DRAFT
UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
Information Technology Strategy May 2004
Technical Review Group
Executive Summary
The IT Strategy sets out a medium to long-term vision of how IT will be used to enhance the performance of the University in achieving its mission; a set of principles to shape the strategy; a framework of processes to guide the implementation and evolution of the strategy; a methodology for implementation of University wide activities; and a mechanism for enabling the most effective use and support of information technology and systems through timely and effective training. Integral to the IT Strategy is a three year IT roadmap presented as an appendix for ease of annual update. This consists of proposed work programmes with budgetary estimates of cost for each of three financial years (current year and two subsequent years). This appendix will be updated and presented to IPSC each year for approval. The strategy as a whole is intended to provide a clear articulation of the evolving IT infrastructure to permit effective planning of central and faculty development.
Introduction
The University IT Strategy underpins the Information Strategy and identifies how IT resources can be utilised in such a manner that they are made to work towards the greater organisational objectives. The strategy is also a key element in the realisation of the University’s Strategic Plan. Technological provision must be well planned and well targeted to get good value from the investment. The IT Strategy is designed to achieve this as it provides a framework and set of processes for maximising the effectiveness of limited budgets. The rate of change of technology churn shows no signs of abating, indeed rather the reverse. The IT industry displays an increasing drive towards technology integration and “personalisation”. The widespread deployment of PCs in the early 90’s was the first step in the chain. This is the context in which the IT Strategy is set. In formulating the IT Strategy, the Technical Review group has: Engaged with faculties so that the IT Strategy is based on clearly evidenced needs Drawn from the recommendations made by Information Strategy Working groups Taken account of feedback received Taken account of external influences or initiatives
Vision
To create a feature rich, integrated, supportable and secure technological environment that provides staff and students with seamless, any time, any place, access to the Information Technology resources that support and enhance their activities. This environment would be categorised as follows: Persistent – through an infrastructure that provides the facilities, security and support structures that facilitates “always on” services Dynamic – will remain relevant in line with technological advances Borderless –accessible from any where, at any time and to anyone within prevailing technology and security limits Flexible – within agreed frameworks Community based - to enhance learning, teaching, research and administration activities
Principles
The University is committed to the following set of underpinning principles The University recognises the strategic importance of Information Technology and is prepared to invest in the continual development of it’s IT resources The University will develop and communicate policies and strategies that will govern the use and provide direction on support of Information Technology resources The University sees value for money as an important consideration in all Information Technology investments and will seek to take advantage of economies of scale wherever possible The University will implement industry standards, best practices and supportable solutions The University is a major research led institution and as such places demands on the technical infrastructure that will tend towards the leading edge. The University will seek to maximise the opportunities offered by external funding where the activities to be undertaken can be properly resourced in terms of staffing and which dovetail with the IT roadmap IT resources must be of a high quality, secure and universally available to authorised users The University recognises that support overheads must be addressed when costing Information Technology investments The University will increasingly adopt IT to support its core functions, users will become increasingly IT aware and expect access to feature rich, reliable, secure, integrated and easy to use services Users will require access to IT resources via a variety of devices including personal computers, portable computers, PDAs and other mobile devices Communities will be established to promote effective consultation, knowledge transfer, sharing of best practice and avoidance of duplicated effort The University recognises the need for user and IT support staff training
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Process to realise the vision
One outcome of the Information Strategy has been the establishment of the Technical Review Group (TRG), a body comprising relevant technology experts from AIMS along with a nominee from each faculty who has the authority to speak on technical issues on behalf of the faculty. Working in partnership to identify, research and evaluate technologies that are potentially important to the University results in a broad consensus on the technological infrastructure, develops commonality of purpose and adoption of standard practice for its implementation and enables faculties to develop their IT planning that interlocks with the University IT Strategy and is consistent with it. TRG operates by establishing short life working groups of experts to investigate and report on various technologies as and when required and make recommendations for the timing and manner of technology adoption. These reports will be published on the Web as drafts for a period of consultation allowing time for formal faculty feedback mechanisms. TRG and the Information Strategy Development Group (ISDG) cross links with ISDG providing strategic direction on faculties’ needs and TRG proposing technological solutions that may shape the aspirations of ISDG. One of the Information Strategy’s key themes, that of partnership in service delivery, is being progressed by the continued development of links with the wider distributed support community through the establishment of the Distributed IT Forum by the Computing Service Deputy Director for Distributed Support.
Management of Process
The implementation processes of many IT infrastructure activities are major projects affecting the entire University. For such projects TRG is the natural Programme Board as it is representative of all faculties. The TRG ensures openness and transparency in the work of the Project Teams.
