Information Technology Strategic Plan

1. Information Technology Strategic Plan Goal FOUR: Create an advanced business environment with effective, integrated information systems and IT operations facilities that support the business processes of the university.

2. Objective 1: Establish a coherent and integrated applications architecture for the University. Objective 2: Identify and develop integrated, real-time business systems that meet unit needs. Objective 3.Continue to support and develop a first-class operations facility. Objective 4.Provide expanded training and support to increase the role of technology in the management of business, administrative, and service activities.

3. Objective 1: Establish a coherent and integrated applications architecture for the University. Current Status: Mark Henderson has charged a group of high level technical staff to produce a technology architecture document of which an applications architecture would be a part. A late draft of that document should be complete by the end of this month. Planned: That document will be used to drive future technical decisions.

4. Objective 2: Identify and develop integrated, real-time business systems that meet unit needs.

5. 2.1 Create effective state of the art personnel, payroll, financial, procurement, billing and information systems. Current Status: • FRS implemented Jul 1, 2000. • FRSWEB and PROWEB created for departmental viewing. • ELF fielded for decentralized financial transactions (JVs, BAs, Payroll Transfers, Small $ Procurement, travel forms). • Purchasing and Travel Card Web sites created. • PHR implemented Jul 1, 2001-Nov 30, 2001. Planned: • Additional ELF Forms – Requisition, Tuition Remission. • PHR Phase II – Enhancements and CPB Processing. • Automated ORAA processes including e-proposal submission.

6. 2.2 Create an integrated Student Information System that fully supports online services, provides the flexibility to accommodate changing policies and new initiatives, and includes academic degree audit capabilities to enhance student advisement and improve decision making for students and advisors. Current Status: We continue to enhance existing student system (e.g., plus/minus grading, pay bills online, email notifications, aid processing on the web, etc) Planned: OIT is prepared to collaborate with Bill Leith’s student systems initiative

7. 2.3 Create common, integrated user interfaces to existing business systems. Current Status: • OIT believes this will best be accomplished through portal or portal like technology. • OIT is collaborating with the Business School on their portal project, which is expected to have features common to a University portal. Planned: OIT will continue to investigate this technology and deploy it to meet the needs of the university.

8. Objective 3. Continue to support and develop a first-class operations facility.

9. 3.1 Upgrade hardware and software as necessary to accommodate demand and support effective development. Current Status: • 370 + Unix, Wintel and Netware servers • 1 IBM OS/390 Mainframe; 2 HP3000 machines • Numerous versions of operating systems Planned: • Minimize single points of failure • Consolidate servers onto platforms with fail-over redundancy, partitioning and room for expansion • Centralized storage device • Standardize software based on the IT Architecture

10. 3. 2 Improve ability to maintain and monitor online service for the University community. Current Status: • Limited ability to centrally monitor online services. • Minimal ability for automatic notification of technicians on failure. Planned: Currently investigating centralized monitoring systems with automatic notification.

11. 3.3 & 3.4Continue automatic production job scheduling for mainframe production computers. Integrate job scheduling for the servers with the mainframe job scheduling. Current Status: OIT/AEA’s Production Control branch oversees the automated scheduling of an average of 20,000 jobs a month – 95% of the total jobs executed. Planned: Expand automated scheduling to the server environment.

12. 3.5Enhance the disaster recovery plan including the investigation of “hot site” or off-site redundancy and storage. Current Status: • Off-site redundancy and storage in some environments; off-site locations are on campus. • Cold-site availability in Baltimore Planned: • Off-campus tape storage all systems • Use of multiple sites for enterprise services to eradicate failures associated with a single site • Re-evaluation of all disaster recovery components

13. Objective 4. Provide expanded training and support to increase the role of technology in the management of business, administrative, and service activities.

14. 4.1 Establish a centralized, primary point of contact for end users that provides improved services and support that is seamless, efficient, timely, and across platforms. Current Status: In November 2001, OIT hired 6 full time employees to serve as the core of the OIT Help Desk and transition away from using students as the core. Planned: Consolidation of support resources into a single point of contact, integration and linking of IT processes, and consolidation of multiple types of management data.

15. 4.2 Upgrade database, LAN, Web server, and other network support services required for an electronic business environment that is effective, efficient, easily navigable, and secure. Current Status: OIT continually upgrades databases, LAN’s, WEB servers and other network support services to improve the current electronic business environment. Planned: OIT will use the adopted IT architecture to deliver a more holistic electronic business environment.

16. 4.3 Create a modern data warehouse for institutional information and management information systems that will facilitate academic and business processes and strategic decision-making. Current Status: • The data warehouse is currently operational for PHR, Pay Charges, ARS, Budget, FRS Summary Data, RAA, Federal Work Study, SIS Student Data, Courses by Faculty, and Graduate Applications. • New WOW (Warehouse on the Web) methodology was implemented for PHR. Planned: Add the following subsets: Scheduling Course Data (data about courses), Resident Life, LDAP directory feed from PHR.

17. 4.4Increase the use of digital imaging and electronic workflow tools in academic and business processes. Current Status: • In January, 2002, the Digital Imaging Group was created within ODA. • DIG members with full production systems include Provost's Office, Grad Sch, ORAA, and OSFA. • The production systems average 22,000-25,000 images per day. Over 2 million images have been scanned since the beginning of this year. Planned: Focus on student services (admissions process)

18. 4.5Improve software licensing across platforms. Current Status: New products initiatives included Apple OS (Mac), PartitionMagic (Win), LizardTech (Win/UNIX), Tripwire (UNIX), and ZoneAlarm (Win). P-Card ordering is now possible. Planned: • “Shopping cart" ordering mechanism • Software Notification Program (SNP) which will actively alert the University to new products, new product initiatives, announcements/updates, and license expiration dates.

19. 4.6Improve backup services across platforms. Current Status: • Multiple methods for backing up data. • Limited RAID (redundant) disk storage. Planned: • Single backup device scheduled for implementation starting this summer. • Automatic electronic off-site backup. • Centralized RAID storage.

20. 4.7Provide staff training that prepares employees for the electronic workplace. Current Status: • As part of the FRS and PHR implementation, almost 500 employees received basic IT readiness classes. • An additional 325 attended walk-in training or self trained on a CD prepared for that purpose. Planned: Basic IT readiness training is now part of regular OIT class offerings.

21. Information Technology Strategic Plan Goal FOUR: Create an advanced business environment with effective, integrated information systems and IT operations facilities that support the business processes of the university.