As part of iCIT’s ongoing efforts to implement and improve project managment, several members of NOC and OTEC recently began using time-tracking methods. Time-tracking is a tool that categorizes how employees spend their time on various projects throughout a work week. This provides benefits to both the individuals and the managers in these departments. Those who use time-tracking are able to discover how their time is being used on projects and contribuitng to departmental goals. Time-tracking also enables managers to see how time and personnel resources are being allocated to projects. This allows them to make better decisions, set priorities and improve project planning.
Identity Management Project
The Identity Management Project (see description in previous story) has completed the needs assessment stage and is currently working on strategy definition. The technical assessment and acquisition phase should be completed in early 2007 and the solution should be deployed during February-April 2007.
Project Management Direction
As iCIT continues to improve the way we do business, project management is playing a key role. Greater customer satisfaction, better resource allocations, and effective solutions are all benefits of improved project managment. With this in mind, iCIT is taking a strategic approach to project management.
Kent Steinike, iCIT’s Project Management Officer, is helping iCIT develop a successful project management culture and working with iCIT team members to implement effective project management practices. Part of this initiative includes implementing a comprehensive web-based project management software system which provides complete management, tracking and collaboration platforms.
PS8.9 Post Implementation Review
The PeopleSoft 8.9 upgrade was completed on time at the beginning of August. The successful completion of this project was due in large part to the heroic efforts of some iCIT staff and members of the user community. In reviewing this project, it was agreed that future projects would benefit from engaging in better planning. While the sacrifice and hard work of a few team member is very appreciated, better planning for future projects should minimize the need for such heroic efforts.
State of Web Development
Since February 2005, all new UWW web applications have been developed using ASP.NET. Beginning in April of this year, these applications were upgraded to use the new .NET 2.0 framework. This represents a significant change of strategic direction for web development at UWW. In the past web applications were created independently and in a variety of programming languages (ColdFusion, PHP, ASP.NET, etc.). Barry Henrichs is leading an initiative to standardize web applications across campus, providing greater stability and security. As the project moves forward, many applications that were previously using ColdFusion will either be deleted, replaced by Collage functionality, or redeveloped in .NET 2.0. This strategic move also prepares the way for creating a campus web portal. More information will be available as the project proceeds.