Over recent weeks, numerous collaborators within ETS and across campus have contributed to the evolution of UVM's IT Shared Services project. I'd like to acknowledge their valuable input and invite you to learn more about the progress of the project through the following summary and included links to additional information.

Highlights include:

  • Phase 1 of the Shared Services project to be extended by 6 months:
    • Current workflows to be maintained for the academic units.
    • Phase 2 of the Shared Services project to begin in January 2022.
  • Multi-user Machine working group issues recommendations.
  • The Single Issue Tracking System working group recommends a common workspace for all incoming desktop support-related tickets.
  • The Research Computing Support working group is testing a proof of concept that can serve as a viable substitute for stand-alone research computing clusters.
  • Be on the lookout for IT vacancies, which are being posted at https://www.uvmjobs.com.

1. Creation of IT Service Hubs

We've continued to gather data to inform the scope of the IT service hubs being envisioned. Input from the academic units, members of ETS and the external consultant report all point toward the potential benefits of a hub model. In addition, there have been compelling suggestions for the hubs to retain a high degree of flexibility in their mode of operation. At this juncture, it is clear the IT service hubs must be hybrid in nature. IT staff will be assigned to a team with a predefined set of academic and/or administrative client units to whom they will provide non-emergency tech support. At the same time, IT staff in any given hub could be dispatched to address emergency real-time technical problems anywhere on campus depending on their proximity. In the end, this hybrid approach will help expedite responses to IT emergencies while also developing close working relationships between IT staff and the clients they serve.

To capitalize on the momentum generated, we will proceed to establish a foundational organizational structure to facilitate the design and workflow management of hybrid service hubs. We plan to launch an internal search for two related supervisory positions this week with the goal of mid-July hires. These supervisors will help complete the design of the service hubs by December 31, 2021, at which point service delivery to the academic units will migrate into the service hubs.

This will extend phase 1 of the shared services project by 6 months, which means the existing workflow for IT service delivery in academic units will be maintained over the course of the fall 2021 semester. As a result, phase 2, which marks the beginning of the transition of IT staff from the administrative units into Shared Services, will start on January 1, 2022.

2. Update from Multi-user Machine Working Group

Group Members: Jonathan Trigaux, Harjit Dhaliwal, Justin Howard, Ian Davis, Jon Reisenweaver, Scott Greenia; added 6/15/21: Gordon White

The multi-user machine working group has been focused on developing recommendations for how to improve the installation and maintenance of computers throughout the campus, including computer labs, teaching labs, classroom computers and research labs. These computers are commonly used by more than one individual and need to be secure, standardized (where possible), and easy to maintain. The working group has made a recommendation on the tools to consider for efficient management and deployment of Operating Systems, software, patches and overall device management policy. The complete recommendations are available at Multi-User Computers Management Recommendations & Standards (PDF).

3. Update from Single Issue Tracking System Working Group

Group Members: Travis Bartlett, Kara Williams, Roxy Bombardier, Justin Henry, Ryder Owens, Andrew Hendrickson, Seth O'Brien, Susan Lang, Geoffrey Duke, Claire Dickey

This working group has focused primarily on creating a workspace in FootPrints that will meet the needs of desktop-related client-facing support. This workspace will be used by the Help Line, which will act as the primary entry point for issues alongside academic and administrative hubs (tier 2) and more specialized groups like Systems Architecture and Administration (SAA), as well as Network Services (tier 3). Top-level categories for how issues are labeled will align closely with the Service Catalog to help make reports easier to run. Specific steps include:

  • Complete the creation of a Workspace sandbox used to populate fields and teams needed for relevant data collection and tracking.
  • Development of draft documentation to serve as a training manual for ETS staff on the standardized use of our IT Service Management.
  • Identification of a list of agents to add to the workspace.

Following the appointment of supervisors identified in the "Creation of IT Service Hub" plan:

  • Collect additional pertinent input based on supervisor experience and make adjustments, as necessary.
  • Finalize documentation for the use of the workspace – escalations, statuses, priorities, issue categorization, agent vs. client views, etc.
  • Schedule training dates and invite members of ETS to attend.

4. Update from Research Computing Support Working Group

Group Members: Julia Russell, Douglas Dickey, Ian Davis, William Garrett, Chris Danforth, Jeff Marshall Mike Austin, Sam Hooker, Andrea Elledge; added 6/15/21: Darcy Pientka, David Towle-Hilt

This group has been exploring ways to deliver college or departmental research computing support in an IT Shared Services environment. The group is currently working on a robust yet flexible research computing framework that will include the Vermont Advanced Computing Core (VACC) as the default research computing environment at UVM, if at all possible.

The mission of the VACC is to work with faculty to address their research computing needs. Within this proposed framework, the use of UVM's Virtual Server Environment (VMWare) would be considered in those cases where the VACC does not meet the unique needs of a particular researcher. In circumstances where both the VACC and the VMWare environment are not able to meet the computational needs of a particular researcher, consideration will be given to the implementation of stand-alone research computing hardware as an exception.

Virtual servers have been created for three College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (CEMS) faculty so they can help assess how well this environment would meet their needs. This information will be added to the feedback from other researchers already using this virtual server environment. The outcome will help to inform how we can make the best use of our existing massive computing resources, such as the VACC and VMW, to accommodate the needs of all researchers across the University.

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