Monthly Archives: June 2012

Invisible IT

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For regular users it would be ideal if IT would, to coin a phrase, ‘just work.’ Most of the time it does and everyone uses the system quite happily with no real knowledge of the effort it takes to provide them with a PC and network that does what they require. However, there are still many instances where manual intervention is required and people have to start ‘noticing’ their IT support provision (e.g. why should users, who are already authenticated to their login session have to re-authenticate to post to an on-Campus blog site – SSO please!)

In an ‘ideal world’ they should only have to contact their IT support if they need access to something that is not a regular part of their setup. If they are fully trained and can work to a well constructed set of procedures then the need to contact the help desk should be minimal and they would be able to install applications at the click of a mouse.

In a ‘pie-in-the-sky world’ they shouldn’t need to contact the service desk when something goes wrong, hopefully (a) because nothing would go wrong with their software and operating system, or (b) because the infrastructure will already have identified that there is a problem with their system.

Pie in the sky is still a way off for regular environments, but the ideal world isn’t quite so far away. In our office, Ian came up with the idea of a web page detailing what Applications were available to the user with a point and click front-end and, perhaps, a Powershell back-end that would apply them – a Campus type of ‘App Store’. As for the setup, training and procedures, then why not? The Digital Campus initiative will hopefully provide us with a decent starting block on the way to an ideal world supported by (mostly) invisible IT.

Digital Literacy 1

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As I understand it, the drive for Digital Literacy within the Digital Campus Initiative is so that everyone in the University is able to use their IT resources with the minimum of fuss and effort but, at the same time, in such a way that security and resiliency standards are maintained at the highest levels.

In order to accomplish this the things that they are expected to do and the procedures they are expected to follow should make their job easier to do and not be a chore or a faff.

It will fall to the University’s IT setup to ensure that this is the case. IT staff will be the most likely candidates to guide users in best practice as they may be the ones who develop the tools and procedures in the first place.

For example, a regular user would probably balk at having to complete five different stages of preparation if they simply want to (securely) send a document within an email, if there were a simple process that allowed this, at the press of a button, then they will be much more likely to adhere to the procedures. It is up to NU-IT staff to ensure that such a button exists and that it works first time and that it works every time.

Another example is global us of single-sign on. SSO should be employed Campus-wide – saving users an authentication stage is another rung on the ladder to making the job easier.

Training will be a necessity, however this doesn’t have to be formal SDU sessions, it can be quick clinics or workshops showing people how simple the processes can be.

Above all, if a policy is mandatory then it should be applied with as much help and guidance as possible, otherwise it is likely to be ignored or only partially followed (either that, or the ‘mandatory’ part will need enforcing with a big stick – and if a big stick is necessary then perhaps the Education drive has failed).

Some regular things that should be simple (and should be made to be so):

  • Digital Signing of emails.
  • Encrypting/decrypting files to a consistent, universal standard
  • Promulgation of documents in open formats.
  • Arranging meetings and booking rooms for them at the same time.
  • Backing up and recovery.
  • Requesting help and guidance.
This list is not exhaustive but touches on the things that we’ll need to consider.