FY13 Projects
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Plan		 Initiative % Complete Comments
1 Replace Novell Dir. w/Microsoft Active Directory 20 20% of staff are fully migrated. Several hundred active directory accounts have been created for faculty and staff but their Novell file shares will not be moved until the departments are migrated.
  • ITS
  • UA&M
  • HR
  • DPS
  • Athletics
  • Finance Department (April 12th)
  • Dining Services
  • Tots Place
  • Copy Center
  • Racquet Facility
  • Risk Management
  • Katke Golf Course
  • Auxiliary Office
  • Housing
  • A&F VP Office
  • General Services

The divisions of UA&M and A&F are scheduled to be completed by the middle of April. Student Affairs conversion starts in April with Colleges to follow after the semester.

An accelerated schedule will be proposed that will have all University employees and students moved by the start of fall semester for 2013. This will require executive level support to complete.

3 Relocate network infrastructure to University Center 100 All of the University Network Infrastructure fiber optic, copper, network equipment, cable TV, Fire Life Safety systems, etc has been moved from Masselink to Rankin Center. Telephone services have been migrated from Masselink to Rankin as well.
4 Increase Internet bandwidth 100 The Internet bandwidth on campus was upgraded from 1GB to 10GB August 2013.
5 Migrate Banner servers to Linux 50 The move of the web application service is complete. The next step is moving the database services followed by moving Banner. This project is to be completed in June 2013.
6 Upgrade to Blackboard Learn 9.x 100 The Blackboard Learn 9.X upgrade was completed August 2013. The system was migrated from an external hosting environment to being internally hosted by IT Services and upgraded to the latest version.
7 Upgrade Alumni Donor systems 30 The new hardware is purchased and the OS is loaded. Next step is loading the application and testing.  Estimated completion date is Sept 2013.
8 Upgrade FLITE library system 95 The new library system, Sierra, project started in December of 2012. IT Services is providing support services as needed for the project and the majority of the work is being completed by the vendor. This project is in the final verification stage.
9 Implement IT Support Proposal – satellite campuses 98 The IT Support Plan for satellite campus was approved in November 2012. All technical support staff have been hired and deployed at various locations in Grand Rapids. There is a concern over funding one position as full time continuing that needs to be resolved. Projected resolution date is April 2013. You can read the proposal here.
10 Improve desk side support, Hire 4 PT staff in TAC (3 years) 100 Four desktop support technicians have been hired as part time temporary employees and have been deployed in customer support locations per our Academic Alignment strategy. You can read the complete strategy here.
11 Formalize TAC 24x7 services (external) 100 IT services entered in to an agreement with a vendor to provide evening, weekend and holiday telephone support for students, faculty, and staff. The go-live date for the services was November 2012. The service has been successful with over 650 calls processed in the first two months.
12 IT Network infrastructure: ongoing upgrades 30 A tentative plan and schedule was created for upgrading both the wired and wireless network infrastructure. The plan was reviewed by Administration and Finance and Academic Leadership in the fall of 2012 and revised based on feedback. You can view the network infrastructure plan and schedule here.
13 Upgrade wireless networks in academic buildings 5 A tentative plan and schedule was created for upgrading both the wired and wireless network infrastructure. The plan was reviewed by Administration and Finance and Academic Leadership in the fall of 2012 and revised based on feedback. The FLITE building was the first customer to receive the new wireless equipment as a pilot in FY13, though the start date for this initiative is FY14. You can view the network infrastructure plan and schedule here.
14 Implement alternative email and calendaring system 20

Three cloud based solutions were selected as potential replacement solutions for Lotus Notes. All three vendors, Merit Mail, Google Apps for Education and Microsoft Office 365 provided full day demonstrations for interested customers in Big Rapids, Grand Rapids and Online participants. A Lotus Notes Replacement Committee has been commissioned to help with this difficult decision. The committee has narrowed down the solutions to Google Apps and Microsoft Office 365. The decision was largely based on customer feedback from those who participated in the demonstrations, viewed the recordings, and completed the surveys.  Also contributing to the decision was additional information from meetings with vendors.

The next step for the committee is to create a side-by-side comparison chart for University viewing that covers the solutions, features, and capabilities of the finalist in more depth.  This is a significant effort and may take over a month to complete.  The major categories are E-mail, Calendaring, Instant Messaging, Conferencing, Account Migration, Regulatory Compliance, etc.  You can learn more about the initiative here.

15 Implement Microsoft Systems Center 30 The review of the Microsoft product lead to the evaluation of a similar product from Dell called Kace. A pilot project of Kace is underway and will be completed by the end of April. Product selection is scheduled by the end of May/June 2013 with implementation completed by the end of summer 2013.
18 Pilot Virtual Desktop Interfaces (VDI) for labs 75 The equipment and software has been purchased and provision for use. Most college leadership has been given a presentation on the concept of Virtual Labs. The colleges have shown different levels of interest and ideas on how they could help pilot the concept. The pilot is set to begin for COB, COET, COEHS, CAS, COP.
19 Increase use of student employees (10) 100 All students have been hired and are deployed to customer support locations in per our Academic Alignment strategy. You can read the complete strategy here.
20 Upgrade satellite campus Internet connectivity 20 The planning for the first satellite location, EIO in Grand Rapids has been completed. The upgrade to a dedicated 1GB connection to Merit, our internet provider, was completed December 2012. Remaining items include installing a dedicated Fiber Optic feed from Merit, network and firewall equipment. The tentative schedule has completion before fall semester 2013.
21 Develop external hosting model 5 IT Services has evaluated multiple vendors to understand different services available. A solution that allows for hosting and operating systems maintenance is desired.
27 Improve PC Replacement program 77 Program process enhancements were employed.  Meetings with deans seeking changes in the program have been completed. Workstation data transfer process is close to completion. Some computers still need to be ordered.

Last updated: 04-23-2013