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A D M I N I S T R AT I V E C O M P U T I N G & T E L E C O M M U N I C AT I O N S

ACT

File Sharing & Collaboration

C O M M E N T S ?

actproject@ucsd.

edu

(858) 822-4311

ACT and Health Sciences IT are jointly making two new cloud services available to the UC San Diego community. These two cloud services, Microsoft Lync and OneDrive for Business, will enhance online collaboration and file shar-ing. They are being rolled out to faculty and staff in collaboration with department IT units. Lync makes it easy to meet and collaborate with anyone on the Internet, and provides the following communication functions:• Start an instant message conversation and add audio or video to it instantly• Schedule and deliver Web conferences and attend online meetings from a computer, smartphone, or tablet• Share a document, PowerPoint presentation, whiteboard, or the entire desktop with anyone• See which of UC San Diego faculty and staff are available, in a meeting, or away from their desk OneDrive for Business is a cloud-based file storage and sharing tool. It has the following features:• Store up to 1 TB of data with 2 GB maximum file size• Share files with colleagues or partners in and outside UC San Diego• Collaborate on document editing in real time using Office OnlineTwenty departments are part of our “Early Adopter” phase to help us iron out technical details. Given the diverse computing environment at UC San Diego, we want to make sure that these two cloud services work well for every-one. Both of these services will be available for all faculty and staff this winter and are available free of charge. More detailed information about these cloud services are Blink at http://blink.ucsd.edu/technology/file-sharing.

Synergizing IT ServicesA Message from Dr. Min Yao, Assistant Vice Chancellor, ACT

As part of the implementation of UC San Diego’s strategic plan, an IT unification process is taking place on campus. As the first group to participate in this unification process, six IT units across three vice chancellors’ areas have joined ACT. The primary objective is to increase the efficiency of delivery of IT services. This initial IT unification process is being carried out in three phases.

Phase 1: ACT will work with the involved departments to take inventory of existing ser-vices and develop service level agreements. ACT will ensure that the existing IT service level to the involved departments will remain the same during and after the IT unification process. ACT will develop a good understanding of the costs of delivering the services, and a new service desk consisting of helpdesk and user support services will be estab-lished. ACT will also review and streamline IT infrastructure.Phase II: Based on the knowledge gained from Phase I, ACT will develop costing models for delivering existing and new IT services. ACT will also review and streamline IT applica-

tions and optimize the unified IT organization.Phase III: ACT will continue to refine and adjust the unified IT organization and services, and be ready to welcome other campus departments to join the IT unification. This unification will result in a cost-efficient IT framework for delivering campus-wide IT services, driving new strate-gic capabilities, and will lead to a streamlined IT organization that is scalable and flexible in order to respond to the increasing needs for IT services. It will also will provide a proven IT service delivery model for participation by other campus departments.

Wireless SharingA major ACT initiative near-ing completion is the enable-ment of wireless sharing on the campus protected network (UCSD-PROTECTED SSID). This ACT Enterprise Network & Telecommunications project enables Bonjour discovery, allow-ing customers to share files, pho-tos, and music with each other and with products designed for wireless sharing such as the Apple TV and AirPlay/AirTunes. We took care to keep the wireless sharing design secure enough to protect UC San Diego users, while allowing faculty and staff their requested ser-vices for instruction, meetings, and presentations. To ensure network security, customers will only see shared resources within the building they are in, not across the entire campus. Most shared resources are protected with passwords so that only designated users can, for example, send images to an Apple TV. Customer responses to a recent survey were overwhelmingly positive about this new service being used extensively

in classrooms and meeting facilities.

