UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
Information & Communication Technology Infrastructure Strategy
November 2012
Technology Review Group
Executive Summary
This Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Infrastructure Strategy sets out a medium to longterm vision of how the ICT infrastructure will develop to support the University in its increasing
dependency on Information Technology (IT) and help enhance the performance of the University in
achieving its mission. The ICT strategy consists of the following elements:

A vision and set of guiding principles to shape the strategy

Building blocks for the technical (IT) infrastructure

A framework of processes to guide the implementation and evolution of the strategy

A methodology for implementation of University wide activities

A mechanism for enabling the most effective use and support of information technology and
systems through timely and effective training
Integral to the ICT Strategy is the annual ICT roadmap presented as an appendix for ease of annual update.
The roadmap identifies the proposed work programmes that would be required to meet the strategic aims of
the ICT strategy and includes budgetary estimates of cost. 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 ICT infrastructure to
permit effective planning of central and College developments.
The University IT Strategy is the set of documents comprising this ICT Infrastructure Strategy and College
IT Strategies.
Introduction
The University’s ICT Infrastructure 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
ICT Infrastructure Strategy is designed to achieve this as it provides a framework and set of processes for
maximising the effectiveness of limited budgets.
The Technology Review Group (TRG) a group formed to report to IPSC on IT related issues, prepared this
ICT Infrastructure Strategy
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 ICT Infrastructure Strategy, the Technology Review Group (TRG) has:
 Engaged with Colleges so that the ICT 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
“The University will provide 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 may be categorised as follows:

Persistent – through an infrastructure that provides the facilities, security and support structures that
facilitates “always on” services

Transparent – through services that are integrated, easy to use and reliable

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
Guiding Principles
The University is committed to the following set of guiding principles

The University recognises the strategic importance of information technology and is prepared to
invest in the continual development of its IT resources

The University will develop and communicate policies and strategies that will govern the use of IT
and provide direction on support of IT resources

The University sees value for money as an important consideration in all IT investments and will
seek to take advantage of economies of scale and solutions that reduce overall support costs
wherever possible

The University will implement industry standards, best practice and supportable solutions

The University will promote an ICT Service ethos supported by the most appropriate technology

The University is a major research led institution and as such places demands on the technical
infrastructure

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 IT 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 increasingly 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
Technical infrastructure to realise the vision
The following are the strategic building blocks that must be in place to establish the technical infrastructure
that underpins the vision:
 A pervasive communications infrastructure that must remain relevant over time
 Standard platforms to host services with server and file store consolidation where practical
 A system for identity management, namely a directory service that links architectures as the basis for
many future developments
 A security framework to preserve the integrity of the University’s information assets and systems
 A secure and consistent desktop environment as the norm for standard IT activities
 A set of standard applications for University wide functions that are site licensed wherever feasible
 Integration of standard applications, core services and infrastructure to provide a feature rich IT
environment
 General Information Technology policies and guidelines covering security, core service direction
and standards
Strategic infrastructure direction will be to support and improve a set of generic core services, which have
been defined by the Central and College Staff Working Group as being the responsibility of IT Services,
that is;
2
Core Infrastructure services:

The campus network supporting high speed Local Area Networks, Routing services and external
connectivity with ClydeNET and SuperJANET

Flexible network access services including;
o
VPN over Broadband and GPRS/3G networks
o
On campus self service facilities, i.e., Flexaccess and eduroam

Corporate Web servers

DNS services and IP address management

File store services including backup and retrieval services

E-mail relays, servers and SPAM filtering

End user personal communications services including standard e-mail and diary management

Network Directory services supporting network operating system and resource management

Network Directory service integration to synchronise relevant information between directories

Authentication and authorisation systems providing near ‘single sign on’ and federated services
between authentication domains including partner institutions

Serviced Desktops providing a secure and productive environment for administrative, academic and
student support

Information Technology security services including policies, advice, training, best practises and
incident handling

Help Desk service

Virtual Learning Environment to support new methods in learning and teaching

A feature rich collaboration environment supporting personal, group and teaching space audio and
video communication with application/information sharing

Application support and training for standard packages

Training programmes for IT support staff

Negotiation and management of University-wide agreements e.g. Microsoft and other software
licences
All of these services will be the subject of Service Definition Agreements (reference Service Levels and
Expectations Working Group). This set of generic core services will be augmented in response to demand
and changing technology and will provide the basis for Colleges and Schools to develop added value or
subject specific services.
Examples of new services that will be developed within the planning horizon are

