Dual Assurance: Information Services
Minutes of the meeting held at 1.00 pm on Wednesday 25 January 2012 in room 165, Northcote
House.
Attendees: Michele Shoebridge, Sally Wilcox, Lynne Tucker, Deborah Welland
01.12 Minutes
The minutes of the meeting held on 22 December 2011 were received. All matters arising
had been carried forward to the agenda. MS reported that in connection with the
Bristol/Exeter Shared Services Project, that a meeting to discuss findings and proposed
actions would take place on Friday 27 January 2012.
02.12 Standing Items
It was agreed that future standing item papers would be circulated with the agenda but
would only be discussed if there were particular items that members wished to raise.
03.12 Service Performance
The following papers were received:
(a) Performance Tracker for December 2011 (paper 1)
(b) Example of possible report detailing P1 and P2 incidents, together with a table and
graphic representation of incidents and service requests by profile for the academic year
2010-11 (paper 2a)
(c ) Example of an annual major incident report (paper 2b)
It was agreed that key incidents in the P1/P2 categories would be identified and reported to
future meetings including follow up action. (Action: DW and LT to define report content)
It was suggested that it would be useful to be able to calculate the cost to the University of
types of incidents: (Action DW and LT to consider further).
04.12 IT Risks
The following papers were received:
(a) Corporate risks (paper 3)
(b) IT Risk Register (paper 4)
It was noted that SW had already seen the Corporate risks and had provided feedback. SW
would review the IT risks and identify any that she wished to discuss further. (Action SW).
05.12 Infrastructure Analysis
Paper 5 was received. It was noted that the Infrastructure Analysis process captured
assessments of resilience risk and impact and presented the information in the form of a
graph which could be used to help with capacity planning and determine the implications of
spend on risk. It was agreed that SW would consider the paper and let LT know if she
thought that there were other areas that needed to be considered (Action SW).
LT reported that the model could also be used to look at software and business systems to
determine ‘fit for purposes’ against impact in the University achieving its goals. It was
suggested that this might be useful for IT elements within the PCMD restructuring
considerations.
06.12 Council IT Showcase
The group discussed options for an IT showcase to approximately 12 lay members of Council,
scheduled to take place on 12 July 2012. The group discounted a possible showcase on new
and innovative technology and agreed that:
(a) LT would provide an introduction to cover what core systems would be showcased, how
long they had been in place, how important they were to the student experience/
research support and what further development were planned.
(b) A world café event would follow with approximately 6 tables showcasing:
o ELE
o Portal
o Echo360
o Library software
o Online submission and marking
o iPac/Symplectic/ERDMS/ERIC
At each table a member of staff/student would demonstrate the software and allow Council
members to ‘have a go’. SW offered to demonstrate the use of one of the above. (Action
DW and LT to come back with firm proposals). The event to be trialled at an Academic
Services event to be scheduled.
07.12 Portal
A paper was received which pictorially presented the main academic events in the year
(paper 6). In addition it was proposed to produce a further document which was
appropriate for a particular year. Once complete, these documents would be considered
and agreed by Colleges and would help ensure that major changes to systems were planned
in the context of known academic events. It was suggested that a separate schedule would
be required for Tremough.
It was reported that work had progressed on consideration of the portal and that the
backend infrastructure was considered to be stable but that there were some issues with
the front end, time outs and cookies. LT reported that she felt it was essential to have a new
portal and that structural changes were in progress to move the portal support and
development to the Academic Systems Team. A Comms plan would be worked up which
would let users know of common problems and how to resolve them.
08.12 ResNet
LT reported that the advert notifying suppliers of the University’s intention to go out to
tender for a ResNet solution had been issued and a suppliers’ day would be held on 10
February. It was thought unlikely that a wifi solution would be in place in student bedrooms
for the start of the academic year 12/13.
09.12 IT Strategy Development
Paper 7 was received which set out the key elements of the CIO Strategy. (Action: SW and LT
to discuss off line. Discussions with Colleges would also be progressed)
10.12 Date of Next Meeting
It was noted that the next meeting will be held on 22 February 2012, time tbc.