Case Study - Staff Email

Brightsolid online technology specialises in the cloud delivery of business critical applications.  The Dundee based company currently host our staff email; delivering a secure, fully managed and hosted hybrid cloud environment.  Find out more here:

http://www.brightsolid.com/assets/images/PDFs/Case%20Study%20St%20Andrews%20Uni.pdf

 

 

Ofcom report on communications

In 2011 Ofcom produced their first report on the state of the UK communications infrastructure following a requirement to do so by the Digital Economy Act 2010. The report was updated in 2012. This is a very fast moving area with the 4G rollout, superfast broadband and a variety of new digital broadcast services only a few of the current programmes underway. For anyone with an interest in this area the report is well worth a read. I've a specific interest in the Scottish perspective as a resilient and fast communications infrastructure is vital in underpinning the sharing of services across organisations or to support different ways of working for University staff and students. A link to the report is provided below.

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/telecoms-research/bbspeeds2011/infrastructure-report.pdf

Office of the Future

In developing a strategy ive been looking further at what the Office of the Future might look like and in looking around it looks like there is significant change in workplace design and indeed a move towards no fixed office space.

There is a growing trend towards more "touch down" spaces which are becoming more common in all verticals.  Also there is a recognition that workplace design is crucial whether this be in a fixed, mobile or flexible approach.

Significantly to cater for the 1.3 billion mobile workers predicted by 2015 (IDC Group) several large hotel chains are introducing work spaces and its quite clear that hotels are no longer just places to sleep. For example Marriott have introduced “Workspace on demand”, Westin have introduced "Tangent" and Hilton also a similar solution. In all cases power provision is key along with decent WiFi along with flexible furnishings etc. Likewise in Higher Education there is a growth in flexible learning spaces.

With regards to fixed office space there is also some major changes in the way some organisations are approaching this.  From my research ive found that Office Space is the second largest cost for most companies and its generally only used one third of the time. Accenture is one organisation that has abandoned permanent offices in favour of a more mobile. Interestingly management consultants have predicted for a while the demise of office space however I think technology is only really caught up in the last year or so making this approach more workable. Although there have been many successful home working programmes true mobility is only really become possible as WiFi has become more ubiquitous and more devices small and personalised.

With the roll out of 4G and a move towards wireless network roaming the next 12 months will again provide more technological underpinning of mobile working placing very different demands on IT departments. The need for a changing model of service delivery has never been greater.

 

Enterprise Mobility Summit - 11th June 2013

I recently particpitated in a Panel Discussion at the Computing Enterprise Mobility event in London. The topic was - Enterprise of the future - what will the office of the future look like?

This is a question that is relevant to all industries and may even need the term "office" defined as it can mean different things to different people especially as the workforce continues to become more mobile and our personal and work lives merge.

 The Panel focussed on the following questions and the views were interesting!

• Which is the primary work device of the future - desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone, ultrabook, hybrid or some combination of all of these?
• Will touch-screen functionality migrate to desktop and laptop platforms?
• How does a bespoke Enterprise App Store benefit businesses?
• Will a user-centric EMM strategy help to increase security and reduce costs?

In higher education I'm generally seeing a tablet device being used as a supplementary device to a fixed pc or laptop and the smartphone becoming the norm for students to own. At present touch screen technology is moving rapidly to become dominant on laptops however other than in the consumer market I'm not seeing this moving to the fixed desktop pc environment. 

There appears to be wide spread adoption of EMM across a range of industries primarily to manage an end user tablet or smartphone within the organisations specific policies. 

I'm watching this area with interest as ever as its moving at a pace which impacts on the supporting backend infrastructure. Likewise from a facilities perspective there is an increasing move towards demands for touchdown areas with power and flexible learning spaces rather than what has traditionally being provided.

Byte Night 2013

This year, a team from IT Services at the University of St Andrews (including myself!) are taking part in Byte Night to raise much needed funds for Action for Children.

Byte Night is the IT industry's annual sleep out in support of Action for Children. Each year hundreds of individuals and teams from across the technology and business community spend a night exposed to the elements in a bid to raise sponsorship and awareness of Action for Children's work to help prevent youth homelessness. Action for Children helps to prevent youth homelessness through early intervention by ensuring that young people across the UK are given the support they need before it's too late.

Your support would be greatly appreciated!  We have a fundraising target of £2500.  The 'sleep-out' takes place in Edinburgh on 4th October 2013. 

To sponsor us, please go to our fundraising page: 
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=StAndrewsITS&isTeam=true

To find out more about Byte Night and the work of Action for Children, please go to:
http://www.bytenight.org.uk/

Thank you!

Holyrood's 2nd ICT Conference: 18/19th June 2013

Last month we submitted two entries for the inaugral Holyrood Connect Awards which take place in June. 

“The Awards aim to recognise, promote and commend the significant achievements of public sector ICT professionals in Scotland. The Awards aim to encourage practitioners to develop innovative and creative ICT solutions, sharing best practice and rewarding innovation and progress for ICT initiatives that are really working.”  Will Peakin, Editor of Connect Magazine

 

http://www.holyroodconnect.com/awards

We're delighted that both of our entries have been shortlisted, which is again testimony to my staff who deserve this recognition. 

· Green Award – Effective use of ICT to deliver environmental benefits (shortlist:  SEPA, Scottish Government and University of St Andrews). 

· Project Delivery Award - Service Desk Institute Certification (shortlist:  South Lanarkshire Council, Visit Scotland, East Lothian Council and the University of St Andrews). 

The awards ceremony takes place on 18^th June 2013 in Glasgow – and forms part of the ICT Connect Conference on 18/19 June 2013, which I'm looking forward to attending. 

http://connectict2013.holyrood.com/

 

Computing Enterprise Mobility Summit - 11 June 2013

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.computingsummit.com/mobility/static/agenda

 

I'm delighted to have been asked to participate in this years Computing Enterprise Mobility Summit in London in June. 

 

Adapting and keeping up with the pace of change can be a real challenge and the growth in this area will change the IT landscape as we know it. 

 

In a University environment it's difficult to shape the strategy in terms of enterprise mobility - as the students will bring whatever device they choose - and will have an expectation that we'll support it.  So our strategy has to be to - flexibility.   In that context, BYOD nothing new to IT professionals in universities - we're good at that with students, but for staff it's a big issue in terms of security of data. 

 

From a business point of view - for support staff, teaching staff and researchers, etc,  CYOD (Choose Your Own Device) can present more of a challenge.  The ideal model - give staff a small range of devices they can use and tell them these are the platforms we'll support.   Easy!  The reality is very different!  

 

At St Andrews, we're becoming a more collaborative and mobile workforce - and there are a range of platforms out there that can enhance the way we work together and make us more efficient - or just make us available 24x7??

 

The increasing use of Mobile Apps to interface with core business systems is driving a direction towards the handheld device becoming the critical business tool going forward - whether it be a smartphone, mini tablet or something in between - this has yet to be seen.  

 

The agenda for the Enterprise Mobility event is excellent and I'm very much looking forward to taking part. 
 

Panel: "Enterprise of the Future: Office of the Future"

On my panel, I'll be alongside the CTO of the BBC, the Head of IT for Shelter UK and the Director of IM & T for Royal Free Hospital, London.  I'm sure it will be a fascinating discussion. 

 

http://www.computingsummit.com/mobility/speakers