Communication Topics for the Week

October 10, 2016 Technology Transformation Team (T3) Leadership Meeting

October 10, 2016 Technology Services Lunch with Instructional Technology

October 10, 2016 Video Security Systems Upgrade Awarded at the October 2016 Board Meeting

October 11, 2016 Data Center Virtualization Architecture

October 11, 2016 Technology Services Coordination with Instructional Technology

October 12, 2016 Users Get Ready for New Financial Management Software Upgrade (eFinance 5.1)

0ctober 12, 2016 HP Aruba Provides Strategic Roadmap for Enterprise Wireless Solutions

0ctober 12, 2016 Assessing the Data Center Firewalls Configurations and Identifying Next Steps

October 12, 2016 Teaming for Transformation: Define the Process for Communicating Issues

October 13, 2016 Preparing for and Conducting an Internal Audit for E-Rate Category 2 Funding

October 13, 2016 Technology Services Coordination with Curriculum and Instruction (Dr. Macias)

October 14, 2016 District Improvement Plan (DIP) Strategies, Strengths, and Areas of Need Updated

October 14, 2016 Communicating the Status of Technology Purchases in the Delivery Workflow

October 14, 2016 Closing Message and Weekly Reflection

Technology Leadership and Communication (TLC)

Week Ending October 14, 2016

Leadership and Vision

Posted by Frankie Jackson, Chief Technology Officer October 14, 2016

For all Topics

Leadership and Vision

Posted by Frankie Jackson, Chief Technology Officer October 10, 2016

Technology Leadership Team Conducts Technology Transformation Team (T3+) Meeting

Frankie Jackson led for the

Technology Transformation Team

(T3+) leadership meeting on Monday,

October 10, 2016. Notes from the

meeting are here. For the leadership

topic, Frankie prepared a discussion

on Sparking a Transformation.

The team also reviewed projects,

including operations and 2014 Goal

related tasks. Status, priorities,

progress and accomplishments were

reviewed from the previous week at:

www.cfisd-technologyservices.net.

Leadership Sparks:

These are the sparks that give you that sense of direction in where to

lead an organization, initiative, or team.

Leadership sparks enliven your passion to move things forward,

upward, over the humps, and across the distances. They deliver

more than enlightened leadership as they harden your determination

while spurring your abilities to work with people.

Leadership soul sparks lift all up to achieve new things.

Leadership and Vision

Posted by Frankie Jackson, Chief Technology Officer October 10, 2016

Technology Services Leadership Team Meets with

Instructional Technology Staff

The Technology Services leadership team hosted a team-building, information sharing lunch with

the Instructional Technology staff on Monday, October 10, 2016. We served leftovers from Friday’s

department meeting. The lunch provided an informal setting to talk about technology in general, as

well as new initiatives and greatest challenges. Everyone had a great time and we plan to continue

meeting for lunch at least once a month in the future.

Technology Services Leadership Team Shares Lunch with Instructional Technology Team

Leadership and Vision

Posted by Frankie Jackson, Chief Technology Officer

Video Security Systems Upgrade RFP

#16-09-4999 Awarded at the October 2016 Board Meeting

October 11, 2016

Frankie Jackson, with the help of Kim Bowlin, Chief Brag, and

Juan Cruz, presented recommendations for the video security

systems upgrade RFP #16-09-4999, including data storage to

support Senate Bill 507. Frankie participated in the Committee

of the Whole meeting on September 29, 2016 and the Board

of Trustee meeting on October 10, 2016, where the following

recommendation was approved.

This contract recommendation is made to support the

CFISD Police Department and to ensure the safety of all

students and staff in the district. This award will allow the

department to replace old video servers currently in use at

district campus locations. Additionally, this RFP will

address Special Education SB 507 requests. The

committee recommends a dual award that provides cutting

edge technology and the best value to the district. Dowley

offered industry leading products while being the most

aggressive on cost. Presidio offered a way for the district to

provide an enterprise backup solution for SB 507 data

retention as an additional level of backup and data storage.

Both Dowley and Presidio are valued partners with CFISD.

Therefore, the recommendation is to award to Dowley for

video equipment and installation support and to award to

Presidio for a data center storage solution.

August 19, 2016 – Develop Request for

Proposal (RFP) Bid Specification

August 31, 2016 - Submit RFP to

Purchasing

September 8, 2016 – October 9 – Solicit bid

to prospective venders

September 23, 2016 - Evaluation and assess

options

September 27, 2016 - Make formal

recommendation

October 10, 2016 – Request RFP Approval

by the Board of Trustees

• November 10, 2016 – Order and be

prepared for installation

The RFP

#16-09-

4999 is

available

here.

TIMELINE

October 12, 2016

Frankie Jackson asked Layer3 and the Network Infrastructure Communication (NIC) team to update the data

center virtualization architecture now the final design is complete. This project was initiatied by RFP #14-10-4578

approved by the Board of Trustees in February 2016.

