No. 6, Autumn 2017

1DIT Newsletter, Autumn 2017

Division of Information Technology Newsletter

CHARLES STURT UNIVERSITY

Infrastructure & Client Services planning day held on Wagga Wagga campus - Wine and Grape Centre. DIT staff travelled from Albury, Bathurst, Dubbo, Orange, Goulburn and Port Macquarie.

CONTENTS• Welcome ............................2• What’s Been Happening

in DIT ...................................2• Information Security

Awareness at CSU ...........3• All the Boys in Town .......3• Lynda.com .........................3• Network Refresh

Project.................................4• Port Macquarie -

Simulation Clinics ...........4• ISIP Update .......................5• CSU Replay Upgrade .....5• agile@CSU Update .........5• CSU Applications

Portfolio .............................6• Webmethods

Integration ........................6• OneDrive for Business

at CSU .................................7• A Virtual Meeting Room

for Every Student ............7• Spotlight on DIT ..............8• IT Service Desk in

2016 .....................................8

2DIT Newsletter, Autumn 2017

2017 is flying by and to be honest it is all a bit of a blur! DIT has been busy with a number of projects on the go, upgrades to various systems, an extremely busy service desk, conferences, workshops, planning days, staff changes, and babies…a lot of babies! Within DIT there has been a wave of staff changes. We welcome the following new staff so far this year:• Richard Norton – Service Desk Team • Alex Metcalfe – Service Desk Team• Janakan Kanaganayagam – Integrations

Team • Michael Charles – Technology Projects• Wilfred Njoroge – Technology Projects• Prateek Kotwal – Technology ProjectsCongratulations to Bruce Crawford who is now Manager – Business Analysis and Process, and Anthony Burrow who is seconded to Team Leader – Personal Computing Team.In February, staff from the Personal Computing team attended the four day Microsoft Ignite Conference on the Gold Coast, with seminars on exciting new Microsoft technologies and integrated third party solutions. Candice Masling, Business Analyst, attended one day of the Convergence Australia conference in Canberra in March, where she won a copy of the RIMER change management manual (pictured below with author Christina Dean).Also in March, Networks staff attended Cisco Live in Melbourne. In April and May, staff from the Networks Team attended five day CCNA training in Sydney.The DIT Leadership team met in Albury in March, and in April the Infrastructure and Client Services teams got together in Wagga for their planning day (photos on cover page).

What’s Been Happening in DIT?

Welcome to the DIT Newsletter

Welcome to the autumn edition of our DIT newsletter covering the latest Information and Communication Technology (ICT) developments at CSU.

Earlier this year the Information and Communications Technology Security Policy was released. The policy outlines the responsibilities in assessing and managing security risks, and incident reporting should the University’s information assets be at risk. Prevention is of course the best means of reducing cyber and other attacks.

DIT released an online Security Awareness module for all CSU staff to complete, to increase understanding of security threats, and hopefully avoid phishing and other common attacks. Thanks to the over 1300 staff who have completed the module to date.

The multi-million dollar upgrade and refresh of CSU’s wired and wireless network was completed in March (excluding Goulburn). The six month rollout of the new Cisco equipment delivered over 650 new switches and over 1200 wireless access points, covering almost 400 buildings at ten CSU campuses and offices. The DIT team, with our partners Cisco and DiData, delivered the rollout ahead of schedule. See page 4 of the newsletter for more details.

Our annual CSU Applications Portfolio report has been updated and released. The report provides a high level overview of the 125 Enterprise Applications in use across CSU. Of these applications, 78 percent are commercially sourced and owned offerings. The full Applications Portfolio can be accessed from our Initiatives and Strategies Implementation Plan (ISIP) web page.

KPMG is currently conducting a ten week review of five of our major business systems. They are working with DIT, the strategy group, and five system custodians: Student Administration; Research; Marketing; Finance and HR. The review will consider the current state of these systems, future capabilities and functionality required, and the case for upgrade and/or refresh of each system in the next five years, reflecting alignment to Strategy 2017-2022 and operational drivers. Their report will be finalised for consideration in June.

The back page of this newsletter focuses on the CSU Computer Shop, which provides staff with computing and telecommunications solutions. A breakdown of the Top 10 categories relating to the 34,000 requests for assistance received by the IT Service Desk in 2016 is also included.

Tim Mannes, Executive Director

Charles Sturt University

As well as being the title of a great song, it seems to be appropriate to DIT in 2017!

