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Teaching old dogs new tricks

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Title: PowerPoint Presentation Last modified by: Lou Burnard Created Date: 1/1/1601 12:00:00 AM Document presentation format: On-screen Show Other titles – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Teaching old dogs new tricks


1
Teaching old dogs new tricks
Making IT work for the University?
Im trying to
The evolution of the OUCS Help Centre Lou
Burnard, OUCS
2
Organizational change the pattern
  • Computing laboratory
  • Research facility for some specific academic
    departments
  • Computing Service
  • Nationally-funded mainframe for the whole
    university
  • Computing Services
  • Machine-defined services (ICL, VAX, ermine)
  • Functionally defined services (micros, archival
    storage, humanities, typesetting ) clustering
    around these
  • Research oriented services and facilities
  • Strategic push towards distribution of services

Good news wider range of expertise and a richer
variety of services
Bad news duplication of effort , risk of
contradiction, drowning in data
3
Duplication of effort for example
  • Where do I go to ask for help about OUCS ?
  • Local Support Staff
  • Advisory Service
  • Registration Desk
  • PC Consultancy
  • Learning and Resource Centre
  • Centre for Humanities Computing
  • Arent these all doing much the same thing?
  • Well, yes and no
  • Will these all give me the same advice?
  • errr, probably

4
A reminder
  • University policy is to devolve support to
    colleges, departments, divisions
  • As a centrally funded department, OUCS has to
    consider the needs of the whole University
  • This means we urgently need
  • to respond to changes in the pattern of use
  • to simplify access to our services
  • By end-users
  • By support staff

5
Access facilities
  • Modes
  • Walk-in face-to-face consultation
  • Telephone
  • Email
  • Web
  • Finding the right person
  • Asking the right question

6
Wouldnt it be nice if there was
  • An integrated knowledge-base of expertise
  • Single point of contact for front-line walk-in
    support, coupled to learning access-points
  • Single automated point of contact for telephone
    enquiry
  • Single method of sharing, tracking, resolving
    email queries

7
The Advisory Services Review Process
  • October 2001 Helpdesk software procurement
    abandoned implementation of low cost alternative
    begins
  • November 2001 Internal stake-holder
    discussions (with ITSS representation)
  • Staffing, telephone service, training,
    facilities, email
  • Timetable
  • January Detailed proposals for a unified Front
    office endorsed at OUCS SMG
  • February implementation begins
  • April Help Centre opens

8
At the same time
  • Internal reorganization of OUCS
  • Four major groups
  • Infrastructure Services
  • Technical Services Group
  • Information and Support Group
  • Learning Technologies Group
  • Repositioning and reprioritization of all
    services

9
OUCS Help Centre
  • New walk-in service at Banbury Road
  • 0830 -2030 support for
  • all OUCS front-end services
  • basic computing queries
  • basic registration queries
  • administrative enquiries
  • direct access to self-help materials, books,
    videos
  • specialist equipment (scanners, multimedia)
  • Cybercafe-style access to facilities

10
Telephone access
  • Automated attendant installed by University
    Telecomms
  • Help centre calls are routed to four pickup
    points
  • Seems to be functioning well
  • But email is the new telephone

http//www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/feedback/
11
Email Services
  • The preferred route for advice and support
  • Hoorah for request tracker!
  • Substantial RD investment is now paying off
  • Integration with registration data via LDAP
  • Logging and monitoring of all services
  • Involves all staff at some level

http//www.bestpractical.com/rt
12
OUCS Help Centre
  • Who does it?
  • Two fulltime managers
  • Two rotas
  • Registration staff, operators, demonstrators
  • Expert advisors from all parts of OUCS
  • Volunteers welcome!
  • Whats in it for ITSS?
  • Single point of contact
  • All queries are monitored and tracked
  • Complements distributed services

13
Consultancy Services
  • The OUCS virtual back office
  • Services all queries from RT
  • Buck-stops-here queries
  • Directly accessible for ITSS
  • Gives specialist advice by appointment
  • Who does it?
  • All OUCS staff, potentially
  • An extension to itss-discuss

14
Desktop systems consultancy
  • Hardware and software
  • By appointment only
  • May become chargeable
  • (Fixed quota for Undergraduates)
  • Need for university-wide agreement on systems
    supported

15
Who can use it?
  • Anyone with a valid University card
  • What, even undergraduates?
  • OUCS withdrew eligibility for support from all
    undergraduates in 1995
  • This led to a marked improvement in provision of
    IT support by colleges and departments
  • and a decline in demand for support from OUCS to
    the point where it is uneconomic to make the
    distinction!
  • It is the OUCS front window

16
Where does it fit?
  • Information and Support Group components
  • Research Technologies Service
  • Information Services
  • ITS3
  • Registration and Databases
  • Gateway to complementary OUCS group activities
  • Desktop Services and NSMS
  • Infrastructure Group
  • Learning Technologies Group

http//staff.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ISG
17
Research Technologies Service
  • Services
  • Oxford eScience Centre,
  • Humbul Humanities Hub, Oxford Text Archive
  • British National Corpus, Text Encoding Initiative
  • Technologies
  • Corpus Linguistics
  • Computational analysis
  • Database technologies
  • Grid computing
  • Interoperability
  • Text encoding
  • Keeping in touch with the leading edge

18
Information Services Section
  • Integration of web sites
  • Single XML source driving
  • Web site
  • (with customizable styles)
  • Print documentation
  • RSS feed / alerting service

19
ITS3
  • Promotes professional interests of IT support
    staff (training, awareness, lobbying)
  • Informal communications channel and clearing
    house
  • OUCS has now allocated 2.5 staff full time to
    this activity, and will expand as demand and
    funding permit

20
Database and Registration Sections
  • Development and maintenance of in-house database
    systems
  • Special expertise in University administrative
    structure
  • Work closely with Infrastructure in developing
    new technical solutions
  • Provide extensive back-office support to Help
    Centre

21
How are we doing?
  • Steady flow of RT tickets over the week
  • Over 80 of all queries are resolved within a day
  • Majority of clients are University staff, senior
    members or postgrads (under 10 are
    undergraduates)

22
Advisory (email) tickets by day of week
23
Tickets raised in last 6 weeks, by queue
24
All tickets by enquirer ()
25
Password changes in May, by enquirer
26
Whats next?
  • New equipment to be installed over summer
  • Training and recruitment exercise in the autumn
  • Work with ITSS to develop common university
    policies
  • On support levels
  • On software and hardware
  • On building up the knowledgebase

27
ITSS strategy according to ICTC
  • (w) The ICT Committee will work with Personnel
    Services, OUCS and other relevant bodies to
    ensure that the University provides a sound
    working environment for IT support staff. para
    46
  • (x) The ICT Committee will work with the
    Personnel Committee to ensure that the outcome of
    the Bett Report results in a better understanding
    by departments and colleges of grading issues for
    IT support staff. para 47
  • (y) OUCS will ensure that it builds and maintains
    a register of IT support staff, which it will use
    to ensure they receive focused support and
    development opportunities. para 48
  • (z) OUCS will embark on a graduate trainee
    scheme, funding arrangements permitting. para
    48
  • (aa) All units recruiting and employing IT
    support staff should make adequate arrangements
    for providing appropriate training and
    development opportunities. para 48

http//www.ox.ac.uk/it/strategy/2000/it012.htm
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