Awareness and training
In a rapidly evolving technology environment there is a need for continual development of skills so that the University can fully realise the benefits that proper and confident use of technology can bring. This truism applies as much to IT support staff as to those using technological solutions as a tool to perform their daily work. Computing Service in conjunction with the Staff Development Service offer a range of courses both introductory and task orientated and will continue to develop new courses and appropriate delivery methods in response to feedback and evolving needs. Whilst such training is essential, these courses are designed to meet end user requirements. Commensurate resources must be targeted at IT support staff allowing them to engage in continual professional development so that they have a certified level of skill before being able to undertake certain tasks. There is an obvious analogy with the function of staff recruitment where there is a requirement to attend a recruitment course before serving on an Interview Panel.
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Roadmap for IT evolution
The roadmap is a brief summary of activities underway in the current year and looking forward to the next two years. These activities are further amplified and costed in the relevant appendix. These activities are being done in a particular order because of dependencies of one area on another. These elements, particularly in 2003/04, are crucial activities that underpin the introduction of Portals, Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) and content management all of which the University recognises as important developments. The availability of external funding also has an obvious influence on the timing of some developments. The details of the roadmap are presented in an appendix (appendix 1) to facilitate annual update.
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Appendix 1 - Roadmap for IT Infrastructure Development
The items for 2003/04 are nearing completion and are largely early responses to the Information Strategy work 2002/03 and external influences. The items for 2004/05 represent the priorities articulated by a wide range of constituencies in the University and implement many of the recommendation of Information Strategy working groups. The items for 2005/06 will be extended and modified to take account of new strategic priorities and the opportunities presented by changes in the external environment and funding.
2003/04
Resilience in JANET Access Implementation of second access point to the SuperJANET academic network to mitigate the loss of the primary connection Network Segmentation Compartmentalisation of the network to limit the exposure of key services and provide inherent containment measures against hacking, viruses, worms etc. Information Systems Security Establish a University Computer Incident Response Team to spearhead the implementation of an Information Security Management System to protect individual and University information assets Lifecycle Replacement of Student Clusters Replace machines that have passed their useful life (over 4 years old) to ensure that reliable, up to date machines are available and to improve the machine to student ratio Directory Integration Provide the infrastructure to enable secure authentication for access to each of the services that individuals are entitled to use e.g. portals, VLE, content management systems, information resources, e-mail, the network, etc. Enhancement of Networking for Researchers Improve the network infrastructure for researchers to provide dedicated bandwidth to the desktop and to specialised research facilities Software Licence Policy Management Investigate and propose solutions to demonstrate university wide compliance with software licensing policy
2004/05
Implementation of SAN Procure a scalable network storage facility to consolidate filestore and provide efficient and effective data management including reliable backup Implementation of HPC Cluster Provision of generic high performance computing facilities to complement other special feature systems in the University and enable smaller groups to enter the e-research field Enhancement of Networking for Researchers (continued) Continue to improve the network infrastructure for researchers to provide dedicated bandwidth to the desktop and to specialised research facilities
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Network Segmentation (continued) Compartmentalisation of the network to limit the exposure of key services and provide inherent containment measures against hacking, viruses, worms etc. IP Only Network Work with the community to phase out use of all other network protocols in order to reap the benefits of high-speed routing services Device Connection Enable faculties and departments to connect any devices to the Campus network that meet minimum requirements for technology, security and authentication in order to meet their specific IT requirements. IT Staff Development TRG will establish a working group to investigate professional development of IT support staff and make recommendations Active Directory Implement a Campus wide Microsoft Active Directory service to improve the serviced desktop and Microsoft server environments Serviced Desktop for Staff and Students Continue to develop solutions for desktop machine management to reduce the support overhead so that the resources currently used for that can be redeployed to added value activities at the faculty/departmental level Flexible Access Provision Develop flexible access areas to allow staff & students to use their own personal systems to access IT services in accordance with the University Universal Access Policy Replacement of Proprietary Video-Conferencing Technology Build on the success of the existing video conferencing facilities by replacing the current obsolescent and proprietary solution with industry standard equipment to provide compatibility with the rest of the academic community Software Licence Policy Management Implement the recommendations on software licence policy management to reduce the University’s exposure to the risk of litigation.
2005/06
Enhancement of Networking for Researchers (continued) Continue to improve the network infrastructure for researchers to provide dedicated bandwidth to the desktop and to specialised research facilities Network Segmentation (continued) Compartmentalisation of the network to limit the exposure of key services and provide inherent containment measures against hacking, viruses, worms etc. IP Only Network (continued) Work with the community to phase out use of all other network protocols in order to reap the benefits of high speed routing services Campus Backbone Network Upgrade Replacement of current equipment in order to deliver increased bandwidth to meet increased need for bandwidth to the desktop, security, quality of service and management.
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Prepared by: Linda M.L. McCormick Last modified on
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