Recommendations, Critical Path & Other Updates

July 21, 2017

Hello ITS,

The weather this week has fluctuated between intensely hot, stormy, muggy, and everything in between. I know that the work you do is sometimes reminiscent of those varying weather patterns: There are times when you’re working under the heat of an impending deadline, days when a downpour of changes comes your way, and even times when obstacles may seem to stagnate the progress you’re making. But, as we enjoy this beautiful sunny day, I want you to know that the results of your diligence shine through, and I appreciate the work that each of you are doing. Here are some updates on our progress since my last message:

Recommendations
Our OWGs have been hard at work over the past two weeks and have submitted 56 recommendations that will be reviewed at the next CIC meeting, on Wednesday, July 26th. The submission of these recommendations marks the completion of the 100 total recommendations that IT Services was tasked with and culminates this portion of the consolidation process.

You have completed an incredible amount of work in record time–an accomplishment we will be celebrating within the next two weeks before refocusing and organizing our efforts around implementation. Please stay tuned for more information regarding the upcoming “Recommendation Culmination Celebration.” It’s always good to keep a sense of humor, isn’t it?

Updated Critical Path
We have updated the Critical Path based on the completed recommendations that have been submitted to the CIC for approval. This consolidation timeline highlights those points in time when major events are targeted to happen, but could change as we get further down the road with implementations. However, as a living document, this timeline does give us some targets to shoot for and discuss. You can find the updated Critical Path, now in its 6th iteration, in the Our Plan section of the ITS Consolidation site. If you have any questions or think we need to add other items, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

Banner Consolidation Site Visit
We had our second of four visits from the USG Banner consolidation team to walk through conversion and validation decisions related to registration. Our Banner OWG has been doing an unbelievable job, exceeding expectations and delivering ahead of schedule. The collaboration and work ethic of this team is a model for how these groups should function in the future.

I’m really excited to watch the solutions this team develops post-consolidation for our faculty and students. There are many people to call out for the great job they are doing but a special thanks goes out to Ted Williams, Chris Yarbrough, Jessica Weaver, and Kenny Diehl for leading the team this week.

Org Chart Update
I am still working with Human Resources to be able to extend offers to my direct reports. I am hopeful that I will be able to do this next week. Once this step is complete, I will be holding an organizational retreat with my direct reports to develop the organizational structure for the entire division.

When this structure for the division is built, I will review it with the president and then publish it so that everyone can see it. I will also walk everyone through the process for how we will populate this structure. Human Resources has published a process this week on the consolidation site that outlines the approved USG recruitment plan. You can find the Georgia Southern University Recruitment Plan in the Resources section of the University consolidation site. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to let me know.

Centralized Service Desk Pilot for Fall
Beginning July 31st, we will begin a “soft launch” of the centralized service desk that will extend tier one support services currently in place for ITS constituents to SAEM IT and B&F and Auxiliary IT customers, as well. By centralizing these services we not only increase efficiency and consistency for the rest of the campus community, but we also maximize coherence within the IT organization and allow for strategic growth in our service model.

In the next couple of weeks, you will see expanded communication regarding this pilot within the Student Affairs & Enrollment Management and Business & Finance divisions. The centralized service desk, branded as “MyTech Support,” will give our customers one phone number (912-478-2287) and one ticketing system (mytechhelp.georgiasouthern.edu) to engage for support. I know that you will join with me in my enthusiasm for extending this service and promoting its value to the campus community. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me.

Intercampus Dialing
In my last post, I mentioned that the availability of 5-digit dialing would soon be communicated to the Georgia Southern, Armstrong, and Liberty Center campuses. We have a potential target of Wednesday, July 26th, for that message to be distributed, but this is a solution that you can begin taking advantage of now.

Intercampus dialing will allow us to reach out to our colleagues on any of the three campuses by simply dialing the respective steering digit for that campus (4 – Armstong, 7 – Liberty, 8 – GS) followed by the four-digit extension. I’m pleased that this solution will offer us a new level of convenience (not to mention cost savings) in our communication with each other, bringing our campuses closer together than ever before.

I hope you all have a great Friday and an even better weekend. Thanks for the incredible work you do.

Ron