its in bits

Survey

Results from last issue's survey question: Will you attend a Stanford football game this fall?

There were 49 responses. 9 said "Yes," and 40 said "No."

Tips From Your Admin

We have received several questions regarding the use of STAP funds for Health Improvement Program (HIP) classes.

STAP funds can only be used for designated classes listed with an "S" in the HIP brochure. For more information about STAP funds, please see http://www.stanford.edu/dept/ld/stap.html

Staff Profile

Lucrecia Kim-Boswell started at Stanford in 2007.

How would you describe your current job responsibilities?

I provide administrative support for the IT Services staff of Polya Hall, which includes the UNIX, Windows, Backup/Storage, Application Support, and Project Management teams. As it says in my job description "any other duties as they arise."

Which aspects of your job do you enjoy the most?

I love working with the people that I support and have such great respect for what they do. I think my teammates are the greatest; I don't think you will find anyone else more willing to help someone out.

What did you do before you came to Stanford?

Prior to Stanford, I worked for Washington Mutual where I was in reverse order: Assistant Financial Center Manager, Residential/Consumer Lending Specialist, Business Banking Specialist, Licensed Personal Financial Rep, and Teller.

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

I have two boys who take up most of my time but when I'm not playing "Mom," I really enjoy cooking. I would love to take classes at Le Cordon Bleu someday just for fun.

What is your favorite movie, book, song?

My favorite movie of all time is So, I Married an Axe Murderer. My favorite book is Death by PowerPoint. My favorite song is Blister in the Sun.

Staff Happenings

Comings and Goings

Nancy Gutgsell started on October 1st as the IT Services Counter Lead. Her primary responsibilities will be to manage the window schedules for the Forsythe and Maude locations of the ID Card office, and to coordinate all cell phone support with Movero.

She comes to us with a background in supporting middle school teachers and their computer labs for students as well as many years of supervisory experience with major retail companies. As an added bonus, Nancy was the San Carlos Chamber of Commerce Person of the Year in 2005, so we look forward to her client-focused enthusiasm in Forsythe Room 190.

- Suzanne Schiessler
Order Management

Melissa Wibom has joined the Support Tools & Metrics team as support for the Stanford Answers knowledgebase. Melissa comes from a variety of staff and contract technical writing positions, including work for AT&T helping to structure their FAQ information.

She's also done lots of web development, quality engineering, instructional design and training for companies including Yahoo and HP. She grew up in Illinois and moved out west to attend San Jose State where she picked up degrees in Radio-TV-Film and Instructional Technology. Melissa lives with her husband and pets in Sunnyvale.

Melissa is in Oak 101. Welcome, Melissa!

- Tom Goodrich
Client Support; Help Desk Services

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

William Heiser (John Freshwaters)
Jay Hsia (Dan Stillmaker)

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

October 5: Creative Suite 3; Acrobat 8

Acrobat 8 is the current version of Adobe's successful cross-platform document application. Mark Branom will discuss the new features and uses of Acrobat 8.

October 12: Intermediate Networking; Ethernet and IP

Expanding on some of the topics covered in the introductory class, the Ethernet and IP class will go into some more detail on the most common protocols of modern networking. This class will cover more detail on the ethernet protocol and common troubleshooting problems. Drew Saunders will present.

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

Tech Express

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

October 4: CourseWork 5

Stanford's improved and updated online course management system (CourseWork v.5) is live. This event will contain a short demo of the new application, including new and different features from the previous system, as well as answers to questions from the audience. Mark Brierly (SULAIR) will present.

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

Technology Training Courses

Upcoming Tech Training classes of interest to IT Services staff.

IT Professional Development: Ruby (two days) and Ruby on Rails (one day) training will be held in POST on October 16–18th. The cost for this three-day training will be $1,485 (you may use STAP funds for part of the fee). For more information or to sign-up, contact Nancy Baumann. The class is limited to twelve attendees.

Photoshop Level 1, Fri, Oct 05, 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., $325

Excel Level 1, Tue, Oct 09, 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., $325

ReportMart1 Introduction, Tue, Oct 09, 1:00–4:00 p.m., Free

Dreamweaver Level 1, Thu, Oct 11, 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., $325

Excel for Finance Level 1, Fri, Oct 12, 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., $325

Vista Overview, Mon, Oct 15, 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m., $125

Office 2007: What's new?, Mon, Oct 15, 1:00–4:00 p.m., $125

Adobe Acrobat: Beyond the Basics of Using the Full Version, Tue, Oct 16, 1:00–4:00 p.m., $195

OrderIT Site Training, Wed, Oct 17, 8:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m., Free

Word Level 2, Wed, Oct 17, 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., $325

InDesign Level 1, Wed, Oct 17, 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., $325

Access Lite, Wed, Oct 17, 1:00–4:00 p.m., $195

PowerPoint Level 1, Thu, Oct 18, 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., $325

Sundial Tips and Tricks, Thu, Oct 18, 1:00–4:30 p.m., Free

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 eight new job postings for IT Services this week.

