ISC Progress Report, December 2018
Happy Holidays!
Here’s a brief report on many of our major activities,
organized by our three strategic themes.
Modernize the IT environment that supports the University
Service Information Sessions: ISC is planning several Service Information Sessions to provide clients and service providers the space to discuss specific services, identify challenges, and look towards the future. Upcoming Sessions include Information Security, Networking, and PennO365. If you are interested in participating,
please register on KnowledgeLink.
Next Generation Student Systems (NGSS): The NGSS Program is completing the design phase of Pennant Records and Pennant Aid Release 1. The next step is to map effects on work processes and roles across the University via stakeholder impact assessments, which will inform communication, training, and local support strategy. These activities will take place during the build phase of Release 1 of Pennant Records and Aid, which begins in early February 2019.
Over the next several months, the team will also be focused on converting data for the new systems, as well as preparing for the May 2019 launch of Catalog Release 3. This final release of the Catalog will add professional masters programs and certificates for academic credits.
The NGSS program also launched its updated public website and distributed the first issue of its community newsletter, the December NGSS Update. Next Generation Unified Communications: The Next Generation Unified Communications Project is evaluating and selecting new voice and communications services at Penn. The project team has begun a technical evaluation to determine the functionality and feasibility of the first selected vendor’s proposed solution.
Technology Services Strategy Review Board: ISC’s
TS-SRB was formed to re-evaluate our technology strategies. Since the inception of the SRB earlier this year, 20 strategy documents have been published. The three most recent topics include: Next Generation Backup and Recovery, TS Automation, and IPv6 Deployment. ISC reviewed the six prior strategies with ITR constituents in October, and valuable feedback has been incorporated.
Cloud First: ISC’s Cloud First program continues into FY’19, moving an additional 25TB of client storage to the cloud. ISC is actively working on a project to make PennGroups more resilient in the event of a campus challenge. A team has been formed, and technical architecture and software design are underway to move the current PennGroups software to the cloud. Investigation of low code development tools and a cloud-based file transfer product have also begun, and ISC has successfully migrated several test instances for the proof-of-concept with the new VMWare Cloud on Amazon Web Services.
Data Center Migration: The
Pennovation Data Center Expansion Program is entering its final phase of completion. As of November 1, all Data Center Hosting clients (FM) and ISC-managed systems were successfully relocated to their final destination, migrating a total of 884 assets from the 3401 Walnut facility. Preparation for the facility’s decommissioning process is now underway, and is on target to be completed by December 31st. The migration and closure effort has remained on target and under budget throughout the duration of the program.
Human Capital Management: The
Human Capital Management (HCM) program aims to increase Penn’s HR and Payroll work efficiency, enhance response to changes in regulatory and compliance issues, improve the user experience, and strengthen information quality and access. Visit the new Workday@Penn and Penn Employee Solution Center websites. PennO365: The PennO365 advisory team has been upgrading the service across campus: - Advanced Threat Protection & Central Mail Routing: Senior leadership agreed to use Proofpoint Services for future message sanitation and routing. We’re working with Schools and Centers to design and implement a web service and application for the management of future routing.
- Multi-factor authentication: ISC is working towards providing multi-factor authentication for PennO365. The multi-factor authentication implementation using Penn Two-Step is complete and we are currently working with alpha testers to document and fully test the service.
Secure Penn’s operating environment while maintaining open and free sharing of information and ideas globally
New PennKey Support Website: ISC is pleased to announce the launch of our new
PennKey Support website. In addition to self-help guides and general PennKey information, the site includes a new online web form for users to request support from the PennKey Support Team.
Identity & Access Management: Please see
our latest update regarding a wealth of new web content, recent progress, related initiatives, and what’s next.
Two-Step Verification: Nearly 35,000 people across campus are now using
Two-Step Verification, including more than 16,000 staff and contractors, 9,000 faculty, and 5,500 students. ISC is currently working with Schools to enroll all students by February 14, 2019.
Transform the culture of Penn’s approach to IT management, funding, and governance
ISC’s Priorities Program:
- Client Intake, Follow-up & Reporting: The CIFR team successfully launched Remedy 9! Tickets are now submitted via Support Center, an intuitive, easy-to-use portal. Support Center also includes a “My Activity” feed where you can track and update your tickets.
- Services: The Services team successfully completed their goals and launched the new Service Management Office. The team has also completed 33 Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with clients, including service clarification and consolidation.
- Billing, Finance & Funding: The BFF team successfully achieved their goals and launched the Apptio billing system.
Enjoy the holiday break!
The ISC Leadership Team
