Staff Happenings

Comings and Goings

There are no staff changes to report in this issue of its in bits.

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, November 20

Web Collaboration Tools — Mark Branom, Marco Wise, and Jon Pilat, IT Services. Web Collaboration Tools is an effort to engage awareness to the Stanford community about a set of products that is available for publishing and managing department, group, and in the future, a class web presence. This Tech Briefing will promote the use of the following tools which will be extremely helpful to the web administrators across campus: Media Wiki — a customizable wiki tool, Drupal — a web content publishing system, WordPress — a blogging tool, and Web AFS — a web-based tool to access central AFS storage space. Come learn how some departments are using these tools and how you can take advantage of some, or even all of them to manage your department's content on the web.

Friday, December 4

Drupal Workshop, Part Two: Basic Configuration — Sharon Krossa, IT Services. This is the second in a series of hands-on workshops covering Drupal installation and development at Stanford. Bring a laptop and follow along! In Part 2 — Basic Configuration, Continued, we will pick up where Part 1 — Installing Drupal left off, going step-by-step through additional basic configuration of a new Drupal site.

Please Note: In order to follow along during the workshop, you will need to have ALREADY installed and configured a Drupal site in group or departmental AFS space following the directions from Drupal Workshop, Part 1 — Installing Drupal BEFORE the workshop. This takes about 90 minutes if you already have -admins privileges for the relevant group/dept AFS account. (If you need to request a new AFS group/dept account or get added to an existing account's -admins PTS group, it will take longer.)

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

Technology Training Courses

IT Professional Development:

Perl Programming Plus Workshop (2 days) (ITS-2522), Dec 3–4, 9:00–4:00, $525

Javascript Advanced: AJAX (ITS-2561), Tues, Dec 8, 9:00–4:00, $325

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: Advanced Pivot Tables (ITS-1156), Thurs, Nov 19, 9:00–4:00, $325

Excel 2007 for Finance Level 2 (ITS-1134), Tues, Dec 1, 9:00–4:00, $325

Excel 2007: Level 2, Part B: Outlining, Functions, and Linking (ITS-1160), Wed, Dec 2, 8:30–12:00, $195

Photoshop 101: Start Here (Photoshop Lite) (ITS-1460), Wed, Dec 2, 9:00–12:00, $195

Excel Transition from 2003 to 2007 (ITS-1137), Wed, Dec 2, 1:00–4:30, $195

Adobe Acrobat & PDFs: Creating Forms and Automating Tasks (Beyond the Basics) (ITS-1403), Wed, Dec 2, 1:30–4:30, $195

Excel 2007: Seven Essential Time-saving Skills for Effective Excel Use (ITS-1146), Thurs, Dec 3, 9:00–4:00, $325

*Web Design: The Top 10 Misteaks (sic) in Web Design, and How to Avoid Them! (Lecture) (ITS-2503), Thurs, Dec 3, 1:30–4:30, $125

Access 2007 Level 2 (ITS-1722), Fri, Dec 4, 9:00–4:00, $325

* Class is a recommended prerequisite to help prepare for:
Certification Workshop: Web Professional in the Stanford Environment (ITS-2606), Fri, Dec 11, 9:00–4:00, $325
More information at webcertificate.stanford.edu.

Free Web Certification Coaching and Information Meeting, Fri, Dec 4, 12:00–1:00, Turing Auditorium

  • Get your questions answered about your preparedness
  • Plan the next steps in your curriculum
  • Meet others with the same goal and network with them
  • Find out more about what it takes to pass

Free Upcoming Email / Calendar Training:

Full schedule available at emailcalendartraining.stanford.edu

Outlook 2007 Mail (ITS-2111)

Outlook 2007 Calendar (ITS-2118)

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

The full listing of Current Courses is available at itsupcoming.stanford.edu, or on the Tech Training (techtraining.stanford.edu) web site.

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 two new job postings for IT Services this week.

Req. #36383: Applications Engineer, 100% FTE, Range 4P4, Anne Pinkowski, hiring manager.

This position is primarily responsible for the effective operation of Stanford’s EMC Smarts application. In addition, the incumbent will provide application support (either primary/secondary) for Unanet Time Tracking system, Infra Change Management system, DocuShare, Pinnacle, Stanford Email & Calendar (Zimbra), and any software that the organization decides would be best administered by the Application Support Team.

Req. #36433: Project Manager, 100% FTE, fixed term one year, Range 4P4, Katherine Pappas Kassaras, hiring manager.

The role of the Project Manager is to plan, execute, and deliver projects according to strict deadlines and within budget. This includes managing the efforts of team members and third-party contractors or consultants in order to deliver projects according to plan. The Project Manager will also define the project’s objectives and oversee quality control throughout its life cycle.

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

“Believe that problems do have answers, that they can be overcome, and that we can solve them.”

- Norman Vincent Peale

News

A Note From Bill…

As you may know, IT Services provides telecomm services to both hospitals, and has for well over 20 years. However, that landscape may be changing a bit and I would like to share a little about what is going on at each of the hospitals.