Req. #27456: Telecommunications Technician I, 100% FTE, Range A32, continuing, Rocco Petrunti, hiring manager.

Technicians at this level function with limited supervision. Work assignments and instructions are oral and/or written and include wiring lists, installation request forms, and simple block diagrams or schematics. Technicians participate in maintaining the telecommunications integrity via preventive maintenance routines and off-hour critical repair service.

Req. #27457: Telecommunications Technician II, 100% FTE, Range A32, continuing, Rocco Petrunti, hiring manager.

In addition to the duties performed by the Telecommunications Technician I, the Telecommunications Technician II develops installation plans, instructions, and procedures. These higher-level assignments require study and analysis of procedures, layouts, precedents, and several possible courses of action. Troubleshooting complex problems as they arise and ensuring quality control are expected at this level.

Req. #27353: Sr. Backup System Admin, 100% FTE, Range 4P4, continuing, 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 responsibility is to support and maintain the Enterprise Backup Infrastructure, and ensure that backup systems, platforms, and the operating environment are functionally secure, available, and reliable.

Req. #27352: Sr. Storage Administrator, 100% FTE, Range 4P5, continuing, Dan Stillmaker, hiring manager.

Responsible for providing technical storage and backup systems design and support to the academic and administrative client community. Within Shared Application Services, this individual’s primary responsibility is to support and maintain the Enterprise Storage Infrastructure, and ensure that storage and backup systems platforms and the operating environment are functionally secure, available, and reliable.

Req. #27351: Technical Lead, Sr. Backup System Admin, 100% FTE, Range 4P5, continuing, 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 responsibility is to support and maintain the Enterprise Backup Infrastructure, and ensure that backup systems, platforms, and the operating environment are functionally secure, available, and reliable.

Additional responsibilities include system design, business analysis, product upgrades, application trouble-shooting, client support, and end-user training.

Req. #27337: Business Analyst Asset Accountant, 100% FTE, Range 3P3, 1 year fixed term, Christine Soldahl, hiring manager.

The Business Analyst will be a financial process analyst and act as the liaison between the finance team and various technical IT support groups (Pinnacle Team, Application Services, etc). This liaison role will be a single point of contact for finance and interface with various team members in the technical groups through all phases of assigned projects. Provides system planning leadership and project management on behalf of Finance when necessary.

Req. #27433 & 27434: Telephone Operator Trainee, A00 at 100% FTE, 1 year fixed term, Carolyn Kane, hiring manager.

The Telecom Attendant Trainee participates in a twelve month on-the-job training program that is designed to prepare them to be fully functional as the voice of Stanford, answering phone lines for the University, Stanford Hospital and Clinics, and the Lucille Salter Packard Childrens Hospital. The attendant performs critical call functions, including general information, directory, answer and transfer, paging, after-hours on-call contacts, and code call coordination.

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

"Harsh counsels have no effect; they are like hammers, which are always repulsed by the anvil."

- Claude Helvetius

News

A Note From Bill...

As the new academic year begins, the incident in April at Virginia Tech is still fresh in the minds of many of our students and their families. It was also an important topic last week at a meeting of the Common Solutions Group, a gathering of the top 26 research universities.

Within the context of incident response and preparedness, communication is certainly of key importance. Today, Stanford can quickly send an emergency email message to everyone with a Stanford email address and can deliver an emergency voice mail to each voice mailbox on the Stanford phone system. As technology and the needs of our community change, we must continue to evaluate and implement even more effective processes for informing and directing our community.

Among the new communication options that IT Services is evaluating are:

A direct text-messaging system—allows for sending specific instructions to all cell phones or email accounts registered in the system. Many other universities (e.g., Princeton and MIT) already have such a system in place.
A blast signal system—provides an audible warning signal prompting individuals to check the emergency web site (emergency.stanford.edu) for more information.
CATV messages—allows for a placing a message across the bottom of any TV on Stanford's CATV system.
Desktop messages—if possible, would allow for transmitting a message to the screens of computers at Stanford that use BigFix. This now represents over 20,000 computers.

It's important to remember that while incidents such as Virginia Tech are unusual, Stanford police and other campus staff have been trained to respond to this type of emergency. That said, it is also important for each of us to remember to protect ourselves. You can help by discussing this at home and keeping your emergency contact information in StanfordYou up-to-date. Use well-lit travel routes, report suspicious behavior, and always notify the police when you think something is amiss. Emergency preparedness is everyone's responsibility.

