2009 | Enterprise Architecture in Higher Education

Microsoft Canadian Colleges Update – Dec 2009 Day 2 Summary

conference, education, higher education No Responses »

Dec 212009

Here are the Day 2 sessions linked into one blog post. Again, lots of good content and multiple sessions that got me thinking about how to leverage the Microsoft capabilities we already own. I wrote mini posts on each session and linked them here for your easy reference.

** Updated post with links to slide decks – Dec 21, 2009

Wednesday Dec 10th

Session 7 – Unified Communications Overview – slides

Session 8 – Office Communication Server Case Study

Session 9 – Windows Server 2008 R2 Strategy and Future Directions – slides

Session 10 – Live@edu Overview

Session 11 – Security Microsoft Strategy Overview – slides

Session 12 – Education Products Strategy – slides

Day 2 was another full day with plenty of excellent information. Thanks to Microsoft for hosting this excellent event. I now have a much clearer understanding of what Microsoft can bring to the table. Now, our task is to understand and architect a roadmap to leverage our newly created Active Directory, migrate to Exchange, create and deliver a SharePoint platform service and protect it all using a multi-layer security approach using ForeFront.

This was extremely valuable to me and I sincerely hope that Microsoft continues their commitment to educate and share future directions.

Microsoft Canadian Colleges Update – Dec 2009 Day 1 Summary

conference, enterprise architecture, higher education 1 Response »

Dec 212009

Yesterday, I spent the day with my colleagues from other Canadian Higher Education organizations being briefed on the new directions from Microsoft. As our organization is rapidly moving to leverage Microsoft solutions, this was an extremely valuable day. I wrote mini posts on each session and linked them here for your easy reference.

** Updated post with links to slide decks – Dec 21, 2009

Tuesday Dec 9th

Session 1 – Keynote – Anthony Salcito

Session 2 – Email in Education – Exchange 2010 – slides

Session 3 – Office Systems Futures – Office 14

Session 4 – Windows 7 and the Optimized Desktop – slides

Session 5 – Microsoft’s Virtualization Strategy and Futures – slides

Session 6 – Microsoft Learning

It was a very full day with plenty of new information. I will create another post to summarize Day 2 sessions. Enjoy!

Delivering Projects by Managing Ops with a Duty Analyst

itsm, management 2 Responses »

Dec 142009

Last week, I presented the accomplishments of my applications team in 2009. I was blown away by the number and the scope of the projects my team delivered to our community. I firmly believe that the separation of our operational duties from our project work enabled us to be so productive. While most people would celebrate the project teams |(and we do!), I want to acknowledge the key enabler of this success – our Duty Analyst role.

I blogged previously about our Duty Analyst role here.

Implementing a duty analyst role minimizes the operational interruptions to our team members working on projects. Providing project members focused time to work on project challenges and meeting milestones becomes easier without operational interruptions.

I am proud to say my team delivered on our operational responsibilities and completed 43 projects in 2009.

Here is the breakdown of projects my team delivered:

Projects by Size : Small = 19, Medium = 14, Large = 10
Projects by Governance : BCIT Executive = 3, IT Governance Team = 14, Business Applications Committee = 5, Departmental = 11, Operational = 10
Projects by Community : Learning and Technology Services = 20, Student Services = 9, Education = 4, Finance = 3, Human Resources = 3, BCIT Executive = 3, BCIT Student Association = 1

We continue to refine the Duty Analyst role as well as our IT Governance and Project Management approaches. I am excited to see what we can do in 2010 to continue to deliver value. We will be upgrading our ERP this year and taking a focused approach leveraging the Duty Analyst will make all the difference.