IT Action Plan Projects Completed in 2014
Value to Campus & |
FY14 Activities & FY15 Deliverables |
Milestones & More Info | |
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Improve speed and quality of response to IT incidents by automating on-call processes and notifications. Central IT Units |
1) Phase 1: xMatters rolled out in IST. |
1) Phase 1: Completed 2) Phase 2: Q3 FY14/15 for other IT orgs. |
Dave Browne, Director, IST-Infrastructure Services |
Provides CSS Service Desk and IT management an overall picture of the health of campus IT systems and services. Greatly reduces time to resolution in system-wide outages. |
Build development and production environments. |
Nov. 2013 - Sysadmin hired Feb. 2014 - GroundWorks development environment built Oct. 2014 - GroundWorks production environment built |
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IT organizations must infuse customer service principles and best practices into every customer interaction, and raise awareness of these principles with our IT staff. Faculty, Staff, and Students |
Customer Service training for 80 IT Leadership Group members and IST Managers. |
Project Completed |
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Improve engagement with the campus IT community to improve partnerships, align strategies and deliver IT services in a more effective and coordinated way. This is done through the development of a comprehensive outreach campaign to build and strengthen the IT community - known as "One IT." Faculty, Staff, Students |
Five events co-sponsored with the OCIO over the past year:
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Phase 1: Completed October 2014 |
Paul Rivers, Chief Information Security Officer View draft information security strategy (access to document requires CalNet authentication) |
Establish a broad risk-based and campus-wide process for identifying and addressing the increasingly sophisticated threats to institutional data and campus IT infrastructure. Implementation of the proposed campus information security strategy, which includes: 1. Expanded policy base, starting with a definition of a comprehensive set of information security roles and responsibilities. 2. Assessmentsof critical campus systems and unit compliance with information security minimum standards. 3. Ongoing operational improvementsto provide increased levels of monitoring and protection of the campus network and institutional data.
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Documented roles and responsibilities for information security, along with assignment of campus staff to new security roles, training for the new roles, and supporting procedures documentation. Provided self-assessment guidance for critical campus information systems and departments to develop security plans and assess information risk. Conducted twelve in-depth hands-on reviews of campus information systems, delivering a report containing required remediations and mitigations for these systems to meet campus minimum security standards. Creating new IT Governance Committee (IRGC) with first meeting Nov. 2014. 1. Policy 2. Assessment b. New assessment model: information risk impact assessment. In support of the information security theme “security is everyone's job”, it is often poorly understood how non-IT have any role to play in information security. Understanding the impact of a security incident on a lab, school, department or other portion of the University is best done by those who are ultimately responsible for those areas. This impact assessment allows for a rational determination of what resources should be allocated to the protection of different IT assets. A process to facilitate this impact assessment, along with an engagement schedule, will be developed and implemented. 3. Continuous improvements b. Advancing intrusion detection capabilities. The current approach to intrusion detection requires inspection of all data transmitted on the Campus network to detect suspicious patterns. The network is increasingly “going dark” with the use of encryption by even malware and attackers. In addition, this traditional approach to intrusion detection requires significant investment in skilled labor. The industry trend has been to the compilation of reputation data, which pinpoints bad actors on the internet by IP address and time range. Correlating network flow data with this reputational data expands our detection capabilities, does not depend on unencrypted network traffic, can be highly automated, and may even be translated to off-premise environments such as Amazon AWS. Developing these capabilities requires investing in solid architecture and automated data processing frameworks in a way UC Berkeley has not done to date. |
Dec. 2014 1. Completed: Development of new info sec charter charter and policy, 2a. Continue the assessment process to maintain the 30-50 assessments per Specific milestones in this subproject:
2b. July 2015: Engagement model and resources development complete 3a. April 2015: Beta of Incident View for a pilot group of security contacts 3b. May 2015: Complete automated incident processing pipeline for intrusion |
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Launch the new Berkeley Research Computing (BRC) Program to support computationally intensive research and teaching. BRC will include four major service areas:
Researchers and support staff |
