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Organizational Change – Web Management Group

As the need for Web-based communication and business processes grows rapidly across the campus, iCIT’s role in supporting these services continues to evolve, as well. Our web customers do not generally differentiate between website design, support, application development, and content management – for them these are all related components of their websites. In this context, the web support and web development areas have been working together closely to meet customer needs.

In order to reflect this need for integrated services organizationally, the web development team and Web support team will be merged. Effective January 16th, 2007 the merged Web Management group will become a part of OTEC, reporting to Mary Jo deMeza. The group will continue to work closely with other areas of iCIT in order to leverage existing tools, applications and systems, and to assure appropriate infrastructure and capacity planning Aligning the resources in this manner will enable our customers to have a common point of contact and support as we formalize our request for service processes.

If you have questions or comments regarding this change, please do not hesitate to speak with Elena Pokot or Mary Jo deMeza.

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Windows Vista News

Windows Vista is a new operating system available from Microsoft. Vista offers enhanced security, including built-in spyware protection (Windows Defender), better Microsoft update integration, improved user access controls, integrated Desktop Search, and a new user interface.
Microsoft will release Windows Vista to home users on January 30th, 2007. Windows Vista was released to businesses in November 2006. However, experts recommend at least 12 months of planning before a deployment.
Vista will require significant testing to ensure compatibility with all campus systems. iCIT is currently evaluating the new operating system and developing plans to begin upgrading campus computers in Spring 2008. Even then, it is expected that Vista will be deployed on new systems and reimages rather than all at once.

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Microsoft Office 2007

Microsoft released Office 2007 for Windows in December. According to Microsoft, Office 2007 “presents newly designed menus and toolbars as well as new features [used] to complete tasks more quickly and easily.” UWW is currently evaluating the new version of Office and expects to roll it out with the Windows Vista in Spring 2008. Training sessions will be available as deployment begins.

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New UniPrint Print Release Solution

The General Access Labs and a number of public access labs on campus face issues of high volume printing as use of online technology continues to increase. In order to curb the volume and reduce the waste of paper, ITS implemented a home-grown print release system in our general access labs three years ago based on the Novell printing management functions.
The idea was well received and a number of campus labs have adopted the system. The print release system reduced the amount of waste significantly in spite of the exponential increase of printing demand. However, due to the change of the operating environment and limited resources devoted to the maintenance of the system, ITS faced a growing amount of performance issues in the various labs.
In early summer 2006 ITS launched a comprehensive effort to search for an alternate solution. They successfully installed two systems on a pilot basis over the last month of the semester. Based on the features, costs, and compatibility with our current environment, they selected Pharos UniPrint to replace our current system. This new system will be launched in the General Access Labs – McGraw & Andersen, the University Library, COE labs, and a number of other facilities where printing is heavy. ITS hopes the new system will provide stability in lab printing and be able to help manage the volume during the Spring semester and beyond.