Five-year
Unit Review
2001-2006
Sam Averitt,
Vice Provost for Information Technology
January 19, 2007
Part I What is ITD about?
 NC State, IT and revolutions
Part II What has ITD done– lately?
2001-2006
 Overview of ITD unit activities
 18 new services, expanded programs
 Major ITD collaborations
Part III What’s next?
 New times, new thinking, new tools – VCL
 ITD Funding
Part I - What’s ITD about?
NC State, IT and revolutions. . .
“Every generation needs a new revolution.”
- Thomas Jefferson
The Millennial Generation’s revolution is
global. Education, research, science,
technology, business, politics, societies, cultures,
consequences –all increasingly globalized and
interconnected…
“Cyberinfrastructure: the Second Revolution”
“We are entering a second revolution in information
technology, one that may well usher in a new
technological age that will dwarf, in sheer
transformational scope and power, anything we
have yet experienced in the current
information age.”
- Arden L. Bement, director National Science
Foundation, Chronicle of Higher Education,
January 5, 2007
Technology is revolutionizing
the core “business” of NC State…
Technology is revolutionizing
the context and the content of
 Learning
 Research
 Engagement
Technologies evolve and mature. Each stage requires structural and process changes. The technology changes, the
process repeats, and time contracts. Maturity of the last generation technology becomes the foundation of the next.
Synthesis
The new computing reality: two distinct IT environments
coexisting in a complementary yet autonomous relationship:
PRESS RELEASE:
Jan. 20, 2006
"NC State Named One of Nation’s
‘Most Connected’ Campuses"
faculty, researches, staff, administration!
"Today's students ^ depend on technology
to live, work and play, and today's colleges have to provide
high-tech tools in order to
and retain!
attract ^ the best applicants.”
- “America’s Most Connected Campuses”
Forbes.com
From the newest incoming freshmen to the most
advanced researchers, NC State depends on
ITD systems, services and leadership.
PRESS RELEASE:
Jan. 20, 2006
"NC State Named One of Nation’s
‘Most Connected’ Campuses"
faculty, researches, staff, administration!
“Today's students ^ depend on technology
to live, work and play, and today's colleges have to
provide high-tech tools in order to
and retain
attract ^ the best applicants.”
“America’s Most Connected Campuses”
Forbes.com
From the newest incoming freshmen to the most
advanced researchers, NC State depends on
ITD systems, services and leadership.
The technology revolution
is in progress!
The role of the Information Technology Division is to
enable NC State to harness the power of IT to meet
strategic challenges of the 21st century.
 Enable higher rates of student success
(graduation, careers, citizenship)
 Encourage faculty excellence and retention
 Empower leading-edge research and innovation
 Support campus outreach and engagement
 Integrate administrative processes
 Facilitate legislative compliance
 Improve IT efficiency and investment.
Part II – Highlights of ITD
activities and accomplishments
2001- 2006 (FY 06-07)
A time of rising demands and constrained budgets.
Overview of ITD unit activities
Infrastructure, systems services
Technology and user support
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University Help Desk – single gateway for campus
Remedy - call tracking
Advanced tech support/problem resolution
Consulting Services – many areas of expertise, for
individuals, departments, major projects,
SysNews
ResNet support
ClassTech
Software@NC State - licensing, purchasing services
Web media services
IT Accessibility - consulting, testing, resources
SAS grant administration, Analytics Initiative support
Distributed Support Services- in departments, etc.
Data network architecture, operation
Wireless Nomad network
Telephony
Data Centers operations
IT security
University Web systems, servers
Email relays, anti-spam, IMAP, WebMail
WRAP, campus authentication services
Unity computing accounts, resources
Unity lab/desktop Windows, Unix, Mac Linux
Application delivery services
Anti Virus services
Storage Management System
Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity
WolfCopy printing services
Wolfware, course lockers
High Performance Computing
Virtual Computing Lab
Applied R&D, pilot projects
Communication, training, publications
Free IT training - for students, faculty, staff,
“techies,” HPC researchers, etc.
Extensive orientation and outreach activities
Online, paper documentation, reports, presentations
And much much more…
Some ITD core services are invisible . . . Unless
something goes wrong. For example, Unity IMAP email:
Graph of IMAP email up-time in 2006 (low of 99.17% uptime in June).
ITD supports over 49,000 IMAP email accounts for NC State students,
employees and guests. Total file space used: 1.599 Terabytes.
Some ITD core services are invisible . . . For example:
Campus email relays
ITD operates NC State’s mail relays and anti-virus/anti spam systems.
There is a lot of SPAM
- and worse threats to email and security.
Some ITD services are invisible . . . Unless something
goes exceptionally right! For example, the SAS NC
State Software and Services Grant Program.
ITD has administered the 5-year/million dollar SAS grants program
for many years. The NC State/SAS partnership went to a new level
with the launch of the new NC State Data Analytics Education
Initiative, announced by Chancellor Oblinger in July 2006. ITD will
continue its engagement in support of this project and growing field
of theory and practice.