Data Center Virtualization Architecture

Leadership and Vision

Posted by Frankie Jackson, Chief Technology Officer

The updated

diagram (shown on

the right) represents

the various strategic

partners that are

working with the

CFISD team.

This is one of the

few, and maybe the

only network design

that is SEND

compliant (Smart

Education Network

by Design).

Leadership and Vision

Posted by Frankie Jackson, Chief Technology Officer October 10, 2016

Technology Services Coordination with

Instructional Technology

Frankie Jackson met with Becky Cook on Tuesday, October 11, 2016 to discuss coordination technology items

between the Technology Services and Instructional Technology departments. The meeting notes from the

meeting are here. A summary of discussions is as follows.

• Continued having discussion and pursue options for providing wide-scale home

Internet access in low income areas. Becky talked to Linda Macias and she is

fine with piloting at Kirk and Bane. Becky is working with Huawei to develop a

proposal.

• Talked about connectivity with Region IV TETN. Here is the

latest update from Steven Stone is researching options such as

ZOOM and Lync/Skype. Steven has the action to recommend a

connectivity software.

• Talked about SNAPstream. Becky will take a look at it to see if it has

a purpose. A meeting is scheduled with SnapStream on October 18,

2016 to determine if there is a need for this system.

Leadership and Vision

Posted by Frankie Jackson, Chief Technology Officer October 12, 2016

Users Get Ready for New Financial Management

Software Upgrade (eFinancePlus 5.1)

On Wednesday, October 12, 2016, Frankie Jackson participated in one of the user training sessions on the new

financial management software, SunGard eFinancePlus 5.1. The Information Services and Applications team will

be upgrading from the 5.0 software version to 5.1 on October 14th, 2016. When users arrive on Monday, October

17th, 2016, they will be live on the new version. The new version is a major upgrade, offering greater levels of

user friendliness and increased functionality. An overview is available here.

Hewlett Packard (HP) Aruba Provides Strategic

Roadmap for Enterprise Wireless Solutions

Leadership and Vision

Posted by Frankie Jackson, Chief Technology Officer October 12, 2016

On Wednesday, October 12, 2016, Hewlett

Packard (HP) Aruba provided a strategic

roadmap presentation for their enterprise

wireless network solutions. Richard Heffelfinger

from HPE Aruba, along with Rick Baxter, Henry

Deleon, and Joel McCotter hosted lunch as we

had a detailed discussion about Aruba’s new

wireless technologies. Frankie Jackson,

including staff from the Enterprise

Communications Network (ECN) team enjoyed

the opportunity to learn about their upcoming

plans.

October 12, 2016

On Wednesday, October 12, 2016, Frankie Jackson, Paula Ross, Oscar Villar, and Andrew Tran met with M&S

Technologies, including Mark Miller (President), Matt Saey, and Andrew Johnson. The purpose of the meeting

was to emphasize the importance of strategic partnership, level set the expectations about what work is left to be

done on the firewall configurations), and determine an action plan for completing outstanding work. Mr. Miller

emphasized that he would help us in any way possible.

Assessing the Data Center Firewalls

Configurations and Identifying Next Steps

Leadership and Vision

Posted by Frankie Jackson, Chief Technology Officer

After the

meeting, the

team conducted

a work session

to start on the

action plan.

Technology Notification System: Process for Communicating Issues, Including After Hours (2nd) Meeting

Draft SLA with Communication Priorities

October 12, 2016

Define the Process for Communicating Issues,

Including After Hours: Technology Notification System

Frankie Jackson met with the Customer Care Center, including Jennifer Miller and Scottie Stevens, and staff from

the Network Infrastructure and Communications team, Janette Martinez on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. The

focus of the meeting, “Teaming for Transformation” is to define the process of communicating issues including

after hours. Jennifer Miller stepped in to prepare information before the meeting which helped spur on

conversation by developing a new Service Level Agreement (SLA) with communication priorities. A list of

completions, action items, and next steps are available here. The team will continue working to test and improve

the communication process. Thank you team!

Leadership and Vision

Posted by Frankie Jackson, Chief Technology Officer

Jennifer Miller, Scottie Stevens, and Janette Martinez Propose New Service Level Agreement that Includes

Communication Processes Based on the Time of Day and the Criticality of the Issue

Leadership and Vision

Posted by Frankie Jackson, Chief Technology Officer October 13, 2016

Preparing for and Conducting an Internal Audit for E-Rate

Category 2 Funding Reimbursements with the Asset Team

On October 13, 2016, Frankie Jackson met with Leonard Chance, the

leader of the Assets team to discuss preparations for conducting an

internet audit for e-rate category 2 funding reimbursements. Since the

last meeting on September 23, 2016, the Asset team has created an E-

Rate Asset Register as shown on the right. Every reimbursable asset

will be recorded on this register.

The current plan is for the team to log all asset information onto the

register, focusing on Cabling (Presidio), Network Electronics (Presidio),

and Wireless Access Points (Layer3). Leonard is also working with

Hayes, our asset software service provider, to find automated ways of

reporting e-rate assets. Current action items include the following.

