Staff Happenings

Comings and Goings

The following person has joined Information Technology Services. Welcome.

Alex Chirov (Dave Macia)

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

Tech Briefings

Tech Briefings

Fridays
2:00–3:30 p.m.
Turing Auditorium

Friday, July 17

Stanford WebAFS, Collaboration Tools Installer, and Scheduling Service—Jon Pilat, Marco Wise, IT Services. Come learn about WebAFS, the newly-released web-based interface to AFS. This new tool allows you to access your files in AFS space from anywhere using just a web browser. We'll go over the interface as well as possibilities available for managing and sharing your files with your colleagues at Stanford. We will also cover the Collaboration Tools Installer, which lets you install three popular open source web applications (Drupal, MediaWiki, and WordPress) in your departmental or group web space. We'll go through the installation process and give you pointers on where to get help and information. Finally, there will be a sneak preview of the upcoming Scheduling Service, a new service that will allow you to execute UNIX commands and scripts at regular intervals.

Friday, July 24

Home Networking—Kent Reuber, IT Services. Join us as Kent Reuber present some basic info on setting up home networks on Stanford DSL, Stanford West, and non-Stanford DSL/cable modems. He will talk about the basics of print servers, wireless access points, and routers. He will also present some example home network diagrams that you may want to follow. He won't be covering specific products—there are simply too many products out there. He will, however, give you some recommendations on home network configurations that can be used with many different products.

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

IT Professional Development:

XML Technologies (ITS-2531), Fri, July 24, 9:00–4:00, $325

NEW! Becoming a UNIX/LINUX User: The Beginning (ITS-2560), Wed, July 29, 9:00–4:00, $325

PHP Workshop (2 days) (ITS-2511), Aug 3–4, 9:00–4:00, $525

NEW! Javascript Advanced: AJAX (ITS-2561), Thurs, Aug 13, 9:00–4:00, $325

SQL Basics (ITS-2521), Thurs, Aug 20, 9:00–4:00, $325

TechPort: Online Technology Training for Stanford—techport.stanford.edu (ITS-0611), through Aug 31, $195

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: Tables, Functions and Linking (Level 2), Thurs, July 16, 9:00–4:00, $325

InDesign Level 1 (ITS-1457), Thurs, July 16, 9:00–4:00, $325

OrderIT Site Training (ITS-8301), Thurs, July 16, 8:30–12:00, Free

Photoshop 101: Start Here (Photoshop Lite) (ITS-1460), Fri, July 17, 9:00–12:00, $195

Access 2007 Level 1 (ITS-1721), Fri, July 17, 9:00–4:00, $325

*Dreamweaver Level 1 (ITS-2610), Fri, July 17, 9:00–4:00, $325

Photoshop 101: Start Here (Photoshop Lite) (ITS-1460), Fri, July 17, 9:00–12:00, $195

Excel 2007: Become a Power User (Level 3) (ITS-1143), Tues, July 21, 9:00–4:00, $325

Project 2007 Level 1 (ITS-2021), Tues, July 21, 9:00–4:00, $325

Excel 2007: Seven Essential Time-saving Skills for Effective Excel Use (ITS-1146), Wed, July 22, 9:00–4:00, $325

*Web Design Level 2: Enhancing Your HTML Skills (Making Your Website Work) (ITS-2502), Thurs, July 23, 1:30–4:30, $195

Adobe Acrobat & PDFs: Creating, Collaborating, and Saving (The Basics) (ITS-1401), Thurs, July 23, 9:00–12:00, $195

Excel 2007 for Finance Level 1 (ITS-1133), Thurs, July 23, 9:00–4:00, $325

FileMaker Pro Level 1 v9.0 (ITS 1801), Thurs, July 23, 9:00–4:00, $325

Mac OS X Fundamentals (Leopard) (ITS-0401) Mon, July 27, 1:30–4:30, $195

Excel 2007: Tables, Functions and Linking (Level 2) (ITS-1142), Mon, July 27, 9:00–4:00, $325

InDesign Level 2 (ITS-1458), Tues, July 28, 9:00–4:00, $325

Excel 2007: What? You Don't Know Excel Yet? (ITS-1141), Thurs, July 30, 9:00–4:00, $325

Web Design: Help! I have to take over the dept website—NOW WHAT??!!! (Lecture) (ITS-2500), Thurs, July 30, 9:00–12:00, $125

*Web Design Level 3: Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) (ITS-2506), Thurs, July 30, 1:30–4:30, $195

* Class is a recommended prerequisite to help prepare for:
Certification Workshop: Web Professional in the Stanford Environment (ITS-2606), Wed, Sept 30, 9:00–4:00, $325
More information at webcertificate.stanford.edu.