Congratulations to the following DIT staff on the birth of their baby boys:

• Kiah Ryan - Samuel born in February

• Dan Turner - Arthur born in March

• Teneil McKenzie - Arloh born in April

• Julianne Harper and Paul Drake - Zac born in April

We wish them all the best of luck...and some sleep!

Division of Information Technology Newsletter

3DIT Newsletter, Autumn 2017

Information Security Awareness at CSU

Online IT Security Awareness Training

ICT Security Policy

CSU’s network and information systems are under constant attack by cyber criminals, intent on profiting from the University’s information resources.

Awareness is one of the most powerful weapons we have in the fight against cyber-crime. DIT is committed to providing staff with the information required to protect both the University and themselves from harm.

To that end, in partnership with HR and ELMO training, DIT has introduced an online IT Security Awareness module, which is mandatory for all CSU staff.

By completing the training you will learn how to:

• Avoid common attacks and scams

• Secure your computer and phone

• Keep your CSU account safe

• Recognise and report security incidents

Access to the training is available from the CSU ELMO portal at https://csu.elmotalent.com.au/dashboard

A new Information and Communications Technology Security Policy has been developed to guide the implementation of a risk based approach to protecting the University’s information assets. The policy is set at a high level and covers such topics as:• The scope of activities where Information Security needs to be

considered• Compliance requirements of the University• Responsibilities of staff, such as reporting incidents and

managing ICT security risks• Responsibilities for DIT and System Custodians in assessing and

managing ICT security risksTo access the ICT Security policy visit the CSU policy library at https://policy.csu.edu.au/document/view-current.php?id=398

Lynda.com - limitless learning,

limitless possibilities

Did you know that with a CSU username and password you have FREE unlimited access to online learning in 2017, available 24/7, through Lynda.com?

Lynda.com is an online subscription library that teaches a broad range of skills through high-quality instructional videos. Designed for all levels of learner, it is available whenever you’re ready to learn. You can even view it on your mobile device, and download courses at work to watch offline when it suits you.

There are courses available to help you build on business, software, creative or technical skills, and courses that will develop your personal skills, increasing your career opportunities at CSU.

Lynda.com also offers recommended learning paths across a range of topics, from Business to Education, Software Development to Marketing.

When you log in to Lynda.com you can view the latest new courses and the most popular releases, both generally and within CSU. You can create your own playlists, set learning goals and track your progress, and you will even find courses recommended to you based on your interests.

Check out our Lynda.com Online Learning page for more information and instructions on how to set up your account, as well as the link to login to Lynda.com.

Lynda.com for studentsThe Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF) Steering Committee approved the purchase of a number of lynda.com licences for student use. These licences are being rolled out through the Careers Team in the Office for Students. The Manager, Career Development is currently working with our contacts at LinkedIn, and Faculty staff to develop a strategy for this promotion. Stay tuned!

All the Boys in Town...

“The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you” (B.B. King)

4DIT Newsletter, Autumn 2017

Charles Sturt University

Network Refresh ProjectDIT has now completed upgrading and renewing CSU’s wired and wireless data network over ten campuses. The desired outcome of the upgrade is to improve performance, reliability and user experience for staff and students. The project was executed in partnership with Cisco Systems Australia and Dimension Data Pty Ltd who assisted in design and deployment of the new network.

The rollout of new network infrastructure was completed on the 17th March 2017 and encompassed 392 buildings over ten campuses, deploying 662 switches and 1,200 wireless access points. The overall rollout schedule was brought forward by 5 months due to improvements and efficiencies in deployment processes, and was completed within 6 months from October 2016 to March 2017.

Note: Goulburn Campus has been deferred for rollout until August 2017 due to constraints with site access during the academic calendar, and will be delivered as part of ‘business as usual’ upgrade work.This massive logistical challenge was orchestrated by Murray Findlay, Matt Bourke, Ayden Beeson, Luke Blewett, Tim Brown, Brendon Shiels and Lisa Twigg. They were ably assisted by Harrison Azarnikow, Matt Barlow and the Service Desk team, Vicki Brown

(Client Services), Conrad Dare-Edwards, James Davidson, Paul Drake (Telephony), Anthony Dusselaar, Jeremy Godbier, Julianne Harper and the Personal Computing team, Dave McDonnell, Gaye Smith and the Computer Shop team, and Travis Terry (Conferencing).The professionalism, dedication and applied expertise of the DIT technical staff, in coordination with Cisco/Dimension Data, guaranteed the success of this project. An excellent team effort and fantastic result for CSU!

