The Office of Technology and Information Services (OTIS) mission is to support the business operations of the many units which make up the University of Texas System Administration. We work to provide technology which enhances or simplifies these services.
Recent Accomplishments
Over the past quarter OTIS has focused on improvements in communication, completing the network upgrade to remote offices and completing 2007 goals. Some recent highlights:
Service Enhancements
- Standardized communication template and increased proactive notifications of interested parties on technology changes and issues
- Directly connected remote offices to the UT System Administration network through routers, eliminating the need for the use of VPN through those sites.
- Implemented a new spam filter called Ironport
- Completed Project Listing tools for the Chancellor’s Office, the Audit Office and the VC for Administration
- Created portal for the tools used by the Office of General Counsel
Security Enhancements
- Completed of security policy update and revisions to Operations Manual to align with System-wide policy
- Conducted tabletop test of the Disaster Recovery Plan
- Installed new network border devices that improved security while improving the bandwidth and user experience through the Virtual Private Network (VPN).
- Completed new Change Management tool
- Rolled out Safeboot to all UT System Administration computers
Projects in Progress
- Voice over IP (VoIP) - A replacement phone service is in the proposal review phase.
- Annual Information Resources Security Training – The classes and online training for all UT System Administration employees on the new UTS165 policy is underway.
- Storage system redesign - Storing of documents and email continue to grow astronomically and the amount of storage devices needed have to be reconsidered and rearchitected. This work is progressing.
- Implementation of Exchange 2007 – Outlook is being updated with more and better features.
- Implementation of SharePoint 2007 – The new SharePoint service will be up this fall and sites will be gradually transfered to this new environment. It has much better features and more opportunities to improve our environment.
- New OTIS Support site – A new Knowledge Management tool with a link to Support Desk tickets is being implemented and will be launched over the next few months.
- Automated AUP – The Annual signing of the Acceptable Use Policy will be released in January.
- Working with TMDSAS on RFP for new school application software.
- Working with OES on new Performance Management purchased software integration.
Projects in the Near Future
- Office 2007
- Computer Refresh 2008
- Improved password complexity to comply with Federation requirements
- Improved Onboarding processes for new employees
