Agenda

Minutes

Campus Reports

JOG/CPG Meeting September 25-26, 2001 - Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Minutes

   

JOINT OPERATIONS GROUP

September 25-26, 2001

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

MEETING NOTES

Day 1

University-wide highlights (Campbell):
(The Universitywide Highlights presentation is posted on the Web at http://www.ucop.edu/irc/jog.)

New Business Architecture

: In September 2000, Senior Vice President Joe Mullinix requested that implementation of the NBA begin with two projects, E-procurement and HRIS. The NBA report stressed the need for portal technology, adequate security through PKI, datawarehousing, and use of XML. A JOG subcommittee was established to ensure that JOG and the IT community as a whole took ownership of the enabling technology for these projects. In January 2001, Mullinix recommended hiring consultants to conduct a needs assessment for the HR and E-procurement projects. KPMG was independently selected for these engagements and conducted the assessments. IR&C presented the reports of these consulting assignments to the COVCA on July 25, 2001.

NBA Technology Projects: A document was distributed to the Vice Chancellors at the July meeting for more in depth discussion at the September 20 COVCA meeting, which was subsequently cancelled due to the September 11 terrorist attacks. It will be important to demonstrate to the COVCA that the University is taking a coordinated approach to implementing NBA projects. Two pieces of infrastructure are being addressed currently: ONI for upgrading Universitywide area networking and PKI to address security and related issues.

There are four primary areas for phase 1 of the NBA technology projects:

  1. directories (A subgroup was formed and met. Some campuses are doing more than others in this arena.)
  2. common authorization
  3. simplification of financial data exchange through XML
  4. portals (such as at UCSD)
Funding for these projects, as outlined in the Technology documents, has not been approved.

Phase 2 has been mapped out to reflect the scope of the project; however, implementation of these projects will not begin until phase 1 projects largely have been completed.

  1. digital signature technology
  2. encryption standards
  3. policy for roles-based authorization
  4. on-line digital notary service
  5. standards and policy for digital archive
  6. workflow tools

      ACTION: Dolgonas will establish a portal task force and continue the work of the directory group.

E-Procurement: The KPMG team worked with Materiel Managers and others to identify issues related to implementing E-procurement at UC. The COVCA is supportive of E-procurement. The major advantages of E-procurement are in the reduction of maverick buying and lowering of commodity prices through improved sourcing. Rebates also are achieved through use of procurement cards. E-procurement offers distinct soft and hard savings, with soft savings realized through increased efficiency in end-user and purchasing departments.

Next Steps: The COVCA gave approval for E-procurement to be presented to Planning and Budget officers for funding consideration; this presentation would have been made at a joint COVCA/Budget September meeting that was cancelled. The next step is to develop and coordinate an acquisition/installation strategy. This entails (a) identifying pilot campuses, (b) assessing solutions and developing an RFP, (c) concurrently installing and piloting tier 2 sites, and (d) engaging consultants. A timeline for implementation of E-procurement was distributed. Work on the project is contingent on funding, which has not yet been approved.

JOG members discussed the costs that KPMG estimated for E-procurement. Dolgonas believes the expense numbers are realistic but that the accuracy of the estimated revenue numbers depends upon the speed at which people shift to using a Web-enabled, Amazon-like purchasing process. A question for further discussion among JOG members will be who plays what roles in enabling the NBA.

HRIS: The Employment Systems Initiative, as the first project of the HRIS, is 50 percent complete.

In its report, KPMG recommended procurement of a best-of-breed, off-the-shelf HRIS that will work as a complement to PPS, provide a standard configuration, and interface with the data warehouse. Some campuses may choose not to participate, and late comers would be required to meet minimum data requirements to interface to the data warehouse. Details for a data warehouse would be developed in the first phase with the solution deployed at the pilot campuses. The KPMG-recommended architecture involves two components: a transaction-based system and a universitywide corporate data warehouse to fulfill analysis needs. An alternative would be for campuses to maintain and enhance the PPS to meet the data warehouse requirements.

When the COVCA was briefed about HRIS, members asked how PeopleSoft works at UCB, how long it would take to modify the PPS to meet specified needs, and the cost of the data warehouse. Berkeley responded that PeopleSoft met 50 percent of its needs.

