Voluntary centralization of user support in a de-centralized organization

Borkowski, Ellen Yu; Elvove, Jay; Higgins, Christopher; Kueppers, Sonja

doi:10.1145/1027802.1027877

Cited by 2 publications

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“…University of Maryland, College Park, provides centrally managed IT staff to units [1]. Tulane has experimented with a mixed approach as well, with centrally managed IT staff located within some units, but we believe that it is important to maintain unit IT organizations in some of our larger schools, in particular, our business, public health, and law schools [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decentralized and centralized it support at Tulane University

Gerace

Jean

Krob

2007

Proceedings of the 35th Annual ACM SIGUCCS Fall Conference

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The decentralized-versus centralized-computing debate has raged for years; a survey of SIGUCCS papers and presentations from the past 25 years will confirm that fact. A new paradigm is emerging at Tulane University -a collaborative approach in which decentralized IT groups work with central IT to implement university-wide projects.One such project was Tulane's recent successful implementation of Exchange. Key to the success of this major university-wide change was the inclusion of 2 major decentralized computing groups -the Law School and the Business School --as pilot projects. These groups, both from academic departments, brought a new view to the project planning table.This paper describes how this new collaborative approach has worked at Tulane, how it came about, what has worked (and what has not worked), and how such an approach provides a foundation for future benefits.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decentralized and centralized it support at Tulane University

Gerace

Jean

Krob

2007

Proceedings of the 35th Annual ACM SIGUCCS Fall Conference

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“…For many small US and international colleges and universities, introducing new computing programs and courses typically implies developing additional computing labs to support these programs. However, in developing these labs, the institutions normally encounter significant obstacles, such as budgetary constraints, lack of physical space to house the labs, conflicting computing support needs of different courses, and rapid obsolescence of technology (Borkowski, Elvove, Higgins & Kueppers, 2004;Jones, Tunc & Cherry, 2000;Lovgren, 2001;Madison, 2002;Walters, 1993;Wilson 2002). These obstacles become even more pronounced in the case of dedicated computing labs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Designing a Versatile Dedicated Computing Lab to Support Computer Network Courses: Insights from a Case Study

Gercek

Saleem

2006

JITE:Research

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Executive SummaryProviding adequate computing lab support for Management Information Systems (MIS) and Computer Science (CS) programs is a perennial challenge for most academic institutions in the US and abroad. Factors, such as lack of physical space, budgetary constraints, conflicting needs of different courses, and rapid obsolescence of computing technology, precipitate this challenge. While introductory computing courses can be adequately supported through general labs, advanced computing courses typically require dedicated labs. Normally, however, even a dedicated lab must simultaneously support multiple courses with diverse support requirements. Consequently, in designing dedicated computing labs, versatility and flexibility of the lab must be the prime consideration. Drawing on the insights gained from developing a dedicated lab, the authors present a model for developing a versatile, flexible lab to support computer network courses.The proposed model entails a modular design approach which offers ease of management, configuration and upgrading of the lab by decoupling the lab functions into layers. The layered design divides the lab into four management layers: (1) wiring layer, (2) networking layer, (3) server systems layer, and (4) support procedures layer. Each layer offers a versatile and configurable design and serves as a foundation for the next higher layer.Wiring layer minimizes the wire configuration efforts and enhances wiring flexibility by utilizing patch panels at the computer desks and the racks housing networking devices, and sufficient underground wiring between desks and racks. The underground wiring allows for network, telephone and serial cable connections as needed. Network layer builds LANs, subnets and internets with minimal configuration effort through a careful arrangement of network hubs, switches, routers, and firewalls. The network layer distinguishes between permanent networks needed in the lab, called pre-configured networks, and the networks that are assembled and disassembled by the students, called configurable networks. The network address allocation schemes for different types of network experiments are also discussed.Server systems layer covers two categories of servers: pre-configured servers and configurable servers. Pre-configured servers, such as DNS and file servers, are production servers that support network experiments. Configurable servers are hardware platforms that can be configured as needed according to experimental needs. The last layer, procedural layer, provides policies, guidelines and operational procedures that are needed Material published as part of this journal, either on-line or in print, is copyrighted by the Informing Science Institute. Permission to make digital or paper copy of part or all of these works for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that the copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage AND that copies 1) bear this notice in full and 2) give the full citation on the first page. It is per...

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Voluntary centralization of user support in a de-centralized organization

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Decentralized and centralized it support at Tulane University

Decentralized and centralized it support at Tulane University

Designing a Versatile Dedicated Computing Lab to Support Computer Network Courses: Insights from a Case Study

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