Portals providing staff and students with seamless access to a wide range of IT resources

Virtual/Managed Learning Environments improvements

Web Content Management Systems (CMS)

Student Records System

Unified communications including e-mail, collaboration tools and IP telephony

E-Science support services

Improved services for bring your own devices (BYOD)
All of these institution wide developments will depend on the core infrastructure elements to underpin their
delivery and support.
All services, whether centrally or College provided, will require to be monitored and managed effectively
in order to maximise service delivery to the user community and reduce the support burden on IT support
staff.
Process to realise the vision
The Technology Review Group (TRG), a group of senior IT staff from IT Services and each College who
maintains the ICT Infrastructure strategy on behalf of the Information Policy and Strategy Committee
(IPSC)
TRG helps to develop the ICT infrastructure strategy via short life working groups whose role is to
investigate and report on various technologies, IT developments and service improvement options, allowing
TRG to make recommendations to IPSC on the costs, timing and manner of technology adoption. TRG
reports are published on the Web for a period of consultation allowing time for formal stakeholder feedback
before they are submitted to IPSC for approval.
Working in partnership to identify research and evaluate technologies that are potentially important to the
University’s ICT strategy results in a broad consensus, helps develop commonality of purpose and
promotes standard practice for implementation. This process enables Colleges to develop their IT planning
in a way that interlocks with the University ICT Strategy and is consistent with it.
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 Project Board as it is representative of all Colleges. The
TRG ensures openness and transparency in the work of the Project Teams.
3
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.
IT Service, the Staff Development Service and other training agencies offer a range of courses from
introductory to task orientated and will develop new courses and appropriate delivery methods in response
to user 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 the skills required to undertake complex tasks.
Roadmap for IT evolution
The ICT Roadmap is a summary of the developments and investments recommended by the TRG for the
current financial year. They are explained and costed in Appendix 1.
4
Appendix 1 - Roadmap for ICT Infrastructure Development
This Appendix details the work programmes required for the current financial year to meet the aspirations of the
ICT strategy.
Roadmap 20011/12 Outcome
Funding Source
Time
Estimate
Funding
Requested
Funding
Allocated
Start Date
End Date
Priority
1=high,
2=Med,
3=Low
Enhance Networks Network Team 1.0 FTE
in University
7FTE
(4)
Buildings
IPSC
5 Months
£50,000
£50,000
01/05/2012
30/09/2012
2
Network
segmentation
Network/
Security
7FTE
1.0 FTE
(3)
IPSC
Flexible Access
Network Team 2.0 FTE
10FTE
(6)
IPSC
Directory
Integration
Novell Team
2FTE
1.0 FTE
(2)
IPSC
WEB 2.0
Developments
CS/MIS/TRG
0.5 FTE
IPSC
Software
Licensing
DST
IT Staff Training
Admin/Help
0.1 FTE
Desk/Training (1)
4FTE
IPSC
Service
Sustainability
All teams
1.0 FTE
(6)
IPSC
DR/BC
enhancements
All teams and 2.5 FTE
IPSC
Student clusters
Admin/Novel/ 0.0 FTE
DST/DTT/TIG (1)
4FTE
Project requests
to IPSC (11/12)
Head Count
Staff
Allocation
5 Months
£50,000
£50,000
01/05/2012
1.0
5 Months
£50,000
£50,000
01/06/2012
E&B
7 Months
£25,000
£25,000
01/03/2012
Teaching space
upgrades
AV/IT
2FTE
(8)
(6)
Sophos
DST
0.1FTE
antivirus
(4)
(1)
31/10/2012
2
30/09/2012
