptops. We continue working on a solution for the Macintosh and UNIX environments. (While there are individual solutions for the Mac and for UNIX, we need a service that allows clients to recover their encryption keys if forgotten.)

IT Services has also started planning security services for handheld devices. The use of these devices continues to increase, resulting in a growing and serious security risk, especially in terms of loss or theft. With the amount of email that all of us deal with each day, it is easy to see how we might have restricted data on these devices without even knowing it.

Until the time comes when we are able to effectively have encryption on all of the data across all of our various devices, it is critical that we take whatever steps we can to ensure the security of the data on the devices that we do have. First and foremost, it is important to check and make sure that you do not have restricted data on any of your Stanford-owned (or personally-owned) devices. Please go to the data classification web page to see what is classified as restricted data, and then remove that data from your desktops, laptops, and handheld devices.  Be aware that most laptop and handheld device thefts occur from automobiles, so make sure not to leave such equipment in unattended vehicles. Additionally, there has been a growing number of office thefts on campus, so it has become more important to lock your office when you leave.

Security is becoming an increasingly important part of the job of everyone in an IT organization, and we need to remain vigilant about it. Just a moment's forgetfulness can cause untold grief both for the University and others. Let's all do our very best to continue to improve our security awareness, processes, and practices.

- Bill Clebsch
IT Services

Director of Service Management Announced

I am delighted to announce that Nan McKenna has agreed to become our first Director of Service Management, effective Monday, June 23rd.

As you know, this is a critical leadership position as the Business Services organization combines management of two newly created functions: business partnership and services management (see revised Business Services organization chart). In the area of business partnership, Nan will manage a team of Business Partners and support personnel who will work with clients across the University to understand their business requirements, assist with technical strategy and planning, and prioritize their technology needs. On the service management side, she will work with our technical product owners to develop service line strategies and road maps, manage the service line development lifecycle, and roll out new services and enhancements, as well as—when deemed appropriate—sunset services. Nan's first objectives will be to complete the hiring of the five critical positions that will report to her, beginning with the Business Partner roles.

Nan is particularly well suited to take on this challenge. Having worked at Stanford for more than 20 years, it would be an understatement to say "she knows the territory." Importantly, during the past three years, she developed the Client Relations group into an integral part of IT Services' client focus, working externally and internally, across multiple ITS technical work groups, to be sure we're delivering quality services to clients. She has served as a member of the Services Portfolio Review Team, looking strategically across IT Services’ portfolio of products and services to identify best directions for the organization. Nan has also chaired the IT Services Rates Committee, working to understand and improve the financial models behind our services, review service performance, and recommend final rates to the Executive Directors.

Please join me in congratulating Nan on taking on this new and exciting role!

- Sam Steinhardt
Business Services

2008 Client Satisfaction Survey Results:  Online Now

The 2008 Client Satisfaction Survey results are available on the IT Services web site. IT Services has conducted annual satisfaction surveys since 2003. The most recent survey was completed in April 2008. Each year, we ask a sample population of faculty members, undergraduate and graduate students, and administrative staff to complete the survey. The survey's purpose is to:

  • Find out how clients rate services and support provided by IT Services;
  • Ascertain factors that contribute to client satisfaction or dissatisfaction; and
  • Give clients a voice to influence IT Services priorities and potential initiatives.

The survey spans a range of topics, including customer service, help desk, telecommunications, networking, email and Webmail, security, remote access, data storage, and other technical services. We contract with an external firm to conduct the survey in order to ensure objectivity and confidentiality.

Directors and Managers were recently briefed on the outcomes.  They have been asked to discuss these results with work groups during June.

 

- Client Satisfaction Survey Team Members
Jan Cicero, Bill Clebsch, Heather Flanagan, Tom Goodrich, Jim Knox, Nan McKenna, Chris Lundin, Suzanne Schiessler, Christine Soldahl, Nancy Ware

PCG Update

This is an update on the effort I kicked off in mid-May to assess the Production Control Group (PCG) workgroup. We have completed the data-gathering from staff, clients, and IT Services directors and managers—thank you for sharing your insight and thoughts.

Based on all the feedback we received, we put together an analysis and set of recommendations. The analysis included five options that varied from No PCG to an enterprise "NOC-like (Network Operations Center)" model. These were presented to the Executive Directors and the final recommendation was what we called "NOC-lite or the Operations Control Center". This workgroup will report to Chris Lundin, Director of Help Desk Services, as of June 16, 2008.

Service Profile for the Operations Control Center:

  • 24x7 incident management. End-to-end trouble ticket resolution for all services, plus proactive communication and root cause analysis.
  • Component of 24x7 Help Desk and consistent single point of client contact for non-business hours; responsible for post-mortem analysis and documenting lessons learned.
  • 24x7 service monitoring and metrics—first responders to any/all critical alerts, own and initiate appropriate staff/client escalations; manage Change Advisory Board maintenance items.
  • 24x7 support for all data centers: Forsythe, Sweet, ECHs, Research Computing—"after-hours hands and eyes," including ability to un-rack and swap out hardware (i.e., "24x7 TFAC").
  • SOC (Satellite Operations Center, activated during campus emergencies) Facilitator/Incident Commander and SOC activation.