Port Macquarie - Simulation Clinics State of the art audio visual capture, recording and streaming technologies were implemented in the new Paramedic Simulation Laboratory on Port Macquarie campus in 2016, aligning with the “innovative campus” vision. The design and delivery of the Paramedic SIM clinic technology at Port Macquarie proved to be a success, and as a result the solution is being adopted for the Bathurst SIM clinic upgrade currently underway. The School of Biomedical Sciences’ initial preference was a turnkey solution such as B-Line Medical SimCapture (used in UNSW sim labs), CAE LearningSpace or Lateral SimView, but the cost for each of these was too high to be accommodated within the budget. DIT staff solved the problem by designing and presenting a solution based around the SonyAny-cast device. This is not typically used in other simulation centres, but it had all of the functionality needed and is user friendly. Furthermore it is supported by Sony, and there are a lot of online training and education resources available. DIT staff assembled a successful Proof of Concept for this solution in under a week, and as the solution was able to leverage CSU’s existing media streaming and web infrastructure, the cost was significantly less. Within a week of the installation at Port Macquarie being completed, academic staff were producing recordings of a professional quality. This is confirmation the solution was a success.

Practical simulations can now be recorded in High Definition, while being streamed into a classroom equipped with Epson interactive whiteboards. This allows the remainder of the class to be involved through tasks such as recording vital signs on the whiteboard.Simulation activities can be viewed from anywhere in the world via a web page, with up to six live streams available simultaneously. The activities are recorded so they can be replayed during a multimedia debrief with the students after the completion of their practical simulation.

CSU Replay Upgrade

Campus No. of Buildings Completed Campus No. of Buildings Completed

Homebush 1 October 2016 Port Macquarie 1 January 2017

Bathurst 121 November 2016 Orange 35 February 2017

Wagga Wagga 174 January 2017 Canberra 7 February 2017

Albury-Wodonga 39 January 2017 Dubbo 12 February 2017

Wangaratta 1 January 2017 Manly Collins 1 March 2017

Below is a snapshot of the completed campuses:

Division of Information Technology Newsletter

ISIP Update agile@CSU Update

DIT Newsletter, Autumn 2017

As part of the ongoing adoption of the agile@CSU project delivery framework, we recently surveyed the stakeholders from faculties and divisions who have been engaged with two Agile projects.

A key feature of Agile delivery is the greater engagement of the business, especially through the Product Owner role and regular product showcases. The survey secured feedback regarding this new approach and how it compared with traditional project delivery from the perspective of business stakeholders.

Some of the key findings included:

• 88% (who expressed a view) believed that the agile project delivered value faster

• 68% felt that the Agile approach resulted in a better fitting product

• 71% believed that their needs were better represented using agile

• 78% considered the agile project team were better engaged

• 67% of respondents either ‘Agreed’ or ‘Strongly Agreed’ that they understood the role of the Product Owner

• 61% felt more confident in the project outcomes having a Product Owner as part of the project team

• 94% of respondents agreed that “Product showcases are a valuable activity to continue in future projects” with 94% feeling that “the speakers and the information presented in showcases was well prepared” and 65% reporting that they “could see how feedback provided by me or others was incorporated in product planning and improvements”

Although these results are heartening, what is clear is that we need to do a lot more work ensuring that we are selecting the right Product Owners, that they have sufficient time to undertake the Product Owner role, and that we are providing enough training and support to help ensure they are successful.

It’s also apparent that moving to agile@CSU is not easy, requiring many to learn new skills and techniques. However it will be worthwhile if it means projects will secure better business outcomes and more efficient delivery.

5

As we move through autumn and to the half way point of 2017, a number of ISIP projects are coming to a close and new ones are commencing. Recently started projects include the following:

1) The Student Incident Management System Investigation project is focused on identifying a suitable system that will allow all incidents involving students to be recorded, tracked and reported. Currently incidents such as general misconduct, breaches of the Residence Code of Conduct or Computing & Communication Facilities Use, and those of a critical nature are captured in multiple systems. A key benefit of having these incidents contained within the one system is the extent of intelligence it will provide. Analysis of the data may allow the identification of hot spots of poor behaviour and evidence of escalating issues, which in turn can assist in the prevention of incidents, especially those that could put members of the CSU community at risk. Funded by both SSAF and ISIP and sponsored by the Dean of Students, the outcome of this initial investigation will be the identification of a product, and the business case and detailed costing for its implementation. For further information please contact the Project Manager, Prateek Kotwal (pkotwal@csu.edu.au).

