Technical Liaison Meeting  23 April 2009

Chair – Malcolm Bain, Director, IT Services

1. Introductions

The chair welcomed everyone and offered brief introductions for new members.

2. IT Services

  • University ICT Strategy – the group has reformed and has new membership with meetings scheduled on a monthly cycle. The group has met three times since the last Technical Liaison meeting in January. The group is chaired by Ron Piper and membership includes Derek Watson, Al Dearle, Ian Robertson, Andrew Keenan, representatives from PricewaterhouseCooper, and Mary Popple from Court, with Malcolm Bain and Heidi Fraser-Krauss in attendance. The group has just approved the latest version of the Network Security Policy which will be circulated prior to the next meeting.
  • Data Centre Plans – The Business case went to PARC in December 2008 and was approved in January. The budget is set at £2.6 million and will beused to build a data centre and provide funds for the provision of a storage facility. The timetable is set to commence in June 2010 with the intention of moving kit in by September 2010. There are still plans to build a second centre on the North Haugh.
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) – The Chair circulated a paper which outlines the work and timescales related to the review.
  • Email / calendar review – this item moved up the list in the PwC review. A project Initiation Document (PID) has been completed and was presented to the ICT group along with cost estimates for a Microsoft solution. Procurement stepped in at this stage to advise that this process has to be an open course of action following procurement rules. A document was then circulated as part of the requirements gathering stage which is the first step in engaging in consultation with the University IT community. MB asked for thoughts on this to be fed to him in due course.

The meeting was asked if the committee had looked at any other system apart from Microsoft.

The Chair replied that investigations had gone into looking at a Google solution as they offered email and calendar services free of charge. It was also stated that other institutions were using this solution for their student community. Further information stated that the group was looking at a solution to cover all staff / student requirements. Commercial solutions were being looked at (including Novell and Lotus Notes) and also Open Source. Key consideration must be given to a solution that will perform in a cross-platform environment. Further discussions continued regarding email covering topics such as performance, and concerns over restrictions associated with any implementation of a Microsoft solution. The Chair informed the meeting that the next step in the project was the development of the ITT document and also engaging in a user consultation exercise. A list of questions will be ready by the end of the next week for use in user consultation. The chair also presented information on the HE institutions who had already introduced new systems to handle email / calendaring services. The chair will feed progress back to the group at the next meeting.

  • Classroom Build – Recent amendments to the Scottish Public Sector agreement on procurement forced a change from the standard previously purchased PC make and model. This in turn affected a change in the standard PC build. The new standard classroom build will be ready for deployment by June / July 2009 and will be based on the Windows XP OS. The build will be phased in commencing with the main University Library. This work is currently being carried out by one person; however, an application for more staff will be presented to the Work Force Planning group on Monday 27th April and progress fed back to the group at the next meeting. Phil Robertson, IT Services, was asked if the new build would have the ability to play DVDs as more teaching was being done using this format. This will be checked and reported back. It was also suggested that QuickTime be installed. Phil Robertson reported that there are licensing implications involved with this software but again further investigations will be carried out and fed back to the group. A standard build has also been developed for staff and will also be based on the Windows XP OS.
  • IT Services Plan 2009/10 – The Chair highlighted that this was an opportunity for feedback from the Computer Officers and Technicians to state what they see for inclusion in the plan and also suggested this feedback be directed to him. Current items on the plan include installing a complete wireless system, building a new data centre, implementing a new solution to deal with email / calendaring, the PricewaterhouseCoopers review, the ICT strategy work.
  • Printing Review – Kevin Donachie, IT Services, reported that the University was looking to procure a new printing solution, and one which will integrate with the existing photocopiers and scanners. A request will be distributed for information and followed by a full procurement exercise. The Computing Officers were asked to feed back their opinions on this. The project will focus on standardising printers across the University campus.
  • Helpdesk replacement - The current system will be replaced with a commercial product in collaboration with the Universities of Edinburgh and Abertay, Dundee. The project is on schedule and it is hoped that by November 2009 a contract will be in place. It is intended that the new service desk software will be in place by August 2010.
  • WebEX Group – The group was asked if they knew of this tool being used in the University. It was reported that this is used by the Development department.
  • Software Licences – Birgit Plietzsch, IT Services, informed the meeting that SPSS version 12 is no longer supported and will be replaced with SPSS version 17 on the new classroom PC build. The Computing Officers were asked to feed this information back to the academic schools as it would be necessary to update teaching material for the new academic year. The group were also asked to feed back any issues with upgrading to the new version to IT services.
  • MS IT Academy – The University has a licence for this accredited course. This will be rolled out to IT professionals; all Computing Officers were asked to contact Kevin Donachie and/or Birgit Plietzsch, IT Services, if they wish to enrol.
  • Email Performance – It was reported to the group that the recent performance issues with email were identified as being related to a synchronisation problem between NotifyLink and email.

AOB

It was reported that there was equipment being used within departments that has not been registered. Computing Officers were asked to make sure all IT equipment in their departments was registered and warranties recorded.

It was also raised that, on occasion, batteries supplied for the wireless mice and keyboards in the seminar rooms were flat. To reduce the likelihood of this situation arising again it was suggested that battery chargers be supplied to the schools.

Next meeting – the next meeting will be arranged for a time in September 2009.

Actions

Report back on Network PolicyMB

ICT meeting 24 April update MB

Email project progress updateMB

WFP updated on staffMB / PJR

Standard Build and DVDsPJR / MFC

QuickTimePJR / MFC

Technical Liaison meeting 23 April 20091

Lorraine BrownITS

Patricia HeggieMaths

Andy EcclesHistory

Malcolm BainITS (Chairman)

P J RobertsonITS

J BewsChemistry

M Woodcock-KrobleClassics/Art History

Brenda DobieIT Services

Raymond SchiavettaIT Services

Jennifer KerrManagement

Caroline PeterITS

Bill GudgeonButeMedicalSchool

Steve SmartBiology / Medicine

Chris CouttsButeMedicalSchool

Phil Le FeuvreCREAM

Ian TaylorPhysics

Alan VaughanGeography

Birgit PlietzschITS

Kevin DonachieITS

Mike ArrowsmithPhilosophy

Brian KirkPsychology

Roy ThomsonPsychology

Son TruongITS

Mike MulreanyITS

Technical Liaison meeting 23 April 20091