What Happens Next:

The following is a short list of first steps for implementation:

  • Define a Two-Year Charter (phased approach) for the Operations Control Center workgroup.
  • Complete the job grade and skills assessment for the workgroup.
  • Create a training matrix (e.g., intensive training program + SME support + Competency Model + Mentoring) for the workgroup.
  • Create standard playbooks (i.e., documented processes and procedures written collaboratively by/with operational workgroups).
  • Other actions based on discussion of this analysis and recommendations.

I will be working with Chris Lundin, Dani Aivazian, and Nilda Bonet on these first steps over the next few weeks.

I would like to sincerely thank Carolyn Kane for stepping in and managing the PCG workgroup over the past four months. She didn't hesitate to jump in and familiarize herself with the workgroup and functions, looking for opportunities to make their processes more efficient.

Your ideas and feedback continue to be critical input to our success in this effort. Don't hesitate to write or call if you have any questions.

- Jan Cicero
Client Support

IT Services Email Migration This Weekend

Hopefully by now it will come as no surprise that on Monday, all IT Services staff will have access to the new Stanford Email and Calendar. In fact, some IT Services staff will move tonight. In order to ensure that the project team can communicate effectively during this critical transition weekend, their mail will be migrated Wednesday night.

IT Services mailboxes will be migrated from the current Cyrus servers to the new Zimbra servers in three waves from midnight to six a.m. on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Once your mailbox is migrated, you'll log in as you normally do. If you're using a desktop client, the only difference you may see is a welcome message in your inbox. For those logging in via webmail.stanford.edu, you'll automatically be directed to the new Stanford Email and Calendar. For more information, check out the Migration Checklist.

Remember, we're counting on all IT Services staff to be ambassadors for these new tools when you're interacting with clients on campus. Every transition comes with its problems, but by pulling together to constructively identify and address these issues, we can all help to improve the transition experience for our clients.

If you missed the IT Services Pre-Migration meetings, you still have an opportunity to take a look at the Stanford Email and Calendar before migration. There will be a Tech Express in Turing Auditorium on Thursday, June 19th at noon. If you see members of the project team in the hall, be sure to wish them good luck since many of them will be working hard this weekend.

- Ammy Hill
Campus Readiness

Services Portfolio Planning Update

The Services Portfolio Planning team recently completed Round #1 recommendations and launched Round #2 analysis.

Round #1 Outcomes and Recommendations. These outcomes may have already been reviewed during recent workgroup meetings. If they were not, please ask your Director or Manager to review the findings and known next steps. In brief, the Services Portfolio Team recommended the following actions:

  1. Services to Keep, with Additional Investment
    (invest to implement defined plans/visions by subteams)
    • Converged Network (includes ACD, Phones and Vmail for Faculty, Staff, and Hospitals, Spectralink Pocket Phones, VoIP)
    • Integrated Email, Calendar (including Webmail)
    • Web Services
    • Storage (including Bulk, NAS, SAN, Super High Availability/Performance)
  2. Services to Keep, with No Additional Investment
    (these areas were asked to define business plans; they will be re-evaluated next year)
    • Citrix
    • DSL for Faculty, Staff
  3. Services to Exit
    • TechPort, effective 9/09
    • IT Course Support, effective 9/09
    • Backup and Recovery for Desktops, effective 12/08 complete transition for this service, to be provided by external vendors

Round #2 Analysis. Underway; scope includes:

  • Secure Email (held over from Round #1). Team Lead: Bruce Vincent
  • Phones, CableTV, & Internet Services for Stanford West and Welch Road Residences (this also includes the new residences under development). Team lead: Mark Miyasaki
  • Cable TV Services (all aspects: Academic, Student, Residences, Other. Team Lead: Mark Miyasaki
  • Card Services (including operations business model). Team Lead: Sam Steinhardt
  • Document Management (including role of Docushare in 2 year future). Team Lead: Jim Knox
  • AFS (focus is to define current uses of system, confirm where changes are underway or pending for next 2 years). Team lead: Jim Knox

Each Team Lead met with the Services Portfolio team to confirm the scope of the review, to discuss analysis to date, and to confirm timing of next steps. In most cases, the teams will work through the summer to develop the visions/recommendations. The leads are beginning to identify their teams and analysis is underway.

Please let us know if you have any questions. We will keep you informed as the work continues.

- The Services Portfolio Planning Team
Sam Steinhardt (Chair), Heather Flanagan, Fred Hansson, Shirley Hodges, Nan McKenna, Mark Miyasaki, Molly Reynick, Bruce Vincent, and Nancy Ware

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 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, July 2, 2008.