Free Email / Calendar Training:

Full schedule available at emailcalendartraining.stanford.edu

Stanford Email (Webmail) (ITS-2110)

Stanford Calendar (ITS-2300)

Introduction to the New Stanford Email and Calendar (ITS-2115)

Moving from Sundial to Stanford Calendar (ITS-2116)

Cool Tips and Tricks for Stanford Email and Calendar (ITS-2117)

Advanced Stanford Calendar: Managing Executive Calendars, Resources and Events (ITS-2119)

Outlook 2007 Mail (ITS-2111)

Outlook 2007 Calendar (ITS-2118)

Apple Mail (ITS-2113)

Apple iCal (ITS-2114)

Thunderbird Mail (ITS-2112)

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 no new job postings for IT Services this week.

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

“People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy.”

- Anton Chekhov

News

A Note From Bill...

Monday's Town Hall was the formal kickoff to our annual strategic planning process. I enjoyed hearing from Martin Shell, Stanford's Vice President for Development, about where Stanford sees itself headed. It was particularly interesting to hear Martin talk about the 50-year-plus planning horizons he uses in light of the three-to-five-year timeframes we use within IT Services. In IT Services, we need to have a shorter planning horizon simply because of the rapid pace of change and technological advancement. I continue to encourage each of you to review our draft Three-Year Roadmap and to provide input into where you think we need to head as an organization.

Martin's presentation inspired me, as I hope it did you, on a number of fronts. There were two specific points he made that I want to re-emphasize for our collective consideration. Several times he stated how optimistic he and others he works with—be it University leadership, alumni, students, parents, or friends—are about Stanford's future and the ability to make a real difference in solving some of the more challenging problems facing the world. Another point was: it is not about the money, it is about what the money does. I'd like to paraphrase that for our purposes and say: it is not about the technology we deliver, it is about what the technology we deliver enables others to do.

It is always nice to see so many of you attend our Town Hall sessions. The slide decks are now available for your review. The WebEx archive version has also been posted. I encourage you to revisit these materials and use them to help inform your personal and workgroup goals for the coming year.

- Bill Clebsch
IT Services

Stanford Calendar Success!

The migration from Sundial to Stanford Calendar completed successfully at 3 p.m. on July 3, 2009, well ahead of the weekend schedule planned for migration and testing. As the 5,500 Sundial users returned to work on Monday, calls to the Help Desk were steady, but not overwhelming. Many IT Services staff noticed new calendars listed in their left-hand column on Monday morning, the result of access rights granted by Sundial users in the past and never subsequently updated by the calendar owner.

Some new issues were uncovered and logged on the Known Issues list for reference, but by and large, the transition was smooth. Training classes continued and the integration team worked on several persnickety issues with resources while the Help Desk and CRC staff guided users through unfamiliar waters. Daily checkpoint meetings happened in Acacia to track emerging issues and concerns. Campus Partners from across the university participated daily via WebEx.

The impact of the migration on the campus continues to grow. As former Sundial users begin using the new tool, they’re already encouraging other members of the campus community to use the Stanford Calendar as well, inviting them to meetings and checking availability in the Schedule tab. Rather than having to opt in to use Sundial, the new Stanford Calendar is available to everyone with a full SUNet ID account, and expectations are changing about how a campus calendar will foster collaboration going forward.

- Ammy Hill
Campus Readiness

Web Collaboration Tools Project Update

The Web Collaboration Tools project recently released another of its deliverables.

In May, the project team announced the release of:

  • WebAFS (afs.stanford.edu), a tool that allows anyone using AFS to access directories and files using a web browser
  • Collaboration Tools Installer (tools.stanford.edu), a tool that allows Stanford departments and groups with AFS space and a cgi-bin directory to use a central, do-it-yourself web form to install a few supported applications more easily.

At that time, the Installer could install and upgrade a couple of popular collaboration tools already used by many campus departments:

  • MediaWiki—a free software wiki package for collaborative document creation and information sharing.
  • Drupal—an open source content management system for web publishing and collaboration.

Now the tool can also install and update:

  • WordPress—a free open source blog tool and publishing platform.

Thanks to Jon Pilat, Jon Robertson, Dave Ream, Marco Wise, and Brian Young, as well as all the many testers for their work on this recent release.

- Jim Knox
Documentation, Training, and Licensing

For a number of years, LINK Conference Service has been IT Services' recommended audio-conferencing provider. In February 2009, Premiere Global acquired LINK Conference Service. As part of this acquisition, all contractual arrangements of LINK transferred to Premiere.