2
Complete
6 Months
£15,000
£15,000
01/04/2012
30/09/2012
2
Complete
IPSC
6 Months
£10,000
£0
01/04/2012
30/09/2012
2
Not funded
2 Month
£25,000
£25,000
01/05/2012
30/06/2012
2
Complete
6 Months
£160,000
£160,000
01/05/2012
28/10/2012
1
Complete
6 Months
£275,000
£275,000
01/04/2012
30/09/2012
1
Partial – No
time to
initiate power
works
(6)
1.5 FTE
2
Complete
(2)
28FTE
30/09/2012
Complete
(5)
Business case for SST/TRG
central file store
7FTE
provision
Investment
Complete
IPSC
0 Months
£0
n/a
01/04/2012
No
3
requirement
IPSC
9 Months
£150,000
£150,000
01/02/2012
28/10/2012
1**
Complete
(4)
IPSC
3 Months
£100,000
£100,000
15/07/2012
15/09/2012
1
Complete
IPSC
1 Month
£20,000
£20,000
1/07/2012
1/08/2012
Complete
Cost
Consumables
Staff
Resource
Cost
Cost
Capitalised Revenue
13.7FTE
£870,000 £217,500 £60,000
5
Underspend
due to
timescales
for DR/BC
1
Roadmap 2012/13
The items for 2010/11 have been extended and modified to take account of new strategic priorities and the
opportunities presented by changes in the external environment and funding
Enhancement of Campus LAN switching Infrastructure – Status Ongoing
Improve the network infrastructure within University buildings through the replacement of ageing
Ethernet equipment.
Priorities for this year include provisioning works, and additional Fibre Optic circuits required
to support the VoIP project implementation and the Network Upgrade Project.
Benefits
Dedicated bandwidth to the desktop, particularly for researchers, and specialised research facilities
and enhanced Network security, quality of service and management tools (Ref. Information Strategy
Universal Access Working Group, e-Science and the Grid working group, University Strategic Plan
1.6.3).
Risks
Users experience poor network and applications performance. Ageing equipment leading to
increased failure rates and Network downtime. Inadequate network management and security
capabilities requiring more staff effort to maintain service levels
Network Segmentation – Status Ongoing
Implement Network segmentation to limit the exposure of key services and provide inherent
containment measures against hacking, viruses, worms etc. (Ref. Information Strategy Information
Systems Security Working Group and Universal Access Working Group; University Strategic Plan
3.3.5)
Benefits
Reduce key systems exposure and provide inherent containment measures against hacking, viruses,
worms etc. (Ref. Information Strategy Information Systems Security Working Group and Universal
Access Working Group; University Strategic Plan 3.3.5)
Risks
High risk of systems compromise, virus and worm propagation leading to potential loss of
confidentiality, integrity and availability of the University’s information assets. Significant staff
resources required for handling security incidents.
Wifi Flexible Access Provision – Status ongoing
Improve flexible network and IT infrastructure access solutions.
Priorities for this year include replacing end of life Access Points (APs) and improving Wifi
coverage within University buildings.
Benefits
Allow staff, students and authorised visitors to use their own personal systems to access IT resources
from a consistent, secure and reliable network infrastructure. (Ref. Information Strategy Universal
Access Working Group; University Strategic Plan 3.3.4)
Risks
Ad hoc solutions will result in increased security incidents, inconsistent solutions across campus,
duplicated efforts, confusion amongst users and higher capital and support costs
Directory Integration – Status ongoing
Improve the infrastructure that provides secure authentication and authorised access to IT resources
for the individuals who are entitled to use them. Priorities for this year will include