In contrast to the consensus among JOG members to proceed with E-procurement, no agreement has been reached about HRIS. The arguments for implementing an HRIS are that the HR community is critical of the lack of a system that meets its needs, and UCOP leaders voice the need to be able to provide better answers to detailed questions from the unions and the legislature. In response to the need for a better system, some campuses have begun implementing PeopleSoft, while others have been modifying the existing systems. Recognizing the lack of consensus about HRIS, Campbell encouraged development of "momentum toward a solution" to securing efficiency and effectiveness in the data warehouse.

To answer a question posed by the COVCA, the campuses recently were surveyed whether it would be practical from the standpoint of the end users to implement both HRIS and E-procurement simultaneously. One half responded that it would be and one half responded that it would not be. Adequate funding was highlighted as a significant factor in determining the feasibility of simultaneous implementation.

JOG members discussed the difficulty of implementing an HRIS in the decentralized UC environment. For example, PeopleSoft is designed for highly centralized environments. Development and implementation of a successful HRIS requires clarity of purpose and ownership at the campus level. While the needs assessment indicates that campus HR personnel are dissatisfied with the current system, the campus leaders who prioritize funding appear to be satisfied. Thus, there's no clear direction at the campus level for developing, funding, and prioritizing an HRIS.

Members voiced concern that if funding is provided to the campuses, it is not certain that the Chancellors will direct it to the IT units for an HRIS. Other campus priorities may take precedence, including build out. While UCOP and UCB consider an HRIS to be urgent, other campuses may not. Campbell and Dolgonas have scheduled a meeting with the budget officers to discuss how to fund an HRIS.

Campbell will report to Mullinix on the IT community's concerns about and recommendations for the HRIS, for example, whether JOG members feel the HR needs are overstated, and whether HRIS can compete for campus funds. How to fund the HRIS is a subsequent question. JOG members suggested that Campbell report that JOG supports an HRIS but doesn't think the campuses will pay for it. One suggestion was for President Atkinson to identify an HRIS as a priority to the Chancellors and Executive Vice Chancellors.

JOG members need to confirm the scope of the projects-whether to procure an off-the-shelf product for the campuses, to enhance the PPS, and to build an interface between HRIS and PPS. Another goal is to develop a coordinated multi-phased acquisition strategy.

The "dual access" approach, in which both a new HRIS is implemented and the PPS is updated, means that the systems cannot be developed independently but require a close linkage.

Larry Sautter Award

Two projects received the Larry Sautter Award for 2001: the ClassWeb project at UCLA and the UCBenS Loans Reengineering project at UCOP. Better publicity needs to be coordinated in order to receive more submissions. There has been a suggestion of developing some substantive prize beyond recognition. A workgroup will be established to examine this.

      ACTION: Establish a workgroup to redefine the timeline for the award and to consider development of a tangible prize.

Metrics

The IT Productivity Measures document was distributed. Most of the campuses did not provide information for measure four. Campbell suggested that the measures do not addresses issues of current importance.

      ACTION: Convene a workgroup to redefine the project to reflect priority measures.

ADA

The campuses have designated a campus contact for IT accessibility issues. WC3 has revised its guidelines to make them more useful.

      ACTION: Send the list of campus contacts to JOG members.

HIPPA

HIPPA concerns rules for maintaining privacy in patient records. Health Affairs and Clinical Services have the lead in this issue. Questions about privacy are being brought up by local auditors; a major question revolves around what kinds of records are private. JOG is interested in learning what links exist between HIPPA and IT units, particularly what IT requirements will arise as a result of HIPPA. Another question is whether this issue only affects those campuses with medical centers: Campuses without medical centers may have clinical offices (such as UCB, which has an optometry clinic) or conduct research and occupational medicine activities. A JOG liaison with the committees involved with HIPPA would be useful. Work groups should involve the medical center CIOs, and all campuses.

Campus Reports
(Posted on the Web at http://www.ucop.edu/irc/jog/sept2001.html)

      ACTION: Include a report on the labs' collective IT projects on the agenda for the next JOG meeting.