- Bill Clebsch
IT Services

SULAIR Open House

Come to the SULAIR Open House to find out about the amazing resources offered by campus Libraries and Academic Computing. It will be held in Green and Meyer Libraries from Noon to 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 17.

Information sessions and demos will take place in both libraries:

Learn about, and see demos, of our vast collections (books, films, data, e-resources, and more).
Meet staff from the over 20 libraries on campus; see highlights of their resources.
See a demo of our book-scanning robot.
Tour Green Library with University Librarian, Michael Keller.
Tour Meyer Library's Multimedia Studio and Digital Language Lab.
See the Academic Technology Specialist Program's demos and presentations.

The Open House will also include raffles of great prizes and other exciting events and exhibits.

For more details, go to:

http://library.stanford.edu/openhouse/

Be sure to stop by and see what's new and interesting at SULAIR!

- Eleanor Brown
SULAIR

Rates Committee

As we close out fiscal year 2007 and start in on fiscal year 2008, it's time to think about rates for 2009. The process of setting rates for FY09 (beginning in September, 2008) has begun, and this is an update on how the process works. All proposed new rates, or changes to current rates, must be recommended by the Rate Setting Committee (RSC) and approved by the Executive Directors.

The RSC is responsible for managing the rate setting process and recommending final rates to the Executive Directors for approval. The calendar for setting new rates for an upcoming fiscal year begins in September, when the RSC meets to review current rates and determine which will be reviewed for the following fiscal year. Input from IT Services teams and clients are taken into account in setting the agenda for the next three months. The RSC meets weekly during the September to November timeframe with the goal of communicating new rates to the University by late November, as departments begin their budgeting process for the next fiscal year.

During the rest of the year, the RSC meets monthly (at a minimum) to review rates in need of immediate change and to set rates for new services.

The rate setting process involves:

Service owner meetings with Finance Team staff to come up with a rates model or change information in the current model
Service owner presentation of proposed new/changed rates at an RSC meeting
Recommendation by the RSC that Executive Directors approve new/changed rates
RSC presentation to the Executive Directors for approval

As you can tell, it takes time to get a rate approved. To set the process in motion, check with Nan McKenna or any member of the rates committee to find out when the upcoming meetings are held (usually on first Fridays during December–August), and leave plenty of time to meet with the Finance Team and work through the rates model before the meeting.

The RSC is made up of staff from departments across IT Services. The current membership is Nan McKenna (chair), Shirley Hodges, Meighan McWilliam, Susan Arsenault, Bert Stubbs, Carolyn Kane, Barry Magsanay, and Dan Stillmaker. In addition, Finance Team members Fred Hansson, Larry Mazzei, Molly Reynick, and Sam Steinhardt attend the meetings.

- Nan McKenna
Client Support; Client Relations

NetDB and Configuration Management

Just about all legitimate hosts on SUNet are in NetDB, Stanford's open source network management tool. NetDB registers hosts for DNS/DHCP, slices and dices address spaces, allows distributed administration (there are 900 local network administrators) of hosts, and stores all sorts of information about SUNet. SUNet is the reality; NetDB is the model. Unlike many models which become out-of-date, NetDB also feeds information back into SUNet through DNS and DHCP (model feeding reality). It makes a great data source for Networking Systems' configuration management system.

Networking Systems has been running Opsware's Network Automation System since last fall to help manage over 800 local network switches and, with newly purchased licenses, eventually almost all of Networking Systems network devices. Opsware backs up configurations, runs bulk changes (like changing daylight savings time), tracks hardware addresses seen on ports, checks configurations for security issues, generates reports/alerts on changes, and more.

The flexibility of the Opsware backend database and API also allows us to easily integrate with NetDB. New Networking System switches seen in NetDB are automatically added or removed from Opsware. Authorization based on NetDB groups and Opsware data are integrated to generate switch reports (who's on what port, when) and to allow users to change just the VLAN (Virtual LAN) on their edge switches. Integrating NetDB and Opsware allows us to use the critical strengths of each system, while keeping the special flexibility of both.

- Sunia Yang
Shared Communication Services; Networking Systems

Zimbra & Email/Calendaring Project

In the wake of Yahoo's acquisition of Zimbra last week, many folks have inquired about the status of the Integrated Email and Calendaring project. This is a quick note to update you on the project happenings.

The Yahoo acquisition is generally viewed as a positive event. It answers the question we had identified earlier: "Who might acquire Zimbra and when?" Yahoo is looking to expand its presence at universities, and specifically, to be positioned to offer ASP and local messaging/collaboration solutions. I believe that the Yahoo acquisition will be beneficial in that we will have a broader and deeper bench to draw upon for potential implementation resources.

There are also a few initial concerns with the acquisition. Randy Livingston is planning to provide a briefing on the decision to proceed with Zimbra to the Board of Trustees meeting in early October, and specifically address any perceived conflicts of interest.

