At a virtual town hall meeting in July, CIO Jessie Minton presented an overview of the EUA project team’s recommendations for rationalizing the university’s purchasing, development, hosting, management, support, and use of software applications and services, along with her own recommendations for further analysis and implementation.
Below is an overview.
The following documents are also available on this website:
Some Key Findings
- Over 1,170 applications are currently in use at the UO.
- The aggregate annual cost of that software is $8.9 million, excluding staffing.
- Custom development work occurs in 31 departments.
- There is a lack of process to review potential software purchases for duplication with existing services, compatibility with campus architecture, or security.
Summary of EUA Project Team Recommendations
- Where possible, enterprise applications should be hosted, supported, managed and purchased in an enterprise manner — i.e., centrally by Information Services.
- Work underway to develop governance and consultation processes for application purchasing through Information Services should be completed.
- Separate projects should be initiated to assess viability and consolidate applications by category where possible, starting with clear opportunities, including completing consolidation projects already underway and shifting usage to existing enterprise solutions where available.
- The application catalog started by this project should be developed into a dynamic resource with ongoing maintenance.
Moving Forward on Clear Opportunities
The following areas were identified as clear opportunities based on priority, ease of implementation, or existence of relevant projects or services.
Information Services will now begin assessing the availability of IT staff and campus stakeholders to participate in a series of projects as detailed below to further analyze and implement changes in these areas.
Implementation efforts may involve the reorganization of IT staff who support applications in some categories.
Purchased Software
Pursue opportunities to consolidate applications through existing projects and services, and initiate a limited selection of new projects to meet unmet campus needs, including:
- Continuing the CRM program and migrating all possible functions to the recently purchased Slate platform in a phased process after the initial Slate implementation for undergraduate and graduate admissions.
- Continuing the Communications and Collaborative Technologies (CCT) Program, consolidating around enterprise solutions where possible:
- Videoconferencing (Zoom and Teams)
- Office productivity (Office 365 and Dropbox)
- Telecom applications (TBD)
- Working with campus partners to migrate all room and event scheduling to EMS, the existing enterprise application.
- Acquiring enterprise password management application approved by Information Security Office.
- Developing a model for trainings and tutorials about software, building on HR’s current effort to replace Skillport eLearning.
Custom Software Development
Initiate a project to explore consolidation of custom software development at the UO, addressing:
- Supportability;
- Consistency of tools and technologies used;
- University prioritization, agility, and availability of alternatives;
- Application security;
- Establishment of best practices for development, intake, business analysis, quality assurance, and testing;
- Understanding and scaling to demand.
Application Catalog and Consultation
Initiate a project to formalize a dynamic application catalog, including:
- Identifying, developing, or acquiring tools and methods for creating a public application catalog that will be seeded with data from the EUA project.
- Integrating information from development staff, purchasing systems, network discovery tools, and license servers/usage APIs.
- Creating a related model for consultation services about applications to avoid future security risks and duplication of purchases.
Looking Ahead
The following application categories are also important to address in the coming years, but will require more partnership:
- Databases, data, and analytics, including our Oracle databases
- Project management
- Time and attendance
- Facilities, building automation, and work management
- Web content management
- Printing management
- Enterprise applications currently managed by a single unit other than IS
Melody Riley, who will join the university on Sept. 21 as associate CIO for applications and middleware, will lead this effort going forward.
The completion of this important assessment brings this Transform IT project to a close.
The future projects outlined here won’t fall under the Transform IT umbrella, though they will certainly continue to transform technology at the University of Oregon.
If you have any questions, please email transformit@uoregon.edu.