At this time, no operational changes have been made, and all services provided by LINK continue to be available. Premiere Global representatives have introduced themselves to IT Services staff, and, over time, we anticipate operational changes. As the expiration dates of current LINK agreements approach next year (March 2010), IT Services will be assessing our entire campus audio-conferencing profile.

As you know, IT Services is encouraging faculty and staff to utilize WebEx audio-conferencing, which is currently funded by the Work Anywhere Program.

- Chris Lundin
Help Desk Services

Buying and Paying Support Center (BPSC) Project Completed: Phase II Is Now Launched!

You are all aware that we completed Phase I of the new Buying and Paying Support Center (BPSC). In this joint project, IT Services partnered with the Controller's Office and the Purchasing and Contracts Department to launch the support center. The center provides customer support for internal and external customers of Stanford, and serves as the new single-stop for all buying and paying matters. (See article in July 1 issue.)

In Phase I, IT Services enabled the following call center capabilities:

  1. Route and queue customer calls to BPSC agents using our Avaya eACD solution.
  2. Provide full request-tracking functionality using our Remedy/HelpSU solution.
  3. Provide new Stanford Answers portals accessible by internal and external customers on the Web for self-service.

In Phase II, IT Services enabled automatic routing of non-voice calls (email requests and HelpSU requests) to the agents:

  1. Implement Contact Center Express (CCE), a centralized deposit for email requests and notifications, and queue the requests to the next available agent.
  2. Queue and “push” email requests (BuyandPay@stanford.edu ) and HelpSU/Remedy notifications to the next available agent.
  3. Provide BPSC the flexibility to change agent skill set to answer customer calls, respond to e-mail and Remedy requests, or handle both types of requests depending on the request volume.

I’d like to thank the various groups within IT Services; Voice Team, Service Consulting, Remedy team, Network Engineering, Windows and Unix teams, as well as thanks to Jason Craig from Joe Riddle’s team, Driva Solutions, and Avaya for their support.

- Jan Cicero
Client Support

New Buildings Active on ACES

We have expanded the Access Control Enterprise System (ACES) program to the Florence Moore, Lagunita, and Branner residences, and have the final complex, Roble, under way. Students in the FloMo, Lag, and Branner residences were able to use either key or card access in the weeks prior to graduation, but all three residences will be card access only in FY10. In addition, we brought up Munger 1, bringing the Munger count to three buildings.

In August and September, we will bring up the remaining two Munger buildings, followed by Crothers. Thanks to all the groups in IT Services and R&DE who continue to make this project such a success!

- Jay Kohn
Strategic Liaison

Techie Festival

Techiefestival.stanford.edu gives you all the information you need to know about Tech Training's First Annual Techie Festival, to be held in Turing Auditorium from August 17–31. Each morning and afternoon offers a different lecture, from iPhone Apps to Web 2.0 Collaboration Tools to Office Power Tools and much, much more. Each lecture is $125. You can register in STARS. Print out a PDF of the schedule at the website above and join the fun! There's something for everyone.

- Nancy Baumann
Technology Training Services

StanfordCardPlan for Students Only

Effective September 1, the StanfordCardPlan (SCP) will no longer be available to faculty and staff. The SCP is a pre-paid expense plan allowing use of the Stanford ID card as a debit card to purchase goods and services on campus. The faculty/staff phase-out during the month of August is intended to better serve students, who are have more extensively relied on the SCP.

The Cardinal Dollars program remains in effect. Cardinal Dollars are prepaid dining dollars used only at Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) dining locations, and retail locations.

For more information, as well as a timetable of the transition, see the Fingate web site.

- Chris Lundin
Help Desk Services

Summer Picnic is Tomorrow (July 16)

Summer weather is here (at last)! Our Annual Summer Picnic takes place on the various lawns outside Turing Auditorium. The fun and food will be ready for you beginning at 3 p.m. This is a family-based event. Your spouse, significant other, and/or children are all welcome and encouraged to attend. While I know many of us consider our puppies/dogs, kittens/cats, guppies, hamsters, and iguanas to be parts of our family—sadly they are neither invited nor able to attend.

There will be food, refreshments, dessert… all the things needed to make a picnic enjoyable. We will also have games, face painting, and caricature artists. By popular request, the photo booth is back this year as well.

Raffle prizes will be announced each half hour (at least). Must be present to win.

Dress for the warm weather and for the fun. We'll supply food and sunshine. You bring the party spirit!

See you on the grass.

- Nancy Ware
Strategic Planning

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, August 5, 2009.