• Role of DIT
• The Client Services Unit
• The Desktop Services Unit
• A Desktop Strategy for CSU
• • Working Parties - Membership and terms of reference
• Link to the CSU Homepage

• Postings of Interest to Divisional Staff

• • Notes of meeting on thin client and the desktop strategy (June 2000)

• News from the Division (Internal)

• • 28th January 2000
  • 4th Feb 2000
  • 8th March 2000
  • 23rd March 2000
  • 30th March 2000

• Forum Statistics
• • Febuary 2000
• Presentations
• • Powerpoint Presentation to University of Newcastle
  • Powerpoint Presentation - CSU Microwave System
• Report on Visit to US, UK and Sweden 1999
• Report on Study Tour to the United States in March 2000
• Divisional Training Plan
• Report on Video Conferencing Options for CSU
• Information Architecture at CSU
• Technology Strategy (original)

The Client Services Unit

Introduction

The Client Services Unit is responsible for:
 
 

• a Service Desk serving all facilities and campuses across the university. While the service desk is physically located at the Bathurst campus it is expected to provide services to all campuses and, in particular, improve our-of-hours access from teaching rooms at other campuses;
• the Switchboard Operators within the Division;
• IT training across the University with training personnel on the main campuses;
• the support of technology in the Teaching Rooms across the University including the general access computer laboratories;
• the day to day operation of academic and administrative video conferencing equipment;
• the implementation of the Division's quality assurance programs; and
• the selection, appointment and supervision of casual Service Desk and Laboratory supervision staff.

Structure of the Unit

The structure of the unit is as follows:

The Manager, Client Services

The Manager of the Client Services Unit is Rod Harvey

The objective of this position to manage the provision of service desk, computer laboratory, teaching room and video conferencing services across the university in order to deliver efficient and effective services to staff and students. The position also supervises the telephone switchboard operators and manages many of the commercial activities of the Division

The functions of the position include::
 
 

• · Managing tasks
• · Allocating human resources
• · Controlling the budget of the unit
• · Supervising staff and workgroups
• · Preparing reports and submissions; and
• · Contributing to:
• • · policy development
  • · strategic planning

Duties include:
 

• participating as a member of the Divisional Executive
• management of staff and the functions associated with:
• • the provision of QA across the Division
  • the provision of IT training services across the University
  • the provision of staff and student IT induction
  • the provision and management of general access computer laboratories
  • the provision of AV support services to teaching and function rooms
  • the switchboard
  • the university wide Service Desk operation
  • the university computer shop
  • software control
  • computer purchase contracts

The IT Training and Service Desk Team Leader

The objectives of this position are:
 
 

• To ensure that the IT training services provided by the Division of Information Technology are planned, coordinated and delivered in as an effective manner as possible.
• To ensure that the Service Desk operated by the Division of Information Technology provides an optimum service and that effective feedback is provided from the Service Desk to the executive of the Division and to its other operational units so that the efficiency and effectiveness of the Division's services can be subjected to continuous improvement.

The specific duties of the IT training and Service Desk Team leader are to:
 

• • members of the Service Desk team
  • members of the IT training team
• Coordinate the development of a high level IT training plan for the Division
• Implement the Divisional training plan for IT
• Through continuous monitoring of the Service Desk develop training programs that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of services delivered by the Division
• Coordinate and conduct training up to intermediate level in applications such as Microsoft Office , groupware and other university standard applications
• Assist other trainers to improve their training and problem solving techniques
• Review course evaluations and work with training staff to continuously improve the training delivered by the Division
• Coordinate the training activities of the Division with those carried out by other divisions of the University including Staff Development, the Library and the OLI
• Coordinate and present student orientation session on behalf of the Division
• Present staff orientation / IT induction sessions for academic and general staff
• Supervise the Division’s Service Desk including the supervision and rostering of staff and the appointment of casual operators
• Conduct day to day negotiations with the Desktop Support Unit for the provision of a first response service to Service Desk calls
• report to the executive of the Division in respect of the performance of the Division as reflected through the Service Desk.

The IT Quality Assurance and Teaching Room Team Leader

The objectives of this position are:
 
 

• To ensure that the IT services to computer laboratories and teaching rooms across the University are planned, coordinated and delivered in as an effective manner as possible.
• To act as the Quality Assurance Manager for the Division of Information Technology to implement a Quality Assurance system for the Division that ensures that the Division’s services are subjected to continuous improvement.

