Application Rationalization Project: Application Rationalization is a major theme in the IT Evolution@Penn presentation that ISC has been sharing around campus. The six-month initiative includes: 1) identifying ISC’s current list of applications, scoring the applications by collecting information about each, and analyzing the results to produce a current application assessment report; 2) developing a recommendation of the future application portfolio map by considering business drivers, IT strategies, and application strategies; and 3) delivering a roadmap to achieve the recommendation. The outcome of this initiative is focused on improving communications and IT investment planning; lowering risks to constituents and the University; improving the value of IT investment decisions; and guiding cyclical IT planning. Please feel free to contact either Jeanne Curtis or Rosey Nissley if you have any questions. ISC staff canaccess additional details online.
Client Care: Client Care is continuing to expand and improve ISC’s service desk. Over the past year, we made improvements based on client feedback to weekly reports for open trouble tickets, enhanced the service Order Management System, and instituted client satisfaction surveys. We are continuing the process of onboarding more services in a systematic way, to further our goal of providing one place for clients to go for information, ordering, and issues. By the end of this fiscal year, we will onboard BEN Printer Support, Billing, Licensing and Vendor Management, and Project and Service Requests. We are working with our staff to ensure we have a deep understanding about every service ISC supports.
Continuous Improvement: ISC’s Continuous Improvement Program is identifying and removing obstacles which get in the way of achieving our organization’s vision and purpose. ISC staff can access details online.
Human Capital Management Project: The campus-wide Human Capital Management (HCM) project, led by Penn HR, ISC, Finance, and other School and Center leaders, aims to increase Penn’s HR and payroll work efficiency, enhance our ability to be responsive to changes in regulatory and compliance issues, and improve information quality and access. Thus far, we documented four current state HCM processes for both staff and faculty members: Recruit, Hire, Onboard, and Labor Distribution. There were more than 120 participants representing all Penn Schools and Centers. 88 process maps were created and supported with detailed findings.
IT Financial Management: ISC Shared Services recently presented the Apptio application to the Provost and EVP. We discussed the value of the system from the standpoint of transparency and ease of access to repeatable cost data. We are working closely with the Application Rationalization team to provide cost data from Apptio. We have also been working with the Technology Services group to provide service costing information. These discussions have provided clarity of Apptio costing processes, as well as given the ITFM team feedback that will make the data more accurate. In the upcoming months, we will be refining the revenue model and the client invoice, which we expect to pilot at the beginning of the fiscal year.
LastPass: The Institutional Risk Management Committee (IRC) initiative to improve password management took a leap forward with the February release of the LastPasspassword management application. LastPass is a cloud-based, secure password vault that can be accessed whenever and wherever needed. With LastPass, you no longer need to remember all of your passwords, just the master password that unlocks your LastPass account. LastPass includes plugins for web browsers which autofill your login information on websites you frequent, and a mobile app for on-the-go iOS and Android access. LastPass provides a great alternative to the risky practice of reusing passwords on multiple web sites. LastPass is free for Penn faculty, staff, and students to use for both Penn and personal activities on the web. Existing LastPass users can upgrade their individual free accounts to free LastPass Premium accounts. Find more information and sign up for LastPass Premium here.
PennO365: We’re pleased to announce that Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus is now available to all full-time faculty and staff at participating Schools and Centers. Office 365 ProPlus features a full version of Microsoft Office, which includes: Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, Outlook, and more. In addition, we have migrated more than 4,400 accounts for more than a dozen Schools and Centers to PennO365! We plan to complete the migration of about 10,000 remaining accounts by June 30th.
Project Management Office: The launch of the new PMO will offer clients a wide variety of resources for project, program, and process management, as well as planning and productivity tools and techniques. These resources are a part of a new PMO initiative called Penn People Planning Progress (P4). The focus of P4 is helping our clients use technology to transform the way we work together towards greater innovation and efficiencies on campus. Components of P4 include toolkits, training and development, and a wide variety of forums. Two forums have already been launched, Project Xchange and Project Jam. In April, a series of Lunch and Learn sessions will take place in support of the roll out of the new PMO. Please contact Deborah Sartin or a member of the PMO team to learn more.
Service Management: ISC’s new Service Management Process will provide a consistent approach across ISC, allowing us to make more informed and strategic decisions about our work. Our updated list of services will be publically available later this month. ISC staff can access additional details now.
Website: Following a demo to campus clients in February, we are on schedule to launch an expanded services section of our site later this month.