CFISD E-Rate Asset Register

Type (Cabling, Switches, WAPS)

Vendor

471 App Number

FRN

Applicant Name

BEN

Fund Year

FRN Service Type

Equipment Description

Serioal

Make

Model

Delivery Date

USAC Invoice #

Install Date

Original Location

Current Location

Replacement Date

Customer Bill Date

Customer Bill #

Bill Amount

Notes

- Give register to Hayes to see if they can automate

- Organize the e-rate funding requests with the e-rate asset register

- Label equipment

Leadership and Vision

Posted by Frankie Jackson, Chief Technology Officer October 14, 2016

District Improvement Plan (DIP)

Strategies, Strengths, and Areas of Need Updated

Ashley Clayburn, Assistant Superintendent of School

Improvement and Accountability, requested Technology Services

update the District Improvement Planning (DIP) documents which

included strengths, areas of need, and strategies for 2016-2017.

Frankie Jackson conducted a needs assessment, reviewed all

goals and strategies, and formulated a response. These were

delivered to Dr. Clayburn on October 14, 2016.

The following is a list of the documents sent:

Strategies

Strengths and Areas of Need

Strategies Areas

of Need

Strengths

Leadership and Vision

Posted by Frankie Jackson, Chief Technology Officer October 13, 2016

Technology Services Coordination with

Curriculum and Instruction (Dr. Macias)

Dr. Macias called a meeting on Thursday, October 13, 2016 to discuss the Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT)

and the process of purchasing instructional technology products. Mary Jadloski and Becky Cook joined the

meeting. Dr. Macias is concerned about the wireless network working as designed. She also expressed the

desire to remove Becky from the purchasing process once the purchase order is approved. She wants Becky to

not concern herself with the technology until it is installed and users are ready to be trained. Frankie was quick

to let the team know that we are working on both of her concerns. Frankie provided the following links, showing

our ongoing improvement initiatives. She assured Dr. Macias that she has Technology Services’ full commitment

to improve. These will be worked as our top priority.

Purchasing related initiatives:

September 22, 2016 Communicating the Status of Technology Purchases in the Delivery Workflow

September 8, 2016 Acquisition Team for Transformation - Purchasing Process

New Purchasing look-ups (we are refining and improving)

Prime Delivery Schedule

Order Status Listing

Wireless related initiatives:

October 6, 2016 Response to Elementary School Cluster Group 4 Concerns

October 5, 2016 Response to Elementary School Cluster Group 7 Concerns

September 16, 2016 Response to Elementary School Cluster Group 1 Concerns

September 14, 2016 Response to Middle School Cluster Group 3 Concerns

Radio Ray

Berry Center Status

Leadership and Vision

Posted by Frankie Jackson, Chief Technology Officer October 14, 2016

Communicating the Status of Technology Purchases in the

Workflow of Delivery of Products

On October 14, 2016, Frankie Jackson met with Kim Bowlin, Jay Johnson,

Carla Kennedy, and Geoff Brown. Also, Becky Cook join the meeting to

explain her concern about having to spend too much time on the purchasing

process. Frankie told the team that she had met with Dr. Macias the previous

day and that Dr. Macias had expressed the desire to remove Becky from the

purchasing process once the purchase order is approved. Dr. Macias wants

Becky to not concern herself with the technology until it is installed and users

are ready to be trained.

NEW:

• Add pending purchase order approvals from (eFinance) to the list of status items from our website so

customers will know what is awaiting approval (Eric, Kim and Geoff)

• Work with Becky to build easy to read formats so campuses will know when technology

product/equipment is scheduled for delivery. Prepare a standard template for the delivery schedule that all

vendors will use. Procomputing has the best example (Geoff and Becky)

• Provide a higher level category for groupings of types of technology product/equipment, e.g. teacher

tools, hovercams, lightspeed. (Geoff)

• Create a new set of actions to determine that equipment has been delivered and inventoried so

equipment can be paid (Kim/Carla)

• Build a process that will notify campuses when equipment is going to be delivered, a week end advance

In this meeting, the team reviewed action items completed from the prior two meetings conducted on September

8th and 22nd 2016. The list of completed items is summarized on the teaming for transformation webpage here.

The following are the new action items resulting from this meeting. The team will work these items as a top priority.

Leadership and Vision

Posted by Frankie Jackson, Chief Technology Officer

Closing Message and Reflection for the Week

October 14, 2016

Be the

Districtthat

Transforms

Education

LEAD in

Providing

World-Class

Quality

K-12 Systems

Core Values

Efficient

Accessible

Systematic

Highly-Skilled

Student-Focused

Service-Oriented

Leadership

We Transform

Education

I was reminded this week about how important it

is to be proactive. “Being proactive rather than

reactive means to control a situation rather than

letting it control you.” We had three teaming for

transformation meetings, all of which were

centered around working on issues that we know are

issues – but are working on the issues to find solutions

before we are told by a customer that we have a problem. In

all three meetings, the issues in the issues we worked, three

customers expressed concerns about those issues. It was

great to show proactive measures are underway – Frankie