Unifying IT Services at SMU
In October 2008, Joe Gargiulo was named CIO of the Office of Information Technology. He was tasked with unifying IT services at SMU. Following many discussions with the various schools and departments, seven main strategies were identified in support of this initiative. They are:
- Create a common vision for all IT services
- Establish Strategic Alignment with appropriate oversight
- Enhance support for Academic Initiatives
- Re-purpose IT resources to improve efficiencies
- Improve service delivery through collaboration
- Enhance communication
- Create an environment that fosters technological innovation and experimentation
Current Progress
IT Unification Status
Several years ago, OIT was tasked to “Unify, strengthen and coordinate IT services and resources increasing the effectiveness, efficiency and delivery through a collaborative approach and structure.” Unifying IT across SMU simply means that the various IT service providers need to complement, not compete with each other’s service offering. No organization can afford to provide duplicative services, especially during challenging economic times. It is not cost effective or customer mindful.
So what has been accomplished thus far?
- Formation of an IT Advisory Council
The goal of the IT Advisory Council is to advise CIO on standards, policies and practices related to the selection, deployment, management and assessment of information services used in support of campus-wide and school-based academic, research and administrative programs. This 21 member council was formed. The Council is comprised of faculty, students and staff.
- Creation of a University-Wide Information Security Officer (ISO)
The goal of creating a central ISO is to provide guidance for IT security regulatory issues impacting Higher Education and collaborate with all departments to develop short-term and long-term security strategies. George Finney was named the Information Security Officer. In addition, the Information Security team was re-aligned to report to the ISO.
- Enhance Support for Academic Initiatives
The goal is to integrate the IT “Academic” and “Administrative” teams to enhance the support of various services including BlackBoard. A Learning Management User Group has been formed and a data collection effort was completed on the utilization of BlackBoard.
- Email Consolidation
The goal of email consolidation is to have one central University email system. This item was completed in 2011.
- Wireless Network Expansion/Consolidation
The goal is to have one University authenticated network (PerunaNet) and one University guest network (SMU 1911) with coverage extending throughout campus (indoor and outdoor). At this time, PerunaNet is available in all Lyle buildings. Work is underway to extend PerunaNet into all Cox buildings.
- Enhance communication
The goal is to improve the effectiveness of OIT communications to the campus community. A collaborative group has been established to coordinate the communication efforts of OIT. The OIT website was rewritten to provide better information on all services. Various communications, such as IT alerts, change management notifications and the newsletter, have been reviewed and modified to present a more consistent and user friendly experience.
- Innovate and experiment
The goal is to develop a supportive environment that encourages research and testing of new technologies.