Improve Technology Service Delivery

Information Technology has a university-wide role to communicate technology trends and changes, and to help the university make the best use of technology. Proper communication helps the university community understand and better utilize IT services.

IT Goal XIV: Improve customer support

a. Develop and expand IT communication and marketing efforts. Internal and external communication is an important activity for any technology organization. Good communication not only ensures that the university community has the information it needs in a timely manner, but also improves the collaboration between IT and other university units.

• IT needs to ensure that the full range of IT services is known and understood by the university.
• IT should promote the use of variable data technology in printed materials to personalize communication between students, parents, faculty, university organizations and groups, and the administration.

b. Continue to implement a “single point of entry” for access to IT services. IT should continue to consolidate services and utilize a combined iTech Xpress store and Helpdesk to provide a single point of entry for IT services.

c. Support a university-wide Tier I certification program. The Tier I program provides essential technology support across the university and has been very successful in many units. However, to enhance the skills of the departmental Tier I staff, and to insure a uniform level of support, a Tier I certification program has been proposed. This standardized certification would consist of Microsoft certifications (A+ certification and MCDST certification), and Tier 1 “boot camp” certification.

d. Implement a “face-to-face” consulting area in IT. As an expansion of phone consulting support currently provided by the IT HelpDesk, IT should create an area where faculty, staff and departments feel comfortable, regardless of technical competence, in approaching IT for consulting support on a variety of services and applications.

e. Reinvent training and enhance online documentation. As with students, faculty and staff have changed the way they learn. IT should offer a multi-faceted approach to training, one that meets the needs of the traditional learner as well as the needs of those who want to learn on demand via podcasts, video tutorials, etc.

f. Stay ahead of new technology trends through effective research and development. In order to ensure the university is adequately prepared for the implementation of new technologies, IT should implement a process for continuously assessing university needs and then scanning the environment for appropriate technology solutions.

g. Implement a customer service training program for IT staff. To ensure that customer service is provided in a positive, proactive, and timely manner, IT should implement a customer service training program.

IT Goal XV: Improve efficiency and effectiveness of IT as an organization

a. Improve internal IT processes to support improved service delivery. IT must address internal business processes and procedures to improve service delivery. Areas for focus include:

• Project and change management
• Re-engineering of internal IT business processes
• Information lifecycle management
• Capacity planning

b. Restructure IT organization to align with service requirements. IT has typically been structured according the infrastructure support needs rather than around services. IT needs to reduce the complexity of its organization, group related activities together, and eliminate redundancies to achieve a unified IT organization.

c. Enhance professional development and training opportunities for staff. IT needs to ensure its staff are kept current in their knowledge and technical skills through professional development and training.

IT Goal XVI: Develop new services through collaborative partnerships

a. Partner with Health Science Center to integrate University Hospital technology services with the university. IT has the role to manage technology across the university and assist units with their infrastructure and technology planning. There are many opportunities to develop new relationships between IT and university units, especially in the Health Sciences area. The infrastructure in place at the UofL Hospital does not provide direct access to the resources available on the UofL campus network. The university now manages the UofL Hospital, and there is an opportunity to bring together the networks of the two organizations so that required services could be available seamlessly across both the Hospital and the campus. This would be a great advantage to faculty who are required to live in both environments today.

b. Participate in joint technology projects with UofL Hospital and the other hospitals in the Louisville Medical Center (LMC). It is in the interest of the university and UofL Hospital to engage in joint technology projects with the other hospitals in the Louisville Medical Center. Building on the LMCnet, IT is positioned well to support joint technology projects, for example medical records systems, which would be of interest to the LMC.