In FY14 we will launch this new program in partnership with the Vice Chancellor for Research, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the College of Engineering, the D-Lab, and faculty Principal Investigators across campus. The campus' new Institutional/Condo cluster will be installed and condo contributions accepted. In partnership with EECS, we will begin analysis and investigation into cloud-based HPC needs and approaches. We will pilot virtual workstations in partnership with the D-Lab and I School. The HPC was launched in May (Savio Cluster) and Principal Investigators have been contributing hardware ($400K) and already doubled the size of the cluster. Cloud computing for research is in definition phase /requirements gathering (looking to fill gaps in existing options). The consulting services are being built out beyond the collaboration with campus consultants that is already occurring. |
Phase 1 Completed: Project Launch New pilots and services will be rolled out each quarter thereafter through FY15. |
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In partnership with the Dean of the Arts and Humanities, improve support for Digital Humanities teaching, research, and instruction. Researchers and support staff |
Create a new high-level DH Council to engage humanities faculty and leaders from the Library, I-School, New Media Center, ETS, and D-Lab. Provide new consulting services to campus faculty and students. Create new summer fellowships to learn digital methodologies and tools. Create a new campus DH website. Hold workshops and campus forums. Develop a long-term program to sustain DH support. |
Completed Project Received grant from Mellon for $2M most of which is going to faculty and students. The program also received funding from the vice chancellor of research. |
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In partnership with ETS and the Library, build a new peer benchmarking and strategic planning process to deploy campus Research and Academic Engagement (RAE) services. These services include the full range of research, teaching and learning technologies for faculty and students. Researchers and support staff |
Compare UC Berkeley's research, teaching, and other academic engagement services with 10 peer universities. Develop concise service definition, criteria, and recommendations for improvement. Present this peer benchmarking data to campus academic leaders to get feedback about priorities. Use this process to help improve campus IT Strategic Planning and Governance. The project raised its visibility by presenting at Educause conference and conducting a workshop. The creation of the Content & Collaboration workgroup came out of RAE work. The project provided campus leadership with an accurate picture of where UCB is compared to our peer institutions and has helped determine where we will invest in improvements. Phase II continues through FY14/15 to develop campus strategic plan to build technology action plan for research teaching and learning services, which will be vetted by IT Governance process and help campus leaders make better technology decisions. |
Phase 1 Completed: Project Launch Benchmarking completed March 2014. Conversations with campus leadership carried out spring semester 2014. |
Ben Gross, Manager EEI, IST-Client Services |
Increase CSS-IT's ability to schedule and deliver endpoint devices at scale. This improves overall utilization, effectiveness in support of campus customers. Staff in CSS and the units they serve |
Automate infrastructure for configuration and management of campus computers. Release components and services to enable scalable and efficient support by CSS-IT and departmental IT. In FY14 we integrated pieces of Berkeley Desktop (Windows and Mac) to make CSS work more efficiently. This achieved the first steps in a managed workstation that allows for user control to update a standard set of software, and have updates and security patches made automatically. |
Quarterly Updates |
Michael Green, Director, Telecommunications - IST |
We want to make sure that as campus wireless usage expands, the WiFi network is robust. The network group continues to upgrade and enhance our internal infrastructure and connectivity to other institutions to better support teaching and research. Faculty, Staff, Students |
Improve Wi-Fi Network by completing AT&T Wi-Fi Project, refreshing older access points (~1000), and deploying new Wi-Fi___33 Services (EDURoam, Open Guest Access). |
Project Completed CalVisitor and Eduroam services are available. |
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Working to ensure that all areas of campus have consistent access to the campus network and the Internet. Faculty, Staff, Students |
Continue ICCS (Inter-Building Campus Communication System) buildout. Complete targeted for FY13-14 are Lower Sproul tie-in to Rec Sports zone and tie-in for Kroeber, Morrison, Hertz, Music Library and both faculty clubs to Wurster zone. |
Project Completed |
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Improve poor telecommunications infrastructure (wiring closets, riser connectivity and pathways) in older buildings whereby improving network speed and quality of service. Faculty, Staff, Students |
Continue campus wide Riser project. Complete targeted buildings for FY13-14 are Chemistry complex, Minor, Giannini and 1995 University. |
Project Completed |
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Implement and adopt a standardized integration architecture for all systems of record, which provides better data for research, administration, and students. Faculty, Staff, Students |
Provide standardized integration architecture and support. 24/7 integration hub and associated processes deployed. |
Project Completed |
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Portfolio alignment for content and collaboration services will improve collaboration, coordination, and sharing of information, to facilitate inter- and intra-organizational communication, research and learning. IT/IT Leadership, Faculty, Students, Staff |