2) Another key ISIP project recently commenced is Personalising Student Timetables. This project will significantly improve the accessibility, quality, reliability and relevance of timetables for students. As well as delivering a timetable that is personalised for each student, it will also be fully accessible from mobile devices and integrated within the current Student Portal. The proposed system will also allow students to nominate the residential school classes they wish to attend, which in turn will provide improved management of the planning process. This initiative will reduce the extent of effort required to be undertaken by Schools prior to each session and also simplify and streamline the on-going maintenance of tutorial timetabling. For more information regarding this initiative contact the Project Manager, Ivan Saric (isaric@csu.edu.au).

For the full list of projects undertaken as part of the Initiatives & Strategy Implementation Plan refer to the Current ISIP located on the DIT Initiatives & Projects web page.

Port Macquarie - Simulation Clinics

CSU Replay Upgrade The current CSU Replay service is based on Echo 360’s Echo System Server (ESS) technology. This system is coming to end of life and support. CSU is undertaking a detailed analysis of solutions that can be implemented to replace the existing platform. The project will deliver a new system for CSU which will provide improved education interaction for students and academics via advanced lecture/video capture and replay services. The project is delivered over two phases:

• Phase 1: Discovery, assessment, detailed solution analysis & product selection

• Phase 2: Procurement, implementation delivery, change management, training & operational commissioning

Currently ‘Phase 1’ of the project is in progress. CSU has completed an initial high level health assessment of the current environment and completed an initial assessment of candidate solutions that align to CSU’s needs. The project is now progressing with a detailed analysis of potential replacement products. Once completed a recommendation and product selection will be determined.

DIT will continue to keep you updated.

Below is a snapshot of the completed campuses:

Charles Sturt University

6DIT Newsletter, Autumn 2017

CSU Applications Portfolio The CSU Applications Portfolio report contains a summary of the current portfolio of enterprise applications, and other significant applications that provide services to staff and students. The report generally does not include PC only applications or those that do not have DIT visibility (e.g. custom Microsoft Access database applications).The number of applications has increased to 125 in February 2017. New applications commissioned in the past year include Raisers Edge (ACCC - fundraising), Whispir (DFM - emergency communications), ACSES (DSL - Academic Course & Subject Entry), Pyramid Analytics BI Office (DSL - BI Tool used with BB Analytics), SRS (DSL - request management), Online Moderation (DSL), Blackboard Analytics (DSL), Unimarket (Finance - eProcurement), AWM (HR - Academic Workload Management), Pure (DLS - research repository), Polling Tool (OFS - student portal voting) and Facebook (OFS - CSU Social).

CSU maintains a strategy of Buy before Build, with 78 percent of enterprise applications currently being sourced as commercial offerings. The majority of enterprise applications are hosted on CSU equipment. However it is the broader strategy of the Division to make use of growing external hosting and software as a service offerings in the coming years.A more detailed summary of the applications portfolio is available at http://www.csu.edu.au/division/dit/initiatives/initiatives-and-strategy-implementation-plan

Webmethods IntegrationThroughout 2016, DIT worked with our vendor Software AG to upgrade the Webmethods integration suite for the University. Webmethods is the heart of all the integrations that occur between more than 40 of the systems and applications that service students and staff at CSU.Webmethods has been part of the landscape at CSU since 2007. In the past 10 years new versions of Webmethods were introduced to support new strategies or projects such as ARIS, which provides business process modelling. We were running three different versions of the integration servers.  Of course each of these versions does things a little differently, increasing the complexity for the Integrations team, and making it more difficult to manage the Webmethods environments.In 2015, with the original version 6.5 of Webmethods nearing the end of support in its lifecycle, we decided that we should upgrade all of the systems to bring them all up to the same version of 9.8. As this was the first time DIT was attempting a major Webmethods upgrade, we engaged Software AG to assist. Ben Tilson led the activity for DIT, assisted by Sam Barnes and the rest of the team. It was a huge undertaking in terms of analysis and planning, and took 12 months to finally upgrade all Webmethods systems. Fitting in with timings of the Admission Workflow project delayed the final upgrade of BPM until December 2016 / January 2017, however the results for the application alone were worthwhile. Improvements in responsiveness from a simple code change has shifted admissions workflow from an application that was slow and unresponsive to something that is very quick and usable. Productivity of the admissions process has tripled. DIT is in a much better position now in being able to manage our integration services. Business continuity and disaster recovery processes are being streamlined, and regular updates for security fixes and improvements are being applied. 