Guest account management system improvements for approved visitors and guests e.g.,
conference delegates, visiting academics etc. Ongoing

Maintain Active Directory populated staff and student accounts serviced via the Identity
Vault including password self service

Additional Federated authentication services against central directories to promote GUID
adoption. TRG to oversee.

JISC sponsored ‘Shibboleth’ federated services and Public Key Infrastructure ‘PKI’
investigations - Ongoing
(Ref. Information Strategy Authentication and Access Control Working Group; University Strategic
Plan 3.3.4)
Benefits
Comprehensive Identity management system enabling a variety of current and future developments
including CSCE, SSD, SSO, Shibboleth realms, Virtual organisations, portal developments and
unified messaging including IP telephony
Risks
Poor or limited Identity management provisions will result in:

Increased security incidents and staff efforts to resolve

Proliferation of different authentication domains and systems
Leading to

Duplicated staff efforts and in-ability for staff in one authentication domain to access
resources out with their domain
6

In ability for the University to fully participate in national initiatives e.g., Athens realm, EScience collaborations and cross institutional federated services
National Middleware Initiatives – Dependant on Directory Integration
Extend and support the JISC framework for ‘national’ middleware services based on the open source,
open standards Shibboleth framework, which is designed to integrate with institutional directories.
Benefits
Provide robust authentication and authorisation services for staff and student access to institutional
services and also datasets and other sources of electronic information, which are held externally. It is
intended that the X.509 certificates used by Grid middleware will be integrated into the national
middleware initiative. Whilst HEFCE have allocated £3.2M for the rollout of Shibboleth in England,
SHEFC have not indicated, as yet, that there will be commensurate financial commitment for
Scotland. Progress to date includes the Athens replacement authentication system now being used by
the Library, the Janet roaming service and Eduroam
Risks
Failure to participate in National developments will isolate the University and make it more difficult
to for the University to participate in future collaborative projects including GRID/e-science research
projects.
Serviced Desktop for Staff and Students – Status ongoing
Improve and actively promote solutions for desktop systems management and security. This area was
considered a significant concern in various information security audits carried out by Delloite’s.
Priorities for this year include;

Promote Standard Staff Desktop (SSD) version 7 based on Windows 7 and AD

facilitate the SSD migration from Novell based file and print services to Active Directory
(AD) managed servers.

Investigate Windows 8, SCCM 2012 and App V, application virtualisation
Benefits
Improve security, productivity and reduce IT support overheads so that some resources can be
redeployed to value added activities at the College/School level (Ref Information Strategy Working
Group Common Baselines and Delivery Platforms; University Strategic Plan 3.3.4)
Risks
SSD stagnation would result in poor uptake, increased security incidents and duplicated IT staff
effort
Service Sustainability – Status ongoing
Priorities for this year include

Server virtualisation to provide additional disaster recovery and business continuity
capabilities and reduce the environmental impact of introducing new services

Additional filestore to support teaching and research developments
Designing sustainable services will require a higher initial investment however the expectation is that
over the lifetime of the service the benefits in terms of the service levels provided will be greater and
overall costs in terms of management and other support costs will be less. All too often services
evolve from a basic level supporting a few users to a critical mass with many watersheds along the
way that require significant support efforts, service downtime for upgrades and user dissatisfaction
during periods of poor service performance.
Benefits
Service sustainability is about designing and improving services to ensure that they are:

Robust and resilient

Scale to meet user demand and legitimate expectations over time

Provide continued high performance, availability and reliability

Provide service assurance metrics that indicate when improvements, upgrades and
replacements are required. This implies that suitable funding is made available for server
upgrades and replacements. This would be analogous to the agreed workstation four-year
replacement cycle.

Are supportable and secure
Risks

Increased frequency of Systems and Applications failures

Poor applications performance
Leading to

User dissatisfaction

Poor business continuity and disaster recovery capabilities

Increased support load on systems teams

In ability to introduce new productivity features and other service enhancements
7
Improve e-Science support Network – Status Ongoing
Build on existing relationships between the National e-Science centre, e-Science researchers, GRID
computing systems administrators and other GRID support personnel to establish an e-Science
support team.
No financial priorities for this year.
Benefits
Significant co-ordinated support network for GRID computing at the University
Risks
Disjointed approach to GRID/E-science computing, resulting in duplicated efforts amongst support
staff and a loss of prestige in the e-science research community
Implement Disaster recovery and Business continuity solutions for Core infrastructure services
Review Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity plans for all Core services. Update and amend
operational procedures and roles and responsibilities as appropriate. Expand the Boyd ORR building
DR site to include systems that will provide DR and BC solutions for critical services as per DR/BC
plans (Ref Information security/continuity working groups).
Priorities for this year include;

Increased power provision within the James Watt North, Boyd Orr and St Andrews
server rooms and improved power protection.

Additional backup capacity to support the increased data foot print for a wide range
of core services
Develop additional server room space within the James watt North Building