The duties of the IT Quality Assurance and Teaching Room Team Leader are to:
 

• oversee the implementation of quality assurance procedures across the Division;
• maintain the Divisions quality assurance documentation standards;
• assist individual managers in the matters relating to quality;
• maintain the Divisions overarching policy and procedures documents;
• coordinate the negotiation of service level agreements, assist Managers in the negotiation of individual agreements, review their effectiveness;
• assess, report on compliance by the Division and the client; and recommend on remedial action and;
• develop, oversee and report on a complaints handling procedure for the Division.
• Supervise the day to day activities of:
• • the central computer laboratory supervisors
  • the Teaching Room support staff including Video Conferencing Operations but excluding the technical support of the video conferencing equipment
• coordinate the routine and preventative maintenance schedules for teaching rooms and computer laboratories;
• through continuous monitoring of the Service Desk and the use of custom monitoring tools, monitor the performance of the Division in the delivery of services to computer laboratories and teaching rooms
• in consultation with the IT Training and Teaching Room Team Leader, ensure that appropriate training is provided to academic staff and students in the use of computer laboratories and teaching room IT facilities.

Key Immediate Objectives for the Client Services unit

The immediate key objectives for the Clients Services unit are to:
 
 

• develop a SLA with the academic community covering the provision of services to computer laboratories and teaching rooms;
• develop, implement, maintain and report from a laboratory monitoring system that will provide a continuous record of laboratory usage;
• implement a system of 24 hour access for computer laboratories across the university;
• implement a preventative maintenance schedule for all IT facilities in teaching rooms across the university;
• standardize the server and machine configurations in all general purpose teaching laboratories for implementation from 1st February 1999;
• complete the Divisions Quality Assurance system to external audit stage;
• initiate an extensive schedule of training programs covering the full range of standard CSU applications;
• implement a complaints handling and reporting procedure for the Division.

Staffing of the Client Services Unit

It is fundamentally important to provide some cross unit training between the Clients Services unit and the Desktop Services Unit. This will occur in two ways. Firstly there will be a position seconded from the Desktop Services team at Wagga to the IT Training and Service Desk team to act as a full-time trainer servicing the Wagga and Albury campuses. Secondly as part of the role of the trainee IT Officer at the Bathurst campus Anthony Oliver will be, on a part time basis, a Service Desk Operator and a Desktop Support Officer part time. Likewise Tammy Woolfe will be part-time Service Desk Operator and part time Desktop Support Officer in a trainee capacity. Tammy will be substantively in the Client Services Unit while Anthony will be substantively in the Desktop Services Unit. Mary Boyd will report directly to the Manager.

IT Training and Service Desk Team

Kerry Browning (Team Leader)

Monique Bowman (Secondment from Desktop Services at Wagga)

Sue Dixon (Service Desk Supervisor)

Nona Muldoon (Training Coordinator)

Tammy Woolfe (Service Desk Operator - Part time)

Anthony Oliver ( Service Desk Operator - Part time)

Student Operators

QA and Teaching Room Team

John Eyles (Team Leader)

Phil Stephens

Chris Phillips

Lawrie Price

John Parker

Lorraine Stephens

Neil Parsons

Robert Paton

Ian Hamilton

Casuals for AV Support at Albury

The Desktop Services Unit

Introduction

The Desktop Services Group provides software and hardware support to the desktop in the University. It also provides an IT consultancy service to specific groups within the University and will provide a first response service to the University Service Desk, covering the entire activities of the Division.

Structure of the Unit

Manager, Desktop Services

The objective of the position of Manager, Desktop Services is to manage the day to day operational matters associated with conduct of the Desktop Services functions of the Division of Information Technology across the University.

The functions of the position include::
 
 

• Managing tasks
• Allocating human resources
• Controlling budgets
• Supervising staff and work group
• Preparing reports and submissions; and
• Contributing to:
• • policy development
  • strategic planning

Duties include;
 

• participating as a member of the Divisional Executive
• management of staff and the functions associated with support of the desktop within the university including the:
• • provision of an IT consultancy services to designated groups within the university;
  • support of desktop software;
  • diagnosis and rectification of faults
  • allocation of desktop access rights;
  • provision of an IT consultancy services to individuals within the University;
  • design and development of desktop images;
  • provision of a first response service to the CSU Service desk;
  • the conduct of short training sessions on behalf of the Team Leader, IT Training and Service Desk Services.

The IT Desktop Services Team Leader Positions

The objectives of the Team Leader position is:
 
 

• To manage the day to day operational matters associated with the conduct of the user support functions of the Division of Information Technology;
• To provide technical leadership to the desktop services group;

• To deputise for the Manager, Desktop Services as required;
• Act as technical consultant to the desktop services staff within the managed team;
• Provide assistance and training to other desktop services staff to improve their techniques and problem resolution skills;
• Supervise the work of the desk top services staff by allocating tasks and providing support where necessary.