Student ResidencesIn collaboration with Housing, Dining and Hospitality (HDH), ACT recently completed a major upgrade to the network infrastructure in student residential buildings. During the summer, the ACT network team installed 409 new wireless access points in Village East/West residential buildings and in select Warren College residential buildings, bringing the number of wireless access points serving residential students to 1452 (campus total 5022). ACT also upgraded the backbone

network routers and firewalls for the residential net-work to increase bandwidth and service redundancy. The upgraded network infrastructure provides residen-tial students improved accessibility to online learning resources and helps HDH deliver quality services to the 12,000 students who live in residential buildings on campus.

Turning Challenge into LearningAs part of the Next Generation Network program, net-work equipment in campus buildings is overhauled and upgraded as needed every 6 years. Some of these upgrades are relatively straightforward — but not so with the recent projects involving two campus buildings (EBU1 and EBU2) on the Jacobs School of Engineering campus. Because of the timing of its upgrades over the years, EBU1 had very old cabling — some of the oldest on campus — which required an upgrade to the cur-rent standard. Additionally, EBU1 had a very complex environment including challenging architecture, varying types of use, and a technology-rich environment. While the second building, EBU2, had similar problems, it was an even larger building that also required extensive upgrades.

ACT’s Telecom Planning, Installation and Repair, and Data Communications teams took the opportunity with these upgrades to debut the latest network technology. Cisco 6807 network routers, which had been tested in the ACT network test-bed, were used to serve these large and demanding spaces. Having the newest net-working infrastructure in these Engineering buildings will allow us to further develop the network by provid-ing opportunities to observe new components in place working under a full load so we can better understand how they perform under pressure and where they might best be applied to meet needs across campus.

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Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC)ACT’s Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC) coordinates UC San Diego’s Business Intelligence (BI) activities and encourages campus cross-functional col-laboration in sharing BI tools, tips, and tech-niques. Our strategy is to provide both a self-service resource that guides and supports campus decision-making and a service with staff who specialize in data analytics and report creation. Since its inception, the BICC has achieved steady growth with nine cam-pus business units actively creating their own report portfolios. Participants receive training

tailored to their needs. We help staff learn the BI tools (Cognos) and report capabilities while using their own busi-ness unit’s data. In addition, ACT works closely with business units to develop complex operational and analytical reports for them. Along these lines, we are replacing FinancialLink reports with BI (Cognos) reports. The functions and presentation of FinancialLink reports will not change, but the new tools give us a more sustainable platform to maintain and enhance reports. Another partnership is ACT’s work with the Colleges to develop an Academic Early Warning System. Intended to provide an early glimpse into students’ academic challenges, it will help identify students who may not graduate on time and/or those who are likely to receive academic probation. The system will integrate BI (Cognos) operational reporting with predictive analytics to provide advisors with an opportunity to pro-actively improve student outcomes. To aid in this work with clients, ACT has on-staff a data scientist who develops predictive models required for this system as well as requisite models for other business units.

To guide its efforts, BICC is establishing a steering committee and a formal data governance framework. The com-mittee will guide BICC with priorities, resources, problem resolution, and collaboration. The framework will follow a specific charter to ensure data quality through identification of appropriate ownership, standard naming and defini-tion, access controls, full attribution and integrity, and retention rules.

Sautter Award for UC San Diego’s Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC)ACT received this year’s silver Larry L. Sautter Award awarded by the UC Information Technology Leadership Council (ITLC) for its Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC). The award was presented to ACT at the UC Computing Service Conference (UCCSC) on August 5, 2014, The Sautter Award recognizes and rewards innovation and achievements in information technology. Participation in this annual award is extended to the ten UC campuses, five medical centers, UC Office of the President (UCOP), and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

NetworkBusiness Intelligence

New Sites Using the Campus CMS The Campus Web Office provides the UC San Diego community with a Web content management system (CMS) that academic and administrative units can use free of charge. Working with depart-ments, we help migrate websites to the CMS, provide training, and are available to answer questions as needed. You can find out more at http://cwo.ucsd.edu. Recently launched sites include:

Education Studies

Global Health Program

On the Go

Black Resource Center

Division of Arts & Humanities

Center for Energy Research

Yankelovitch Center

Natural Reserve System

Procurement

Raza Resource Center

Center for Drug Discovery Innovation

Electronic Proposal Development (ePD)After two and a half years of planning, preparation, configuration, development, testing, documentation, and training, the eRAP Team was delighted in August 2014 when the first electronic proposal was submitted using the new Electronic Proposal Development system (ePD). Now being incrementally rolled out across campus, the new system provides a more efficient way for PIs to develop, submit, and manage grant proposals. We thank campus leadership, the eRAP Executive Committee and you for supporting this project. Additionally, our thanks to pilot-user departments: San Diego Supercomputer Center, Physics, Neurosciences, Marine Physical Lab, the Office of Contract & Grant Administration, SIO Contacts & Grants, Health Sciences Sponsored Projects Pre-award Office and the Office of Clinical Trial Administration.

10Gbps High-Speed ServiceAs part of our commitment to offering a cutting-edge network to researchers, ACT’s Next Generation Network (NGN) service is installing 10Gbps service to an ever-increasing number of campus buildings. ACT meets the growing needs of big data-wielding researchers by fitting 10Gbps service all the way to the lab or desktop. Coupled with 100G and 40Gbps of production Internet connectivity, these services allow large quantities of data to quickly traverse the network and make research activities and collaborations possible that would have been out of the question just a few years ago. We recently enhanced the lab of Professor Michael Gilson, Pharmaceutical Science, with 10Gbps service. His work on computer-aided drug design benefits from fast transfer of large data sets via 10G connections in offices, labs, and server room.

100 Gig Comes to UC San DiegoIn 2013, SDSC and ACT joined forces to apply for a National Science Foundation (NSF) CCNIE grant to bring 100 Gbps networking to UC San Diego. The grant, CHERuB jointly awarded to SDSC and ACT was funded in January of 2014 and the infrastructure has been put into place by ACT and SDSC. The new 100Gbps connec-tion has already been used by UCSD researchers Phil Papadopoulos and Tom DeFanti to test massive data transfers from locations in CalIT on the Prism@UCSD network to New York and Amsterdam. At present, this connection is for research experiments only; it will move to production use in December of 2015.

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My PaymentsACT’s Enterprise Financial Information Systems recently launched MyPayments, a new applica-tion offering the Disbursements Unit and campus administrative departments an easy-to-use tool to manage all campus payment activities not included in Marketplace. Handling 41 types of payments, the application offers a portal approach that takes the guesswork out of which payment process to follow. Users begin each request by answering questions about their payment and, based on their answers, are guided to the cor-rect process. This approach makes it easier on payment processors, and reduces the number of policy and procedure inquiries Disbursements manages. In addition, MyPayments eliminates paper routing, copying, and physical storage, and automates document retention and workflow. Now users can see submitted requests in real time sav-ing everyone time.

Student Systems UpgradesACT’s Academic Information Systems recently a major project and replaced legacy screen scrap-ing and Perl programs in all enterprise student information system (ISIS) and related systems with state-of-the-art technology. While technology changes introduced some enhancements, the focus was on increasing reliability and the ability to meet future needs. Updating the 27 applica-tions required extensive testing and verification for which we are thankful to our business partners for their dedication and hard work.

Attachment Viewing- My Events, My Travel & ExpresscardACT’s Enterprise Financial Information Systems recently completed a project that changes how attachments can be viewed in My Events, Expresscard, and soon My Travel. Previously, attachments could only be viewed by the submitter or the approver. Now viewing attachments is based on accounting information. Anyone with the appro-priate permissions for the accounting information (IFOP) associated to the attachment is allowed to view it. Removing this restriction helped streamline

system-specific and related processes.

Web Registration In partnership with the Registrar’s Office, ACT is developing an integrated enrollment application to simplify the process for students to plan for and enroll in classes. The new Web registration application will offer students a mobile version and streamline related activities, such as waitlists. This application will provide improved administrative functions as well as comply with Academic Senate policies.