Benefits
Ensure core services continue to operate at acceptable levels during disaster situations affecting core
sites or major hardware or network failures. Significant expansion of Standard Staff Desktop
deployments and the exchange e-mail service will protect user file store and e-mail folders against
local system failures. Expanding the central backup capabilities will allow IT services to provide an
enhanced back up service for the University’s critical data.
Risks
Prolonged failure of core services or data loss will seriously impact the University’s ability to
conduct business and fulfil its legal and statutory duties with respect to information processes.
Lifecycle Replacement and Enhancement of Student (PC) Clusters
Annual Student PC cluster replacement
Benefits
To ensure that reliable and modern workstations are available for student use and to improve the
workstation to student ratio. (Ref. Information Strategy Provision of on-Campus Student C&IT
Facilities Working Group; University Strategic Plan 3.3.6)
Risks
Increased failure rates on cluster systems would lead to higher support costs and increasing
complaints from students re IT facilities. Unreliable and or slow workstations could cause difficulties
for students to deliver assignments on time. Poor ratings in HE surveys
Review File store and Server consolidation strategy
Assess and address the impact of ever increasing filestore requirements and the potential savings
offered by server and filestore consolidation strategies
Benefits
Quantify the benefits obtained from a centralised file store and server consolidation strategy and
propose future strategic direction. Reduced cost for file store and server provisions for all Colleges
based on economies of scale, consolidated purchasing power, lower operating costs and a reduction
in staff resources allocated to file store management.
Risks
Inappropriate strategic direction leading to higher cost for core service deployments
IT Staff Training
Deliver flexible options for IT support staff training following the TRG working group
recommendations for IT support staff training.
Benefits
The benefits would be improved skill sets, IT staff morale and productivity
Risks
IT support staff expected to perform technical, sensitive and critical functions without proper training
and staff development
8
Review of Computer room provisions on campus – Status Ongoing
Server and file store consolidation, Service sustainability and HPC cluster provisions are placing
heavy demands on existing computer room (Data Centres) facilities including space, floor loadings,
electrical provision/protection and air conditioning/handling. It is important to continue to review
existing provisions to determine whether or not University strategies with respect to Disaster
recovery, Business continuity, service sustainability and e-Science are likely to be compromised by
inadequate computer room provision.
It was projected that the existing computer rooms operated by IT services will have reached full
capacity by 2012. Service outages caused by power overload and air conditioning deficiencies are
increasing. Significant funds have been used to improve the environmental conditions within existing
data centres however the fundamental problems associated with the poor condition and limited space
of existing data centres remain a significant risk to core services, in addition College requirements
for Servers, storage and associated data centre space are increasing. This indicates that a holistic
approach to Data centre provision across campus is adopted so that the requirements of IT Services
and all the Colleges are addressed in the most efficient and cost effective way.
Priorities for this year include;

Increased power provision and protection within the James Watt North and Boyd
ORR server rooms

Power protection for the St Andrews building communications room.

Consultancy to identify the Costs/Benefits of server room consolidation in terms of
economies of scale, improved BC/DR capabilities, reduced power consumption and
reductions in carbon emissions
Benefits
Identify the risks associated with the condition and capabilities of existing Data Centres to the
University’s business and IT strategies with respect to Disaster recovery, Business continuity and
service sustainability.
Risks
Poor computer room accommodation will result in significant risks to a progressive IT strategy and
business continuity/disaster recovery planning.
Unified communications and Web 2 developments
Investigate and propose strategic solutions for end user access to integrated e-mail, diary
management, telephony, fax, IM, document and applications sharing and other forms of personal
communications.
Priorities for this year include investigating the potential impact of a number of new
developments in improving the overall IT based collaboration environment; Specifically


The VoIP telephony service
The emerging lecture capture service


Exchange 2010/2013, SharePoint 2010/2013 and Lync 2010/2013 features
Skype developments
Benefits
Unified communications will provide a more productive end-user communications environment and
allow users to more quickly find and communicate with the people they need to. Developments in
Web technologies are likely to provide a greater choice in the way IT applications are deployed and
supported. It is therefore desirable for the University to be made aware of these developments and
any measurable benefits that may impact the University’s ICT strategy. Areas of particular interest
would be social networking and collaboration tools, Software as a service paradigm, Virtual desktops
and a variety of productivity tools based on Rich Internet/Interactive Applications (RIAs) e.g.,
special purpose widgets, gadgets and sidebars.
Risks
Poor or badly integrated personal communications systems will frustrate users and lead to more time
being spent managing communications channels and communications content
Portal Services
Improve and develop Portal services for Staff and Students, based on SharePoint, and align with
other infrastructure developments including SSO/Identity management, SLP, SSD and CSCE
developments.
Benefits
Student portal services will be important to the student laptop scheme and would integrate WEB
based student resources including Moodle, WebSurf, ExamSurf, e-mail, file store and print services
Staff portal services would provide simplified access to web based resources including e-mail, diary
management and other collaboration tools e.g., Desk Top conferencing, instant messaging, Wikis,
Blogs and IP telephony
Risks
Without a robust portal service it will be hard to integrate, in a consistent way, the web based
services that are being used or likely to be used to front end core applications. Poor or badly
integrated Portal services will frustrate users and reduce the effectiveness of web-based applications.
9
Teaching Space Improvements – Status ongoing
Improve and develop IT and A/V provisions within all centrally supported Teaching Space (TS) in
accordance with the proposed Teaching Space strategy and associated roadmap.
Priorities for this year include replacing old projectors, AV upgrades to various venues to
support Lecture recording or Video Teaching and improving the effectiveness of the remote
diagnostic and management systems.
Benefits