In the meantime, we are working to conclude licensing negotiations with Zimbra in the next week or two. We hope to be in a position to present and obtain project funding for the implementation this month.

Please let me know if you have any questions, and I'll continue to provide updates over the next several weeks.

- John Freshwaters
Shared Application Services

Unanet Time Tracking and Resource Planning

The IT Services Project Office will be implementing a new resource planning and time tracking tool in November. Unanet will replace both PD Ware and Journyx with a new unified system.

For those who do time entry, Unanet offers a simpler user interface. For managers, the single system will mean easier reporting and comparisons between what was planned and how staff were actually utilized.

During the transition period, it’s important to keep entering your time into timesheet.stanford.edu. Fiscal year 2008 information will be transferred into the new system. On the date of the cut over to Unanet, timesheet.stanford.edu will automatically redirect you to the new system. More information about Unanet training will be coming in the next few weeks.

- Ammy Hill
Campus Readiness

OMR Update

As many of you already know, we’ve been live with our “new” OMR project since the beginning of April. This project was the culmination of a multi-year project to streamline our ordering process for our clients. So you may wonder, "now that we’ve hit our six month point, how are we doing?"

Well, it depends on who you ask! While almost everyone is involved in fulfilling orders for our clients (whether it be for voice, data center, networking, DSL...we have over 20 different service types), there are several groups that work together to ensure that we handle and schedule client orders as quickly as possible.

Each day, about 150 requests for service are placed through our OrderIT site, although at this time of year we are at the 200+ count! The Service Desk team, led by Vicki Hallett, works with each of these orders to ensure that they are “well formed." This means ensuring that what the client is requesting is clear and complete, and making sure that they are charging a valid PTA. The team is often required to call the client to clarify their needs.

The order is then passed to either a Service Consultant (a team led by Nan Mckenna) or the Order Processing team (led by Karla Lacy). The Service Consultant will continue to work with the client on complex orders that require clarity and detail before the work can be scheduled. The Order Processing team takes the order and works with various systems (Pinnacle, Map, NetDB, Cablebridge, etc.) to set up the order, and then schedule the work time for the technician to complete the order.

Right now, our queue times for order types are:

Phone adds, moves, and change orders: 14–17 business days
Cell Orders: 3–5 business days
New Jack Installations: 10–12 days for University clients, and 21–24 days for Hospital clients
Student Cable: 3–5 for analog, 10–15 for digital and high definition

As we evaluate where we are at this six-month interval, we note that this is our busiest time of year and our fulfillment turnaround is not what we’d like it to be. Our overall goal is to deliver service within five business days after an order is placed. However, we have good processes in place as a result of the OMR project, and we are addressing issues across the teams to continue to streamline processes and improve efficiencies. We are proud of the cross-functional teamwork that has brought us to where we are today. Additionally, we now have metrics in place to pinpoint where we need to focus on improvement opportunities.

We appreciate everyone’s support in continuing to learn about the new OMR processes and whether changes in process are needed to give us better efficiency in managing all 150+ orders each day. We hope this is taking us to our five day fulfillment goal. We’ll let you know what our client contacts said about the OMR six-month check in questionnaire soon.

- Suzanne Schiessler
Shared Communication Services; Order Management

Golf Cart Training: Date Added

If you missed the previous golf cart training sessions, an additional session has been scheduled for Tuesday, October 23, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Turing Auditorium.

As a reminder, if you plan to drive a golf cart on campus, you must complete this training. Please contact Luvien Tran if you plan to attend.

- Luvien Tran
Finance and Administration

Town Hall

The next IT Services Town Hall meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 16, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the Oak Lounges at Tresidder Union. The meeting should already be noted on your Sundial calendar.

The Town Hall will feature Randy Livingston, Vice President for Business Affairs and Chief Financial Officer. Randy will discuss broad University directions and specific plans for Business Affairs, as well as be available to answer questions.

Please make plans to attend. Additional details will follow as we get closer to the event.

- Nancy Ware
Planning and Communications

Medical Assistance Program

Employees have until this Friday, October 5th, to submit applications for the Medical Contribution Assistance Program, a benefit available to eligible employees that will subsidize up to 100 percent of the amount to cover dependents on the lowest-cost medical plan offered through Stanford.

- Chris Lundin
Client Support; Help Desk Services

IT Services Holiday Party: Save the Date

You and a guest are invited to attend this year's annual IT Services holiday party. The party will be held on Thursday, December 13th at the Stanford Faculty Club. Details will follow in the November its in bits.

- IT Services Holiday Party Committee
Jan Cicero, Caren Kammeyer, Christine Wynkoop, and Vicki Hallett

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, October 17, 2007.

its in bits | IT Services | Stanford University | Computing & Communication