Information Management Newsletter October 2005

Information Management Newsletter for Block 2, 2005

The Information Management Newsletter is a periodic publication during the academic year to keep the community informed about developments in information technology on campus.

We will announce publication of a new issue via divisional listservs and campus digests. If you aren't subscribed to one of these lists and would like to receive an e-mail notifying you when a new issue is published, please send your request to swithee@coloradocollege.edu

Information Management (IM) – What’s in a Name?

What should you call all of us who tend to your computing, networking, data requests and reporting, audio visual, and telephone needs? As of the summer of 2005, we have adopted a new name: the Information Management (IM) Division!

Why the new name? Primarily because what you formerly knew as the Information Technology Services (ITS) Division has adopted two other units: Institutional Research and Planning, and Telecommunications. In searching for a more inclusive and representative name, we came up with Information Management, and Randy Stiles, our über leader, is the Vice President for the Information Management Division.

So now we number about 40 divisional people within 7 working units: Academic Technology Services; Administrative Computing; Institutional Research & Planning; Media Services (also known as Audio Visual Services); Network & Systems Services; Telecommunications; and User Services. But whether you call us “Computing” or “Information Services” or “ITS” … or now “IM” … we’re still here to provide superb customer service for your informational needs!

Two New Network Systems Group Hires

The Network Systems Group recently hired two new employees to fill brand new positions as of this year. Thomas Walters was hired for the Web Applications Programmer position, a modified position from the Web Systems Administrator position occupied by Ruben Ruiz last year, and Magarity Kerns was hired to fill the SQL Database Administrator position, a position that has been slightly redefined from the Altiris & SQL Database Administrator position previously occupied by Jim Austgen.

Tom comes to us from the University of Dayton, where he worked for 5 years, first in their Help Desk and then doing web programming for their Advancement Services division. Tom also graduated from the University of Dayton with a degree in Computer Science. He is proficient in several web programming languages including ASP, VB, JavasScript, and some PHP, and has had experience working with SQL in a Windows 2003 environment. Outside of work, Tom is an avid sports fan, following football and playing rugby and golf. Tom can be reached at Thomas.Walters@coloradocollege.edu or by calling him at extension 6178.

Magarity comes to us with prior experience doing SQL experience for a company called Information Handling Services. His educational background is from DU, where he received a degree in Information Technology, after which he went on to CSU for additional education. He is an expert in all things MS SQL, and he can be reached at Magarity.Kerns@coloradocollege.edu or by calling him at extension 6248.

Please join us in welcoming these new members of IM! We are excited for them to be a part of our team.

Entourage Update Good News for Mac Users

Microsoft recently issued an update for Entourage, its mail client for the Macintosh. Entourage users now can access public folders (previously Mac users had to use a web browser to access public folders); share calendars, folders, and address books; have complete access to the Global Address list; and determine the amount of space your email account is using. Sync speeds have also improved dramatically over previous versions of Entourage.

If you are an Entourage user and would like this update installed on your computer, please contact the Help Desk at x6449.

Scheduling Network Outages

Why do we schedule network upgrades, or planned network maintenance days, during working hours? With time being such a precious commodity on the Block Plan, can’t we arrange for evening or weekend time slots for such invasive work?

The answer: It turns out that we cannot get vendor support for major system upgrades during off hours – it is either prohibitively expensive, or it isn't even an option offered by the company. Thus, if we tried for a weekend, or a late evening, upgrade, and anything went wrong, we'd have no technical support available, no replacement parts to be delivered within 1-2 hours, etc. We'd be on our own, and we’d be “down” until the vendor was next in the office. And while most system upgrades go pretty smoothly, it does happen that a hardware component breaks, or the software has a conflict or corruption. In such instances, we have really relied upon our vendors and warranties and service contracts to fix the problem – within the advertised service window. A lot of times, contractors or parts supplied by our different vendors have to actually make the drive down from Denver when something goes awry!

So, what is our approach to scheduling network outages? We always aim for block breaks – alternating block breaks if possible – around the primacy of the academic calendar. We try to announce the upgrades and outages ahead of time, so that members of the campus community can make appropriate plans around these times. And we make the outages as short as possible. Often, we finish the project in less time than the advertised service window.

If you have other ideas for minimizing the impact of scheduled network outages, please contact the Help Desk at x6449. Otherwise, we thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation, so that we can keep the information technology backbone healthy and up-to-date. Also, please remember that we cannot always schedule network outages, but know that we’ll work to restore unexpectedly interrupted network services just as quickly as we can. We all depend upon this vital resource!