JOG

September 26, 2001 (Day 2)

Strategic Planning
A packet of five documents was distributed:

  1. August 8, 2001, letter from Joe Mullinix to Campbell and Dolgonas requesting the establishment of a workgroup of Information Technology and Budget and Planning Officers "to develop a framework to define ongoing budget requirements associated with maintaining an information technology infrastructure and to provide a model for funding through both the capital and operating budgets."

    The impetus for a model for IT planning and budgeting comes from a successful model developed by consultants to project the UC's investment and maintenance requirements for buildings. A similar model for IT could help address IT funding problems. JOG members expressed concern that the campuses have other priorities for funding, such as developing capital projects. Dolgonas said that participation in the workgroup provides the IT community the opportunity to plan with budget officers, to communicate concerns about a decaying IT infrastructure and lack of funding, and possibly to request funding.

      ACTION: IR&C will organize a JOG workshop to develop a proposal for a UC information technology planning and budgeting model. Participants in the workshop will include Bill Campbell, Jim Dolgonas, Jim Davis, Terry Johnson, Mike McCoy, Jack McCredie, Larry Merkley, Chuck Rowley, and Dave Shelby.

  2. July 29, 2001, draft document, "Information Technology Infrastructure at the University of California," written by William Gayle and Eric Vermillion, UCSF. The document presents the need for state and other funding for a broadly defined IT infrastructure across UC.

  3. Information about the state audit of the Department of Information Technology (DOIT) (the full audit report is on-line at http://www.bsa.ca.gov/bsa-htmls/i_p.html).

  4. (a) August 6, 2001, letter to President Atkinson from Assemblyman Manny Diaz requesting UC participation in the August 23 hearing, "State of California's Information Technology Policies and Practices." The hearing subsequently was postponed. (b) September 11, 2001, response from President Atkinson and written testimony for the hearing, which responded to specific questions UC was asked to answer at the hearing. The response and testimony were compiled by Campbell and Dolgonas from data submitted by the campuses, labs, and UCOP.

  5. Copy of state legislation (AB 1123) requiring the California Post Secondary Education Commission to develop statewide funding priorities for technology for the legislature and governor by August 1, 2001. Campbell is a member of the intersegmental workgroup developing these priorities. UC participation may have positive funding outcomes for the University. UC is not required to adopt the recommendations of the committee.

IT Reporting

(The presentation on IT Reporting is posted on the Web at http://www.ucop.edu/irc/jog/sept2001ppt.html)
The recent request from the state legislature for information on UC's IT expenditures and practices highlighted difficulties with collecting IT information systemwide. Without making any changes to the corporate systems, however, it would be possible to change some of the organization codes in order to identify the central IT units on the campuses and optimize the ability to collect systemwide data.

      ACTION: Collins will develop and test proposed new organization codes, and will pursue developing separate descriptors for central IT units and for the medical centers.

Credit Cards

A group has been formed to recommend acquisition of a product to support on-line purchases made with credit cards. Irvine already has bought local software and established a system through the Treasurer's Office. The campus is concerned that a systemwide solution not negate Irvine's advances with this project. Dolgonas indicated that he did not believe that the Treasurer planned to mandate use of the system selected from the current analysis.

IT Recruitment/Retention

A workshop on IT retention was proposed as a way to learn best practices and prepare for the future when the economy rebounds and high-paying IT jobs are widely available again. One recruitment/retention problem is that UC job titles are outdated and reflect what people are paid, rather than their function. This problem is difficult to resolve because job classifications no longer are systemwide. Two major reasons why employees leave positions is that their expectations are not met and they have problems with their supervisor. Supervisory training for IT managers may be another issue to examine.

      ACTION: IR&C will coordinate a workshop for JOG members on exploring best practices for recruitment and retention.

NBA: Developing Consensus on the Way Ahead

E-Procurement: The implementation plan involves starting with a few lead campuses. A workgroup (with representatives from the pilot campuses) will assess the implementation process and share information with the other campuses. Two actions are necessary to implement E-procurement: (1) Determination of a funding mechanism, and (2) identification of the lead campuses.

