Committee Meeting - November 14, 2013

Darren Bondy
Secretary to the Committee
November 25, 2013

Present:

Dave Wallace (Chair), Darren Bondy (Secretary), Bruce Campbell, Andrea Chappell,  Marko Dumancic, Erick Engelke, Bob Hicks, Bill Ince, Dawn Keenan, Dave Kibble, Robyn Landers, Paul Miskovsky, Carl Nagel, Terry Stewart, Jason Testart

Guests:

Lisa Tomalty

Regrets:

None

Agenda

  1. RT4 Implementation Project charter review (Lisa Tomalty) [1:30-1:50pm]
  2. Chair's remarks, approval of the minutes of the meeting of October 31, 2013 and business arising [1:50-1:55pm]
  3. Organize for Success" project closure report (Dave Wallace) [1:55-2:10pm]
  4. Blox - mobile-enabled access to InfoBlox (Erick Engelke) [2:10-2:30pm]
  5. Procedure 1 (Bruce Campbell) [2:30-2:45pm]
  6. Updates (various) & other business [2:45-3:00pm]
  • Email (Bruce Campbell)
  • Active Directory (Bruce Campbell)
  • Green IT (Marko Dumancic)
  • IT Security (Jason Testart)
  • Campus Firewall project (Bruce Campbell)
  • IT Strategic Plan (Andrea Chappell)
  • Student Printing (Bob Hicks)
  1. Next CTSC meeting: Will be held Thursday, November 28, 2013, at 1:30pm., in MC 2018A.

RT4 Implementation Project Charter review (Lisa Tomalty)

Lisa Tomalty attended the meeting to give a review of the RT4 Implementation Project Charter. Topics included:

  • Team members & project sites
  • Introduction & background
  • Project benefits
  • Objectives/goals
  • Planning & scope
  • Known risks, constraints & assumptions
  • Dependencies
  • Budget
  • Timeline
  • New functionality
  • Proposed approach
     

View Tomalty’s full presentation on the RT4 Implementation Project Charter review (PDF).

Tomalty is expected to report back to the committee in February 2014.

Chair's Remarks (Dave Wallace)

The Chair updated the group on Productivity Innovation Funds (PIFs).

Approval of the minutes of the meeting of October 31, 2013 & Business Arising

Approval of the meeting minutes of October 31, 2013 was deferred.

"Organize for Success" project closure report (Dave Wallace)

Dave Wallace presented the closure report for the “Organize for Success” project. The topics included:

  • Project team
  • Objectives
  • Outcomes
  • Lessons learned
  • Transition to operations
  • Work underway & a view forward
  • Post project tasks
  • Project closure communication

View Wallace's full presentation on the "Organize for Success" project closure report (PDF).

Blox: Mobile-enabled access to InfoBlox (Erick Engelke)

Erick Engelke presented and demonstrated an application he has created called Blox. The campus relies on the InfoBlox product for Domain Name (DNS) and boot configuration (DHCP). The issue is that InfoBlox’s web interface is difficult, slow and allows unwanted changes. Blox is an alternative web interface that can perform most of the typical tasks that would be performed on InfoBlox, in a faster, more efficient way. By integrating business logic, it helps prevent certain common mistakes making it more user friendly for administrators. This application can also be used on mobile devices.

It was noted that Blox will not eliminate the need for an InfoBlox account, but it can be a good tool to supplement it and help with common issues.

Engelke will report back to CTSC about Blox in one month. 

Procedure 1 (Bruce Campell)

Bruce Campbell gave an overview of Procedure 1 and how it relates to IT infrastructure. It states that purchases that could impact UW’s IT infrastructure need to get prior approval from the Chief Information Officer.

Some comments & discussion ensued amongst the group with regards to online purchase requisitions and when to consult Dave Wallace or Bruce Campbell about purchases. Campbell will draft a list of items that would be of concern to him if purchased without his prior knowledge. Wallace will be updating UCIST on this topic in an upcoming meeting. It was noted that researchers are excluded from Procedure 1.

Updates (Various topics)

E-mail (Bruce Campbell)

Student email in the cloud investigation: the Student Success Office is coordinating student consultations. Once Jason Testart and Karen Jack finish the Privacy & Security Impact Assessment (PSIA) document, Campbell will attempt to fill that for this initiative. At a later time, we will engage the faculty.

Andrea Chappell noted that there have been issues with LEARN emails and the problem is being investigated; an update will be provided at the next meeting.

Active Directory (Bruce Campbell)

No update.

Green IT (Marko Dumancic)

Meeting on November 25, 2013; will update group after.

IT Security (Jason Testart)

No update.

Campus Firewall project (Bruce Campbell)

Working on physically installing the firewall. Will then begin moving academic support groups over to the firewall.

Student Printing (Bob Hicks)

Delayed; the pilot has not started yet.

IT Strategic plan (Andrea Chappell)

IT directions open house on November 27th, 2013.

Other business

A member noted that Dell won a “vendor of record” for the Ontario broader public sector that the University can benefit from. Someone from Campbell’s team will answer questions regarding Dell servers at an upcoming CTSC meeting. Bob Hicks will look into having someone from Procurement come to talk to the committee about this agreement at a future meeting.

Next meeting

The next meeting will be held on November 28, 2013, at 1:30pm, in MC 2018A.