The Stanford Hospital and Clinics (SHC) organization is in the process of evaluating proposals for its central application and infrastructure services, similar to the process they followed about five years ago when they contracted with their current provider, Perot Systems. At the guidance of its Board of Directors, SHC management is looking exclusively at Tier 1 Global providers to support their current and projected systems and services, including expanded use of Epic healthcare software, new remote locations, and a broadening service scope. Because IT Services is not a Tier 1 Global provider, we will not have an opportunity to expand our service offerings to SHC as part of this process. That said, SHC will consider its telecomm services independently, and give IT Services an opportunity to bid on those services.

Chief Information Officer Carolyn Byerly has a new direct reports structure: Associate CIO Lee Marley; Chief Technology Officer Michael Keselman; and Information Security Officer Mike Mucha. This team will lead the SHC IT organization as they evaluate new solutions and plan for the future.

The Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH) organization is also working on evaluating a solutions proposal for their services under the guidance of CIO Ed Kopetsky. Being relatively new in his role, Ed has developed a strategic plan that includes discovery projects to determine the best approach for LPCH to provide application and infrastructure services to their organization. The plan has been approved by the IS Strategic Committee and goes to their board for approval in November. IT Services will be presenting a proposal for telecomm services, and perhaps other services, to LPCH.

- Bill Clebsch
IT Services

Trio Project Update

The Trio project team kicked off full-time work on September 1. Our trio of goals:

  • Service Catalog implementation: provide clients with a standard, understandable menu of all services, including a easy-to-use web-based front end
  • Order Processing: Choose and implement a workflow solution which can be used to streamline back-end operations in support of fulfilling orders
  • Order Provisioning: Leverage automation in support of self-service order provisioning

Since then, the core project team of Chuck Gasperi, Andrew Leman, Maria Maravilla, Anne Pinkowski, Sean Riordan, and Suzanne Schiessler has been engaged in many activities.

Currently, we’re in the process of choosing technologies to support the service catalog and workflow, working on internal process flows for orders in the new system, estimating the work for the service catalog and Pinnacle upgrade (a prerequisite for the project), talking with clients about their ordering needs, and getting ready for two weeklong Proof of Concept sessions with our two possible vendors.

So far, the team has:

  • Interviewed and evaluated four service catalog vendors, and scheduled Proofs Of Concept with two of them: Kinetic and PMG.
  • Talked with our colleagues in Administrative Systems about using Authority Manager and the work that they’ve done on the FAMIS replacement project.
  • Met several times with representatives from Paetec to discuss Pinnacle options, since a Pinnacle upgrade is a prerequisite for the project.
  • Spoken to a variety of groups within IT Services, including representatives from the following: I&M, Facilities Engineering, Administrative Team, CRC, Application Support, TASC, Business Partners, Communications Services, Networking, Finance, Windows Systems, and Order Management.
  • Sent a survey to everyone authorized to order items in Pinnacle, plus finance managers.
  • Talked with clients from a range of schools and departments.

- Nan McKenna
Trio Project

Lenel Door Access Control Project Completed in Freshman Residences

We have completed the installations of all the residences within the freshman phase of ACES: Stern, Wilbur, Schiff, Adams, Branner, FloMo, Lagunita, and Roble. (To learn about the door access control project see the article in the October 7 issue of its in bits.) In addition, as the new Munger residences came up we added the service to those locations. Munger 1, 2, 3, and 5 are complete. Munger 4 is in the process of having the non-housing doors activated and will be complete before month-end. In addition, the renovated Crothers Hall and Crothers Memorial buildings are active on the system. Once we complete the final Munger building we will hold a “lessons learned” session to help identify areas we can improve and learn from going forward.

With the freshman phase winding down we are moving the program to campus. Sweet Hall and the Haas Center are both live on the system as our first administrative/academic buildings. We are in the process of bringing up the new Visitor’s Center, and will be starting the Peterson building next.

The plan for the current fiscal year is to stabilize the system and interfaces to support both residences and campus, and to identify the steps and cost for a site to transition from Gold to Lenel.

Many thanks to all those in Application Support, Integration, Facilities Engineering, Installation and Maintenance, Networking, and ITOC, for their work under such tight timelines to make the project possible!

- Jay Kohn
IT Services

2009 Holiday Toy Drive

IT Services, are you ready to make a difference again this year? The Family Giving Tree Elves have started holiday preparations and we’re excited to announce that we will be hosting a Holiday Drive again this year!

The Family Giving Tree’s Holiday Program works with local social service agencies that register children and homeless persons in need. Their agency partners interview these families to evaluate their specific needs. Their requests are sent to the Family Giving Tree Elves, who then print these individual wishes on cards and distribute them to host companies like ours throughout the Bay Area.

Our holiday toy drive will begin Monday, November 23 and conclude Friday, December 11. Note that it is only three weeks! We cannot accept late gifts for the Family Giving Tree Program, but if your gift is donated after December 11, we’ll be sure to donate it to a local charity for holiday giving.

You can help in a couple of ways:

  • Choose a card and fulfill a child’s wish. Cards will be located on one holiday tree located in Forsythe 190 (ID Card Office).
  • Go online and sponsor a child’s wish. Visit www.familygivingtree.org.
  • Choose an envelope from the tree and mail in your donation.
  • If you choose the first option, bring your unwrapped gift to the counter in Forsythe 190. Please make sure the wish card is firmly affixed to the gift.

To find out more about the Family Giving Tree, visit their FAQ page.

You can get a tax receipt from their donation page.

- Caren Kammeyer
Project Management

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, December 2, 2009.