HRIS: Besides the concerns of funding and campus prioritization, two issues surrounding HRIS are unresolved: What questions will be answered through the corporate data warehouse? Do we choose a dual access approach: pass transactions through HR to payroll, or go to payroll directly with HR receiving a data feed in the background. In addition, some modifications to the PPS will be necessary during the transition to an HRIS to meet data needs. The functional partners in HRIS-HR and payroll-need to be partners in these decisions. JOG members commented that integrity of the payroll system must be the top priority; a common interface and a common satellite system should be developed. Another issue involves streamlining HR policies and procedures in general before the technology is launched.

      ACTION: Campbell will develop an option for the COVCA that addresses the funding concerns with multiple phases that will allow the University to enhance its HR functionality incrementally and ultimately achieve the NBA vision of 2010.

JOG-CPG JOINT MEETING

UC PKI
(The presentation "UC PKI: Status and Future Steps" is posted on the Web at http://www.ucop.edu/irc/jog/sept2001ppt.html

Enterprise Licensing

Dell: A University in Florida was reported to have received a 20 percent discount from Dell. The UC contracted discount is 10 percent because UC has different provisions; for example, it does not have or desire an exclusive contract with Dell. UC often receives a higher discount from Dell than the contracted discount rate. Current Dell pricing is available on the protected Dell-UC web site.

Oracle: A new, multi-year contract was negotiated several years ago based on a few large purchases. Oracle recently changed its pricing model, which in most cases is probably not advantageous to UC. However, UC may purchase with our existing discounts off the existing contract or off the new pricing schedule. The existing contract will be renegotiated the next time a large purchase is proposed. Oracle invited JOG members to visit its headquarters for a briefing.

Microsoft: The UC reseller dropped higher education; UC has a new reseller. Microsoft has developed a new pricing program, software assurance, which includes maintenance that the client pays for. The other option is purchase of a new license with each upgrade. Dolgonas will meet with Microsoft representatives to discuss UC's options.


CPG Meeting

Internet2 Funding

The $18 million for Internet2 in the proposed state budget was originally cut but later replaced with $14 million. It will be distributed to the campuses based on the percentage of ladder rank faculty at each campus. Funding for Internet2 is scheduled to be included in the Regents' budget request again. In this case, UC will be expected to show how it spent the funds in the current year. While UC has constitutional autonomy, the state auditor has the authority to audit UC use of state funds.

Voice-over IP

An advantage to voice-over IP is auto teleconferencing, which eliminates the need to go through a coordinator. Because Merced doesn't yet have a phone infrastructure in place, it may be feasible to install voice-over IP.

Security for Wireless Networks

People at UCB have broken the wireless security system. A question will be posed to the wireless listserv whether the wireless workgroup should be revived. JOG/CPG members will be invited to join the wireless listserv.

DCP

The project is behind schedule due to the supplier of communication services. About 20 percent of the 70 connections are installed. No update is available on the content. Concern was expressed about the campus resources required to maintain the content. Other concerns surround having sufficient numbers of faculty members to mentor students; and how access to licensed material will be provided to the numbers of people expected to use DCP.

      ACTION: Include DCP on the agenda for the next CPG meeting. Specific issues to discuss include the infrastructure necessary on the campuses to host the DCP content. Jack McCredie may be asked to give an update on the DCP Program Steering committee that he chairs.

ONI

(The presentation, "CENIC ONI Network," is posted on the Web at http://www.ucop.edu/irc/jog/sept2001ppt.html.)
CENIC is planning for the next generation of the CalREN network, involving a backbone to serve UC, CSU, the community colleges and DCP. It is expected to be operational at the end of 2002.

      ACTION: Include the ONI network on the agenda for the next CPG meeting.

UC and CalREN-2 Node Requirements

(The presentation "UC and CalREN2 Node Site Requirements" is posted on the Web at http://www.ucop.edu/irc/jog/sept2001ppt.html.)

CPG members expressed concern about the part of the CalREN2 plan that provides for connecting sites to be scheduled to be taken down for maintenance, hence cutting links to other sites, although four days' notice of the planned maintenance and off-line status would be required. Wasley will review this point with the advisory group.

Next Meeting

San Diego. A date will be selected that does not conflict with the COVCA January meeting.

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