Unit Accomplishments 2001-2006:
18 new services and program expansions
Responding to legal mandates and compliance:
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ITD Security department formed in 2005 for HIPPA
compliance, and increasing incidents, investigations,
data security, consulting and education needs, etc
New Data Center II secondary site opened, for
central administrative and academic data in 2005.
Provides 24x7x365 operation for over 500 servers, 2
enterprise servers (Sun E25s), and 1 mainframe
Installed new backup-generators and UPS
systems for best practices in data and equipment
security
continued….
Unit Accomplishments 2001-2006:
18 new services and program expansions
Responding to legal mandates and compliance:


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Expanded Disaster Recovery/Business
Continuity systems for ITD; helped develop
campus program; college DR/BC planning, ongoing.
NC State University Help Desk reorganized in 2004
in response to recommendation of State Auditors for
single gateway for IT tech help. Provides Tier I
services for ITD and RMIS systems and applications,
Libraries (WolfBlogs and WolfWikis); DELTA (Vista),
and more.
IT Accessibility Services: Reorganized to expand
proactive solutions for IT environment. Now national
leader in universal accessibility of student computing
environments – including remote access and VCL
continued….
Unit Accomplishments 2001-2006:
18 new services and program expansions
Improving efficiency and effectiveness of campus IT:
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ComTech formed in 2001- Merger of ITD NC
State.Net and RMIS Telecommunications; Wireless
Nomad network production roll-out in 2002; now
supports 8750 simultaneous users; being expanded
on “students first” basis in classroom common areas
The Microcomputer Systems Unit (Microsys)
formed in 2001 to provide and support Unity
Windows computing lab environment. WolfPrep
Windows Applications, PC Setup (WolfPrep) – now
used on ~1700 desktops in colleges and labs across
campus
continued….
Unit Accomplishments 2001-2006:
18 new services and program expansions
Improving efficiency and effectiveness of campus IT:
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ClassTech - Pilot project in 12 classrooms to
provide centralized support for AVIT in learning
spaces on campus; now supports 66 classrooms and
provides design and consultation services for
campus
Launched Software@NC State - a clearinghouse
for campus-wide software licensing and acquisition,
significantly reduces the overall cost to the university
Consolidated OpScan (bubble sheet) Services for
campus – now process ~ of about 313,000 grades,
evaluations and surveys per year.
continued….
Unit Accomplishments 2001-2006:
18 new services and program expansions
Responding to user needs – and demands:
 Expanded student and employee education and
outreach activities – Including popular WITD show at
New Student Orientation to teach basics of computer
policies, security and ethics
 Oracle Calendar services for faculty, staff and students
campus – now over 5000 active user accounts
 Expanded Web design/media services for campus
New site designs for Provost’s site, Cashier’s Office,
Extension and Engagement, etc.
 Computing@NC State – Award winning print publication
focused on student computing – SIGUCCS ‘04
 Campus Linux Services –providing campus-wide
support for growing Linux environment.
continued….
Unit Accomplishments 2001-2006:
18 new services and program expansions
Evolution of hardware— potential revolution in service:
 New Enterprise Storage Management System in 2004;
shared with RMIS. 96 terabytes capacity; co-located in
Data Centers 1 and 2, mirroring of key storage (IMAP,
Unity, Novell, GroupWise) file systems
 High Performance and Grid Computing services Launched in 2003 as rapid response to abrupt closing of
NC Supercomputing Center - Now supports research
grants totaling $70 million; available to undergraduates,
too. Services include training, support, consulting, and
collaboration as well as hardware and software support.
 Virtual Computing Lab, a collaboration of
ITD/HPC program and College of Engineering
launched in 2004. Now serving all CoE students for
remote access to high-end applications. Potential –
revolutionary.
Unit Accomplishments 2001-2006:
ITD Collaborations
Partnering with campus and others to improve
teaching and learning:
 Early participation and continued support for LITRE –
NC State’s SACS Accreditation Quality Enhancement
Plan (ongoing!)
 Partnering with UPA on assessment of teaching and
learning with technology in ClassTech classrooms.
 Early technology consultation and support for new
Friday Institute for Education Innovation
 Early participation and ongoing support for the new
SAS and NC State Analytics Initiative
continued….
Unit Accomplishments 2001-2006:
ITD Collaborations
Partnering with campus to improve teaching and
learning:
 Partnering with DELTA and colleges on IT Expo and
EdTech events to highlight NC State’s teaching and
learning with technology (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)
 Participation and contributions on campus activities
such as New Student Orientation, Open House,
Education Talent Search’s Computer Training
Summer Institute, Classroom Advisory Committee,
TLT Roundtable, etc.
 Pilot projects and R&D – e.g. CALS’ handheld
computing, CNR’s GIS, Flyspace, podcasting, etc.
continued….