Design and implement new Content / Collaboration program. Support model and organizational design options have been identified and recommendations have been provided to the CIO & DCIO. Outcome of project is a bi-weekly operations meeting to identify next steps and partner on new initiatives around campus collaboration. A roadmap for bConnected was developed to show how and when products will be released. |
Completed Project |
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Establish a standard enterprise campus service around document management and workflow to improve staff utilization and provide cost savings, enable employees to access, share, and distribute information in a collaborative environment. Faculty, Staff, Students |
Leverage the Imagine Service to strengthen and broaden document management and workflow. Establishing campus service that improves data management. Develop secure workflow, expand user base, and develop better functional sponsorship. Rollout PL2 data storage capability. Rollout Integration Server to leverage webservices integration with other campus systems. Work with SIS project to integrate ImageNow with SIS implementation. Work with Office of the CFO to create new implementations across that department. Expand implementation functionality for Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Haas Undergraduate Admissions and Student Services. Create new implementations for Supply Chain Management and EH&S. |
Project Completed |
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Replace all Microsoft XP endpoint devices and move campus users off of Microsoft XP machines by April 2014. We are creating infrastructure to get to a place where we can handle continuous updates. Faculty and Staff |
Implement Windows XP abatement plan to replace all Windows XP endpoint devices. |
Project Completed |
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Provide students with an easy to understand, comprehensive picture of their student-related financial status. This will lower the cost of serving students while increasing service quality and functionality. Students, Advisors, Staff |
Implement the Consolidated Financial View project (CFV) in CalCentral. |
Project Completed Phase I - launched Jan. 2014 Phase II - enhancements June 2014 |
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Improve the student experience by providing an online portal where they can receive timely personalized information. CalCentral provides a single place to access their bConnected accounts and information about their academic, financial, and co-curricular lives at Cal. CalCentral answers the questions: where do I need to be, what do I need to do, and what do I need to know in one online location. Students, Advisors, Faculty |
Implement CalCentral and continue to expand features for all user groups. Surface bConnected, bCourses, academic, financial aid, and other critical campus tools into one location. Phase 1: Completed and successful with 10,000 daily users (13,000 at launch). Have integrated bConnected calendar with scheduling, and looking at adding final exam schedule information. Currently focusing on Phase II work. As of Oct. 9, 2014, 40,016 users have logged into CalCentral at least once. 15,877 users on the hotplate (our cache warming system). That means that in the last 10 days 15,877 unique users have logged into CalCentral or about ⅓ of the total campus community. |
Campus wide release completed Jan. 2014. Upgrades and new features are ongoing. |
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Improve financial transparency around contracts and grants accounting. Everyone involved in award financial management will benefit from the expanded functionality and integration of the new C&G system, which includes integration to C&G contract management. Faculty, Staff, Students |
Implement Grants & Contracts PeopleSoft modules to integrate functionality with BFS and other systems. Thirteen conversion scripts to run ahead of cutover. Starting work three weeks ahead to convert data. |
March 2014 - Cutover May 2014 - System Available Project Completed Overall, the campus is seeing the benefit and it has improved regulatory/ compliance requirements. |
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Campuswide offering of Adobe Creative Cloud Suite via Software Central at no additional cost. Faculty, Staff, Students |
Multiple methods for access and download in place. |
Project Completed |
Phase 1 Liz Marsh, Director, Strategic Initiatives and Chief of Staff Phase 2 |
Improve the student experience by providing modern student information systems that help students have a complete view of their information. Students |
Implement student information systems replacement program. Phase 1(pre-implementation): vendors will be selected for the software solution, system integrater, and quality assurance partner. Phase 2 (implementation): the selected software is installed, tested, and moved into production. Thanks to the dedication and hard work of our procurement team, the University signed a contract with Sierra-Cedar, a consulting firm or "System Implementer," whose experienced team will partner with campus experts in building a new Student Information System (SIS) that meets UC Berkeley's needs using Oracle® (PeopleSoft Campus Solutions) as the technology platform. |
Phase 1: Launch Completed Phase 2: ImplementationSept. 2014 - Jan. 2017 |
Walt Hagmaier, Director, Infrastructure Services |
Virtualization will improve security and usability of enterprise applications, improving the user experience of these applications. Faculty, Staff, Students |
Virtualization of enterprise applications.
Project will continue into FY14/15 and have already completed virtualization of CalAnswers, BAIRS, CalPlanning, PI Portfolio, and CalTime virtualization is planned. |
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