(within available budgets) Ensure that Teaching Space facilities are kept up-to-date with
respect to technology and reasonable expectations

Ensure that Teaching Space support is fully co-ordinated across all relevant service
boundaries and measured against agreed performance indicators

Ensure teaching spaces are flexible and capable of supporting new requirements e.g., lecture
recordings, video teaching.
Risks

Teaching Space IT and A/V facilities remain inconsistent between venues and difficult to use

Teaching Space support remains uncoordinated and inefficient

Poor Teaching Space provisioning and support leading to significant user dissatisfaction
Review of Student e-mail provision
The focus for this year will be to continue the review the current the Microsoft Exchange based
student e-mail and calendaring solution. Options for cost savings will be explored including service
provisioning using lower cost disks and the possibility of externally hosting the service at
Microsoft’s live.edu or Google’s G-mail.
Benefits
The Student e-mail service is embedded as a pivotal service within the University’s Student IT
provisions. Most out of band communications between the University and the Student population
occurs via e-mail and indeed it is viewed as a critical means of communications for important alerts
such as exam reminders, assessment reminders, tutorial and lecture changes etc. Our student e-mail
provision should provide the following:

High Performance and sufficient mail box size

User friendly interface and functionality including spell checking, address books and diary
management

Integration with other student IT facilities e.g., VLE, SRIP, Portal etc
Risks
Failure to address future Student e-mail provisions will result in the following:

Deterioration of existing service

Potential inability to deliver important messages when needed

User dissatisfaction leading to ad-hoc uncontrolled solutions
Software Licence Policy Management – Status ongoing
Review the implementation of the software licence policy management project.
Specific objectives for this year will be the role out of the auditing tool, based on Microsoft’s
Systems Centre Configuration Manager, to all SSD and CSCE desktops and establish a robust
auditing and reporting process.
Benefits
Reduce the University’s exposure to the risk of litigation due to software copyright infringements.
(Ref. Implementation of Software Licensing Policy approved by Court)
Risks
Copyright infringements resulting in significant staff time to resolve and potential legal actions
against the University
10
Projected Costs for 2012/13 – All Priorities.
Activity
Project
Cost
Cost
Cost
Capitalised
Revenue
Consumables
£0
£0
Source
Priority
1=high,
2=Med,
3=Low
Enhance Networks
in University
Buildings
40745
University
2
Network
segmentation
40744
£50,000
£12,500
University
2
Flexible Access
40743
£75,000
£18,750
University
1
Directory
Integration
43805
£0
£0
University
2
Student clusters
41777
£500,000
University
1
Unified
communications
and WEB 2.0
Developments
4306
£15,000
University
2
Software Licensing
40739
University
2
IT Staff Training
40737
University
2
Service
Sustainability
40742
£150,000
£37,500
University
1
Disaster
recovery/Business
continuity
including Power
upgrades and
addition server
room space*
40740
£275,000
£68,750
University
1*
Increased central
file store provision
40742
£0
£0
University
3
Teaching space
upgrades to extend
lecture capture
service
43111
£100,000
£25,000
University
1
£660,000
£165,000
Funded
separately
Totals
£10,000
£2,500
£25,000
Funds Requested
£540,000
Revenue Plus £705,000
Consumables
* Power upgrades, increased power protection and additional server room space are budgetary estimates;
Implementation would be handled via E&B.
Projected Costs for 2012/13 – Priority One elements only
Activity
Project
Cost
Cost
Cost
Capitalised
Revenue
Consumables
Source
Priority
1=high,
2=Med,
3=Low
Flexible Access
40743
£75,000
£18,750
University
1
Service
Sustainability
40742
£150,000
£37,500
University
1
Disaster
recovery/Business
continuity
40740
£275,000
£68,750
University
1
Student clusters
41777
University
1
Teaching space
upgrades
43111
University
1
Totals
£500,000
£100,000
£25,000
£600,000
£150,000
Funds Requested
£500,000
Revenue Plus £650,000
Consumables
11
Funding Source
Time
Estimate
Funding
Requested
Funding
Allocated
Start Date
End Date
Priority
1=high,
2=Med,
3=Low
Network Team 3.0 FTE
7FTE
(4)
IPSC
5 Months
£0
£0
01/05/2012
30/09/2012
1
Network
segmentation
Network/
Security
7FTE
1.0 FTE
(3)
IPSC
5 Months
£50,000
£0
01/05/2013
30/09/2013
2
Flexible Access
Network Team 2.0 FTE
10FTE
(6)
IPSC
5 Months
£75,000
£0
01/06/2013
31/10/2013
2
Directory
Integration
Novell Team
2FTE
0.5 FTE
(2)
IPSC
7 Months
£0
£0
01/03/2012
30/09/2012 2
WEB 2.0
Developments
CS/MIS/TRG
0.5 FTE
IPSC
6 Months
£15,000
£0
01/04/2013
30/09/2013
2
Software
Licensing
DST
IPSC
6 Months
£10,000
£0
01/04/2013
30/09/2013
2
IT Staff Training
Admin/Help
0.1 FTE
Desk/Training
(1)
4FTE
IPSC
2 Month
£25,000
£0
01/05/2013
30/06/2013
2
Service
Sustainability
All teams
IPSC
6 Months
£150,000
£0
01/05/2013
28/10/2013
1
DR/BC
enhancements
All teams and 2.5 FTE
IPSC
6 Months
£275,000
£0
01/02/2013
30/09/2013
1
Student clusters
Admin/Novel/ 0.5 FTE
DST/DTT/TIG (1)
4FTE
IPSC
0 Months
£500,000
£0
01/03/2013
28/07/2013
1
IPSC
9 Months
£0
£0
01/02/2013
28/10/2013
3
IPSC
3 Months
£100,000
£0
15/04/2012
15/09/2012
1
Project requests
to IPSC (12/13)
Head Count
Enhance
Networks in
University
Buildings
Staff
Allocation
(5)
1.0
(2)
28FTE
E&B
1.5FTE
(6)
(6)
Increased central SST/TRG
file store provision
7FTE
0.5 FTE
Teaching space
upgrades
AV/IT
2FTE
(8)
(6)
Investment
(4)
Cost
Consumables
Staff
Resource
Cost
Cost
Capitalised Revenue
15.1FTE
£660,000 £165,500 £540,000
12
Other road map projects with staff commitments
Project - Other
Head Count
road map projects
with staff
commitments
National
middleware
initiatives
(Shibboleth)
Staff
Allocation
Novell/Server/ 0.5 FTE
MIS/E-science (5)
5FTE
Start Date
End Date
Priority
1=high,
2=Med,
3=Low
Funding Source
Time
Estimate
Cost
IT Services
Ongoing
N/A
1
Serviced Desktop Novell/DST/
for Staff and
Server
Students
9FTE
4.0 FTE
(9)
CS
Ongoing
N/A
1
Improve e-Science Server Team
support Network 2FTE
1.0 FTE
(2)
CS
Ongoing
N/A
2
MCU/network 7.0 FTE
/E&B
(12)
CS
Ongoing
N/A
1
CS
36Months
N/A
1
CS
Ongoing
TBC
IP Telephony
12 FTE
Campus Network Network
Upgrade
teams
5.0 FTE
(9)
9FTE
Managed Print
Project
Not on Roadmap
Netware/HD/ 2FTE
Demons
(5)
(5)
Investment
19.5 FTE
Totals
34.6 FTE
13
Appendix 2 – TRG short life working group reports
The following TRG reports have been produced
Report on Professional Development of Distributed IT Support Staff
Report on Software Audit Tool
Report on Student Clusters
Report on Patch Management
Report on Platform Flexibility
Report on Multimedia Communications
Report on E-mail, Diary Management and unified messaging direction
Review of file store and server consolidation strategy
Review of Computer room provisions
Report on Flexible access provisions for teaching, research and administration support
Teaching space strategy
Future TRG reports may include
Review of file store and server consolidation strategy
Report on Domain Name Service and IP address management direction
Report on Apple OSX requirements and support
Report on Linux requirements and support
Report on Open Source Software solutions
Report on Authentication and Authorisation services on campus and with other Institutions
Report on Network and Information systems security
Report on e-Science support
Report on Web2.0/3.0 and the potential impact on the University’s ICT strategy, IT support and the services and
applications that would be relevant to the University’s IT user base
14