The Ides of March are upon us.
Big news this month is the planned opening of the second floor of Hale with 99 computers, five printers, a book scanner, lots of study space and the combined Library and IT Help Desks. Updates are organized by the strategic goals within the IT Strategic Plan.
The Deputy CIOs are reengineering their respective units. The overarching organizational chart is available here.
Goal: Modernize Infrastructure
- Upgrade the university network
- Networking and Telecommunications Services (NTS) is laser focused on completing networking for the second floor of Hale. The Baseball Stadium network upgrades were completed in time for the double-header on Feb 28. A few of the other projects NTS is working on includes:
- Wireless upgrades in Ackert and Large Animal facility.
- The south end zone expansion of Bill Snyder Family Stadium and other athletic venues.
- Networking and Telecommunications Services (NTS) is laser focused on completing networking for the second floor of Hale. The Baseball Stadium network upgrades were completed in time for the double-header on Feb 28. A few of the other projects NTS is working on includes:
- Modernize the data center
- Progress continues on our cloud first strategy and 406 virtual machines remain to be migrated.
- VM migrations from HP Cluster and vBlock are on track with plans to off the HP Cluster by April 1, 2020.
- In progress and upcoming migrations: critical services on the HP Cluster, ImageNow, and K-State web pages
- Upcoming projects includes removal of unused/retired equipment
- Develop the cloud and hosted computing strategy
- Cloud Center of Excellence minutes and other information is available on the Cloud Center of Excellence webpage (eID/password required). Amanda Tross and Kurt Zoglmann serve as co-chairs. Goals for 2020 are in progress.
- >For the ERP systems, >maintenance and database upgrades are scheduled for the HRIS and KSIS systems from 10 p.m., Sat., March 14, through noon, Sun., March 15. Both HRIS and KSIS will not be accessible during the maintenance.
- For the webMethods transaction hub, progress is continuing to move to the hosted SoftwareAG iPaaS solution
- Continued knowledge and progress on cloud cost optimization
- Upcoming: Oracle database upgrades for KSIS, HRIS, uAchieve, and Undergraduate Admissions Application
Goal: Re-architect Enterprise Applications
- Define and implement enterprise customer relationship (CRM) strategy.
- CRM project – A Town Hall meeting was held March 2. More information is here.
- Identify tool(s) for enterprise-wide forms management.
- ImageNow contract has been signed.
- Goal: Improve Enterprise Security
Updated password requirements will be released March 26. Following that date, the next time a K-Stater changes their password, they will follow the new guidelines.
Comparison of Phishing Scams and Compromised eIDs
| YTD 2020 | YTD 2019 | YTD 2018 | |
| Compromised eIDs | 148 | 97 | 78 |
| Phishing scams | 244 | 237 | 102 |
| Phishing scam tickets processed | 712 | 591 | 369 |
ITS Staff
The IT Help Desk (~five FTEs and 26 students) will be moving from the Cat’s Pause Lounge to the second floor of Hale for the combined Library/IT Help Desks. Thank you to the K-State Student Union who has graciously housed us for almost two years. Remaining in the Union will be the Network Operations Center, equipment checkout and the Client Services team. An IT Help Desk student will be located at the Union first floor service desk.
