Periodic update (2024 March)
News and other updates for early 2024. This is an update on the 2023 December summary, Q very much V.
The Network Programme – Kelvin updates in late 2024 (still) §
The Network Programme is still roughly on schedule. Phase 5 is due to be funded in Q3 of 2024. Though we remain optimistic that the Kelvin Building is high on the list for attention, there are no guarantees. This programme is when Eduroam will be upgraded in the building.
...ie, no change from the last report. This is still broadly on schedule.
Managed laptops – Jamf/‘MyMac’ §
All Apple devices bought by the University are now appearing automatically enrolled in the ‘MyMac’ programme.
College IT §
The ‘transformation’ to a College IT service is due to be live on 1
May 2024. From then, IT support will become a college function, as
opposed to being school-specific. This process includes thoughts
about ‘research computing’ and ‘edtech’. Support will primarily be
via Ivanti, rather than the phas_it
address.
Though the details have yet to be finalised, this will be split into
- Service Delivery (ie, ‘helpdesk’ – ‘it's broken!’): 15–18 people, various grades.
- Service Ooperations (ie, infrastructure, research computing, and software): a dozen people, mostly grades 6 and 7.
- Service Resilience (DevOps, governance, resilience): half a dozen.
- Service Improvement: ‘principal engineers’ x 4.
The new structure includes all of the people currently in school IT roles across the college, and creates some new vacancies.
Other §
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Campus IT Security continue to be very vigilant, and to lack anything which could be mistaken for a sense of humour.
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Ivanti (ie, the Helpdesk system) is the preferred route for requests (go to the campus helpdesk at https://www.gla.ac.uk/helpdesk and search for ‘COSE’). The phas-it@glasgow.ac.uk currently remains a licit route for conversations which are vague or require discussion, but this may become more actively dispreferred as support moves more towards a College service..
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JupyterLab/brutha continues to entertain. We anticipate doing some substantial configuration changes over the summer. JupyterLab is likely to migrate to being a college service at some point, but probably not in time for next session. Given that this does happen, it'll be amongst the first of the activities of the ‘research computing’ element of the College IT service.
Links §
Any questions, phas-it@glasgow.ac.uk
is hanging on the telephone,
awaiting your call.
Norman