In addition, the normal duties of a Desktop Services Officer as follows, with special application to the more complex or demanding assignments.
 

• Evaluate and provide advice on the selection of operating system and application software.
• Provide information technology support to the clients of the Division of Information Technology.
• Develop and test documentation for the Division of Information Technology Quality Assurance system.

Key Immediate Objectives for the Desktop Services Unit
 

• to develop a standard SLA agreement for support of clients;
• examine the provision of dedicated IT consultancy services to the University but in particular the Library and OLI;
• in consultation with the Systems and Infrastructure group develop a strategy for the provision of a backup service for the desktop;
• examine and report on the key issues associated with printer standardization for the desktop and after consulting widely within the Division recommend on an appropriate printer policy and strategy for the university;
• Implement a standard virus protection strategy;
• Develop an informal, internal SLA agreement with the Client Services unit covering the provision of a First Response Service to the Division’s Service desk;
• Under the supervision of an Associate Director investigate the use of Winframe technologies to address the needs of existing low powered desktops into the future;
• Investigate the integration of the home and work computing environment for academic and selected general staff;
• create a reporting system that can measure the improvement in service to customers.

Staffing of the Desktop Services Unit

The Manager of the unit will be Bernard Storrier..

Team Leader (Albury): Gary Martin

Jodie Rugless

Ivan Talan

Team Leader (Bathurst): Vacant

Tim Brown

Anthony Burrows

Geoff Clulow

Anthony Dusselaar

Keith Hogan

Tammy Woolfe (DT Support - part-time

Luke Short

Anthony Oliver (DT Support - part time)

Garry Sweetnam

Team Leader (Wagga): Rod Hebels

Robert Boetto

Martyn Briggs

Brian Cain

Peter Shave

Luke Weston

David Wurtz

Monique Bowman (Secondment to Client Services for training)

Role of the Division

The Division of Information Technology (DIT) provides a wide range of information technology services to staff and students of the University. This home page presents detailed information on services offered by the Division of Information Technology. Our goal is to introduce and offer high quality, cost effective computing products and to provide immediate backup support and training to all clients of the Division. We hope that the use of this DIT on-line information bulletin will guide you to the DIT service you require.

The Division provides computing, communications, audio/visual and printing services. Services include administrative and academic computing, the provision of voice mail, electronic mail, telephone services, reprographic services and the management of video-conferencing and data networks.

Computing and Communications facilities

The University operates a wide area network which links all major buildings on the three main campuses and extends into Sydney and Dubbo and to campuses at Manly, Canberra and Broken Hill. The Division is in the process of completing a maor 34Mbs microwave service that will link it campuses at Albury, Wagga, Bathurst, Dubboand Goulburn to Sydney. The route of the miceowave service is shown below:

Note: this graphic has been temporarily removed and stored on my local disk to speed up transfers form the UK

On Campus Facilities

Approximately 2000 on- campus workstations are linked to one of 34 Novell servers, all of which offer a standardised interface to the network facilities including printers, the Internet and host computers. The Division is, however overseeing a transition from Novell servers to a system which will see NT as the standard desktop operating systems supported by NT, Unix and Citrix servers.

The Division has developed a sophisticated suite of software products to facilitate access to the network for use by staff and students, particularly those studying off campus. Pools of fast speed modems have been installed at Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Wagga Wagga, Sydney, Canberra and Dubbo.

The Division is currently implementing technology that will allow students at the satellite campuses and from remote areas to have a virtual presence on campus and to receive teaching materials on-line as well as in traditional print format. A number of joint CSU TAFE study centres in NSW have been equipped to support CSU students.

The Division operates an extensive wide-area network that provides access to administrative hosts running on Sun/Oracle platforms, to academic hosts from Sun and DEC, to library catalogues and data bases, and the modem pools. Central laboratories at Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst and Wagga Wagga are equipped with IBM compatible computers and Macintosh with minimum standards in 1998 of NT WOrkstations and Power PCs. All work stations are linked to Novell servers which provide access for all students to the Internet, to CD ROM stacks, colour laser printers and scanners. Access to the Internet is provided for the completion of course requirements. Administrative systems based on a Sun/Oracle platform and using the Banner and Concept applications software have recently been introduced for Financial Services, Human Resources and Student Administration.

The Division operates a Service Desk with a 1800 telephone service and loans manuals and an extensive library of software which is loaned to staff and students while in the Computer Centres. Work station clients are supported across the campuses by means of remote management software. Technical services are provided to support all computing, television and radio equipment. Printing services are provided to the University by the Division of Information Technology. The University Printeries offer commercial standard printing services incorporating graphic design, typesetting and layout, printing from single through to full colour, collating, stapling and binding.