Future upgrades will be easier, and as we look at our strategies for the next three years, opportunities to consolidate our services can be realised because of this upgrade.

Every CSU student, both on campus and off campus, now has access to their very own video conference Virtual Meeting Room (VMR), which they can use around the clock every day of the year!

For students living in CSU accommodation, having a permanent VMR allocated provides a consistent method to access a video call and see their family member in full high definition.

Becoming familiar with video conferencing technology also has many benefits outside of CSU.

With the emergence of new ways of using video conferencing it is probable many students will be exposed to this technology in future in the workplace. For example, video conferencing is now being used for some specialist medical appointments. HR departments are also increasingly conducting interviews via video conference.

In the global economy, video conferencing is the number one tool used for collaborating with colleagues in geographically dispersed teams.

Increasing bandwidth and internet speeds resulting from the NBN will increase video conference adoption rates.

CSU’s new video conference solution has removed limitations in relation to the number of participants that can join a video call at the same time. This is provided by a device sitting in the background called a Multipoint Control Unit (MCU) or a video bridge. By shifting to next generation technology which comprises a software based MCU, new conference nodes can be added as required.

Our particular platform enables conference nodes to be automatically added via the cloud through Amazon Web Services. This means servers are not sitting idle and we only pay for what we use, whilst ensuring that we always have access to enough capacity to accommodate as many conferences and participants as required.

DIT is thrilled to be able to provide this service to our students, and hopefully we will see an increase in the use of this technology at CSU.

Division of Information Technology Newsletter

7DIT Newsletter, Autumn 2017

Over the coming months all staff at CSU will get access to OneDrive for Business.

OneDrive for Business is your own private and secure storage space in the cloud. It provides you with one place to store, share, and sync your work files. As part of Office 365, OneDrive for Business lets you update and share your files from anywhere, and work on Office documents with others simultaneously.You can install OneDrive for Business on your work and home machines, your tablet and other mobile devices. Integration with the online versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint allows you to view and edit documents wherever you are, and whenever you need.

If you want to get involved before the full rollout, contact ditfeedbackpoc@csu.edu.au and we will get you started.

One Drive for Business at CSU

A Virtual Meeting Room for Every Student!

If you have any feedback you’d like to share about the newsletter we’d love to hear it at

ditnewsletter@csu.edu.au

Stay tuned for the next edition, and keep up to date with DIT in the meantime through our

DIT Announcements Yammer group.

Charles Sturt University

DIT Newsletter, Autumn 2017 8

Spotlight on DITThe CSU Computer Shop in Focus

The CSU Computer Shop assists business units across the University to buy ICT equipment. They ensure staff have the appropriate tools to enable them to do

their job well. This includes desktop computers; laptops (yes even Apple); tablets (yes even iPads); multifunction devices; phones (mobile and desktop); computer software; desktop video conference equipment and other peripheral devices. The Computer Shop staff can also arrange consultation for items not listed on the website, including devices with higher specification requirements to meet specific needs.

The Computer Shop team is made up of a Supervisor, Gaye Smith who is based on the Bathurst campus, supported by a full-time Computer Shop Assistant, Chris Williams in Bathurst, a part-time Computer Shop Assistant, Ced Locke in Wagga and a part-time Administrative Assistant, Teresa Rae in Bathurst. Several student casuals complement this team across the Bathurst, Wagga and Albury-Wodonga campuses.

The Computer Shop operates with a minimal number of permanent staff to ensure efficiency, and employs student casuals to build capacity, which also helps retain students during their studies.

The Computer Shop operates as a cost neutral enterprise. It is environmentally friendly with no e-waste going to landfill for many years. Dispose of your old IT equipment at the time of upgrading, or log a Service Desk request.

More than 1000 computers per year go through the shop’s doors, with an annual turnover in excess of $3.0m (average for each year 2014 – 2017). The shop staff are responsible for the procurement of the stock, imaging the devices, and installing in the customer’s office, including transferring of data and re-installation of existing software.

CSU internal leasing is the preferred method for business units to purchase their devices. Asset and budget reports are provided to the business units on these orders. On average, from order to install, staff will have their new equipment in under 7 days.

The shop is open 9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.

For further information and to see the full product range available, please check out the new and improved Computer Shop website:

https://www.csu.edu.au/division/dit/compshop

View the full IT Service Desk in 2016 statistics at http://www.csu.edu.au/division/dit/services