Middleware ServiceACT’s Middleware team recently introduced Web services using our new WSO2 Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) framework. Using these standards-based mechanisms for reusable modules (APIs or web services), we can now provide our campus business/application owners with secure ways to obtain data or software functionality through well-defined data structures. Our first partner, Undergraduate Colleges, used a Web service to securely run 3,375 pre-authorizations for incom-ing freshman at one time, replacing the manual ISIS data entry process, and/or having to write a one-off batch program to process information. Our new ESB infrastructure creates opportunities for coordination and sharing of data across diverse systems and introducing efficiencies to software development and maintenance.

Other Projects Recently Completed• MyTime Entry functionality/enhancements• Marketplace functionality/enhancements• Academic Personnel Online functionality/

enhancements• Cellular Billing - T-Mobile• Emergency Mobile Applications• eForms for Content Management System

(CMS) sites• Additional network fiber to Health Sciences

Biomedical Research Facility 2 (HSBRF2) labs

Project Highlights...

Focus on Research

Institute of Engineering in Medicine

ACT Newsletter

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In July, ACT initiated a new program—the ACT IT Leadership Academy—intended to advance our organization through staff development. Focusing on leadership, which is required for MSP-level techni-cal staff as well as supervisory and managerial staff, the program offers customized professional and career development opportunities, as well as mentorships with members of Senior Leadership in ACT. Through a combination of courses and on-the-job training our program aims to foster engagement throughout ACT, prepare ACT staff for leadership roles within the organization, and support our com-mitment to excellence.

The program benefits participants and ACT. Our intent is for individuals to develop new skills that apply to work and life in general, to gain on-the-job leadership experience and to develop the confidence to step into leadership roles. ACT will benefit through strong and engaged leaders with heightened professionalism and contributions shaping the future of the organization and the profession at large, while preparing for succession and leadership change by developing bench strength. During a two-year commitment, participants engage in mentoring, individualized curriculum with attendance at inside/outside training classes, conferences, job shadowing, special projects, and inclusion in management meetings. Participants and the program will be evaluated annually to ensure we are meeting personal and programmatic goals.

ACT IT Leadership Academy

C O N TA C T A C T

Project Management

Office & Communications

actproject@ucsd.edu

ACT Reception Desk

(858) 534-6960

act@ucsd.edu

ACT Help Desk

(858) 534-1853

Mailing Address

9500 Gilman Drive

Mail Code 0929

Street Address

10280 N. Torrey Pines Rd

Suite 255

La Jolla CA 92037

ACT’s Customer Support Services teams include the Help Desk, Telecom Customer Service, and Hostmaster teams. We are dedicated to providing outstanding customer service and are proud or our contributions to ACT’s success. Since last September, the Help Desk has handled 39,323 requests with an average resolu-tion time of 12 minutes. The most frequent requests were related to login, installation and repair, unified and voice services. The Telecom Customer Service team handled 3,451 customer service requests, which actually accounted for 23,294 line items, the most frequent requests being Voice mail – Install or Disconnect/Telephone Move Inside A Building/New Telephone Installation/Telephone Software Programming Changes. And the Hostmaster team handled 8,013 requests, with an average resolution time of 21 minutes.

Customer Service Highlights

Partnering with CampusThis past year, ACT worked closely with technical staff on campus to ensure our network and service intro-ductions and upgrades guaranteed smooth business transitions and had a positive impact on students, fac-ulty and staff. We upgraded Shibboleth for campus single sign-on (SSO) and worked closely with campus IT staff to maintain service continuity for hundreds of campus client applications using SSO.

For all our endeavors, to provide the best service possible, we need your knowledge, engagement, and sup-port. As noted in our OneDrive and Lync article, understanding campus needs and perspectives ensures a successful approach and beneficial solution.