The Systems and Infrastructure Unit

The Division of Information Technology currently has a Systems Management Unit and a Network Services Unit. The boundaries between these groups have become increasing blurred since the Division was first formed in 1990. Primary responsibilities for areas such as electronic mail and dial-in modems have become increasingly difficult to assign. The units are both quite small in number although their budgets are significant. The equipment and services which they provide are absolutely mission critical to the University. It is intended that these units should be combined into a single unit of approximately 16 to 18 people. In general the responsibilities of the combined unit will remain the same although it is likely that the unit will yield responsibility for the operation of the video conferencing equipment in the University and accept increase responsibility for the facilities management of general purpose servers.

The Client Services Unit

Since the formation of the Division of Information Technology, the User Services unit has been responsible for Desktop Support and Computer Laboratories. The management of this Unit has been essentially campus based. This has the natural tendency to lead to less than optimum consistency and synergy across campuses. While the performance of this Unit has been extremely good, the increasing pressures on the Division make it fundamentally important to extract the maximum cross campus synergy. This is best served by making the unit university-wide in nature, particularly if the difficulties of staff supervision at the campuses remote from the Manager can be ameliorated.

In considering the structure of this area the needs of clients for desktop support and IT consultancy services was considered in conjunction with the need for teaching room support (both AV in Lecture rooms and Computer Laboratories), the need for a Divisional wide Service Desk and the imperative to increase the training services provided to clients. The outcome was to divide the existing User Services Unit into two discrete units. Namely:
 
 

• the Client Services Unit
• The Desktop Services Unit

The Client Services Unit will be responsible for:
 

• a Service Desk serving all facilities and campuses across the university.
• 
   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

  This unit will continue to concentrated on the Bathurst campus although it will be expected to improve its our-of-hours access from teaching rooms at other campuses;

• the IT training across the University with training personnel on the main campuses;

• the support of the technology in the Teaching Rooms across the University including the general access computer laboratories;

The Unit will also initially be responsible for the Switchboard Operators within the Division but this responsibility is likely to transfer to the University Call Centre later in the year.

The Desktop Services Unit

The Desktop Services Group will provide software and hardware support to the desktop in the University and will provide a first response service to the University Service Desk, covering the entire activities of the Division.

It is expected that increasingly hardware repairs and installation will be out-sourced as the equipment used in the university becomes more and more software based.

The special AV Services to the Faculty of Arts have now been devolved to the Faculty through the secondment of two IT staff members to the Faculty, one at Wagga and one at Bathurst. This leaves the Division in the position of being a truly central service provider.

It is expected that staff in the Desktop Services Unit will increasingly become responsible for project work within the Division as the work load from desktop support decreases due to the implementation of more advanced and stable desktop computing environments as is typified by the current NT implementation. Members of the group are likely to take an increasing role as direct consultants to particular user groups in the university. In particular, strategies will be developed to maximise the interaction between staff in this group with the Systems and Integration.

The On-Line Support Unit

The formation of the On-Line Support Unit formalizes the activities of the CSU Web team into a discrete unit within the Division of Information Technology. It consists of series of World Wide Web Programmers and Graphic Designers and is responsible for the CSU Web Site and for the support of on-line activities. It is required to interact very strongly with the Systems and Infrastructure group and the Administrative Programming Group particular in relation to Web servers and database requirements of on-line publishing activities within the University. The priorities of this group will largely be defined by the Web Management Committee and by the ILSG.

The Administrative Computing Services Unit

The Administrative Computing Services Unit will remain unaltered although it is hoped that the area of database administration will be strengthened by the replacement of an applications programmer with an additional database administrator at Level 7 and by strengthening the DBA skills of existing applications programming staff. Further consideration will need to be given to the way in which this Unit provides DBA services to other units in the Division particularly the On-Line Support Unit.

The University Printery

The University Printery has recently been restructured to place management responsibilities in the hands of a single manager. A plan for the rationalization of operations between the two branch printeries is being developed.

The Spatial Analysis Network (SPAN)

The Spatial Analysis Unit (SPAN) has recently been expanded to include staff on all these main campuses. Staff recruitment is under way. While the intention is to ensure that SPAN functions as a research support unit and does not get 'weighed down' by routine IT support responsibilities, it is expected that it will interact closely with the other Units of the Division in relation to facilities management. It is also expected that the Associate Directors will assist the Manager of Span with the day to day management of staff at remote campuses.