Unit Accomplishments 2001-2006:
ITD Collaborations
Regional and national collaborations to enhance
NC State’s advanced research capabilities:
 Helped university obtain corporate CENTAUR Lab
for advanced networking research and I2 test and
evaluation center (2001)
 Collaboration with researchers, Oakridge National
Laboratories and other institutions enabled transition
to campus-based High Performance Computing
resources following closure of closure of NC
Supercomputing Center (2003)
 Leadership and contributions to NCNI and NCREN
networking initiatives (ongoing).
continued….
Unit Accomplishments 2001-2006:
ITD Collaborations
Partnering with RMIS and others to enhance
campus business processes:
 Major participant in migration from SSN as campus
identifier and provided leadership on the development
of a campus ID.
 Led team which developed the banding specifications
for the Technology Support family of positions for IT
Banding project.
 Campus Calendar and Email Initiative – campus selfstudy (2005-2006)
 Key player in the campus-wide Identity and
Authentication Management Project
 Part of the planning process for the new Student
Information System (SIS).
continued….
Unit Accomplishments 2001-2006:
ITD Collaborations
Working with partners on-campus and beyond to
improve IT in higher education:
 Ongoing leadership and support for the UNC CAUSE
organization to increase opportunities for UNC-system
IT staff development and collaboration
 On-going participation in UNC System collaborative
activities and projects.
 Contributions to EDUCAUSE and other university
organizations, consortia, conferences, etc.
 Layer 8 white paper – A roadmap for IT investment
management and improved ROI in higher education.
Part III - What’s next?
New times, new thinking, new tools – VCL
How important is a technology-rich environment at
NC State?
It is not listed as a priority in The Campaign for NC State.
How invested is NC State in its status as North
Carolina’s flagship science and technology
institution?
$481,267
NC State: High Performance and Grid Computing program: $800,000^
--------UNC-CH Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) : $11,800,000
(Source: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep05/luettich092805.htm)
College of Engineering
NC State’s Virtual Computing Lab
new times… new thinking… new tools
A Solution
new times
“You can never plan the future by the past.”
Edmund Burke
new thinking
“The value of an idea or a technology depends on its business
model.”
Henry Chesbrough
new tools
“Our Age of Anxiety is, in great part, the result of trying to
do today’s jobs with yesterday’s tools.”
Marshall Mcluhan
College of Engineering
Applying
PACE
College of Engineering
new times… new thinking… new tools
IT resources and learning opportunities are essential to
preparing students for a highly competitive future:
College of Engineering
Overcoming
yesterday’s problems
College of Engineering
A compelling next generation solution is one that
resolves these nine heretofore contradictory
goals:
new times… new thinking… new tools
Paradoxical Barriers
autonomy
vs
security
equity
vs
excellence
individualized
vs
centralized
multiplicity
vs
simplicity
research
vs
instruction
predictable
vs
uncontrollable
innovation
vs
accessibility
resiliency
vs
productivity
efficient
vs
effective
College of Engineering
VCL Hardware
Architecture
College of Engineering
Inefficiency is not so much the
byproduct of decentralization
as it is the pervasive lack of an
integrated investment strategy:
College of Engineering
new times… new thinking… new tools
VCL Software
Architecture
College of Engineering
new times… new thinking… new tools
College of Engineering
Business Framework
College of Engineering
new times… new thinking… new tools
College of Engineering
ITD Funding
2002/03
2006/07
Actual $
2006/07Real $
Actual %
Increase
Real %
Increase
Operating Funds
5,630,667
5,650,304
5,000,000
0.35%
-11%
ETF
1,314,706
1,337,000
1,175,000
1.70%
-11%
417,862
1,028,117
916,600
146%
119%
260,500
481,267
429,000
85%
65%
157,362
546,850
488,000
248%
210%
809,706
822,500
1.58%
-11%
Receipts
548,370
565,000
497,000
3.03%
-9%
ResNet
119,235
230,000
202,000
15%
1%
20,000
17,847
-68%
-71%
8.14%
-4%
Provost Projects
HPC
Class Tech
Other
MCNC
62,100
LITRE
Total Cash Inflow
7,500
8,172,941
8,837,921
724,347
7,500
7,818,500
2001/03;
and 2006/07
ITD2002/03
Comparitive
Cash Inflow/Outflow
ITD comparative
cash
Inflow/Outflow
analysis
9,000,000
8,000,000
+35% Staff
7,000,000
Cash Inflow
6,000,000
State Funds
5,000,000
ETF
4,000,000
Provost
-37% C&O
Other
3,000,000
Cash Outflow- Staff
2,000,000
Cash Outflow -C&O
1,000,000
2001/02
2002/03
2006/07
VCL Funding Sources
Student
19%
IBM SUR
23%
HPC
19%
HPC
Partner
39%
NC State has on several occasions
allowed leading-edge IT thinking to
languish – winding up as a mid-tier finisher
in the race for recognition and impact.
With VCL we have choice—an opportunity
to create a different outcome.
Five-year
Unit Review
2001-2006
Sam Averitt,
Vice Provost for Information Technology
January 19, 2007
Questions? Comments?