EDUCAUSE | Support Services

Challenges and Strategies for Computer Maintenance Services

drupal — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:06:09 -0600

An effective and efficient computer and peripherals maintenance service is a big challenge for the IT staff in a campus with more than 50,000 items. This poster will present the results achieved with strategic planning related to the service desk, proactive and reactive maintenance, and components repository management.

No Free Lunch: A Condensed Strategic Planning Process

ckeller — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:41:19 -0600

We offered lunch, fed our strategic planning participants, and then put them to work developing a five-year strategic plan for IT Services.

Maximize Enterprise Productivity by Implementing a TCO Methodology

drupal — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:58:56 -0600

Slumping workplace productivity can be intrinsically tied to technological regression. Empirical evidence illustrates that procedurally managing hardware life cycles is strategically superior to a system of ad hoc replacements. While tangible benefits like cost savings are transparent, intangibles like industry reputation and risk mitigation are perhaps the greatest advantages.

Rightsizing Your Request Tracking System

drupal — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:18:28 -0600

Stanford University and Bowdoin College recently made major improvements to their request tracking systems. Both used the same basic criterion for their selections, but ended up with very different products from two vendors. Learn how institution size, campus fit, supportability, and expense factor into such major decisions.

Are You Ready? A Systematic Approach to Training New Help Desk Staff

drupal — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 07:30:00 -0600

The Simmons Help Desk mentors and trains new students and regular staff through a comprehensive online and hands-on training program. Topics cover technical baselines and also Simmons-specific policies and procedures. Staff are assessed through observation, quizzes, and metrics. As a result, technicians provide consistent, high-quality service.

Using Instructional Design to Shape Technology Training

drupal — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 08:57:11 -0600

Technology training for faculty and staff is more effective when it is based on instructional design principles. This presentation will show how three principles were used to guide training efforts and achieve positive results during a course management system change at Samford University.

Information Technology Process Improvement in Higher Education

drupal — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:55:41 -0500

Cornell Information Technologies has launched an initiative to mature the technology-driven organization to one that is both process-oriented and service-oriented. Significant improvements in several process areas have resulted from referencing the ITIL framework as a guide and leveraging and optimizing existing business knowledge.

User Services Lightning Round

drupal — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:42:03 -0500

Learn a lot fast! This series of five-minute presentations will provide overviews of interesting, innovative, and timely work in user services. Each session will also be shared as a poster later today, giving you a chance to explore the topic more deeply and speak with the presenters.

24 x 7 x 365 Anywhere in the World: Creating an Executive IT Support Unit
Momi Ford, Executive IT Support Manager, Indiana University
When executives have IT needs, the highest level of support available anytime, anywhere keeps them productive. See how Indiana Universitys Executive IT Support unit makes this possible.

Emergency Texts: A Reality Check
John C. Borne, University Information Systems, Louisiana State University
LSU will report on a test of its emergency text-messaging system. This session will examine the strengths and weaknesses of text messaging in an emergency notification package and managing community expectations.

Infusing Academic Support into the Online Environment: A Pilot Program
Craig Lamb, Empire State College SUNY
Empire State Colleges Center for Distance Learning recently launched the Academic Assistance Tutorial System, an online instructor-initiated early warning system. This session will describe its past and planned development and self-paced learning modules.

Lessons from Running a Mega Lab: A Student Outreach Program to Embrace Collaboration and Learning
Sheri Stahler, Temple University
Running a 24 x 7 computer lab and help desk with 700 seats and 6,000 visitors daily meant looking at operations on a megascale. Computer Services adapted to run the TECH Center efficiently.

Maximize Enterprise Productivity by Implementing a Total Cost of Ownership Methodology
Ronan Glynn, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Empirical evidence illustrates that procedurally managing hardware life cycles is strategically superior to a system of ad hoc replacements. Intangibles like industry reputation and risk mitigation are perhaps the greatest advantages.

Using Instructional Design to Shape Technology Training
Lisa McNeal, Samford University
Technology training for faculty and staff is more effective when based on instructional design principles. This presentation will show how three principles guided training to achieve positive results at Samford University.

Who Will Be the Next Rock Star?
Kimberly Brookes, Simmons College
To educate students on the academic and personal consequences of downloading and sharing files illegally, Technology at Simmons sponsors Simmons Rockstar, which combines education on copyright with a karaoke contest.

A Collaborative, Enterprise Approach to Efficient and Cost-Effective Desktop Management

drupal — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:42:06 -0500

As a result of a 2005 desktop security incident, 25 IT support directors from across Purdue University entered into a collaborative project, SMARTcomputing, to define an enterprise approach to desktop computer support and security. This presentation will describe the project's consensus-building strategies, overall goals, and outcomes.

Will the Last One to Leave Turn Out the Lights?

drupal — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:26:18 -0500

Does IT matter? Nicholas Carr sent shockwaves through the IT community by claiming IT is a commodity that rarely provides a distinct competitive advantage. Is this true? Now Carr argues that computing is becoming a utility with massive information-processing plants pumping data and software code into our businesses. Will our in-house computing facilities become plug-in utilities? Will tomorrow's IT leader be a utility operator, a facility manager, or a strategic contributor to the institution?