IST General Information Session

1. IST General Information Session Prof. Anthony C. Masi Vice-Principal (Information Systems and Technology) Presentation to the Librarian Staff Group 10 December 2003 10 December 2002

2. Vision Information Systems and Technology (IST) at McGill: • supports McGill’s mission by striving to operate from a clients’ perspective • guarantees accessible and effective computing and communications resources • assists individuals and units at the University to be more productive, creative, and self-sufficient • provides reliable and effective central expertise to enable Faculties to obtain the most from their computing resources • acts as one unit, logistically organised into separate but collaborative departments 10 December 2002

3. Keywords for IST units • Quality: IST designs products, provides support and services to meet McGill community needs • Accountability: ISTmakes and delivers on its commitments and is fiscally responsible with the University’s resources • Client-focused: IST is professional, helpful, and courteous in providing products, services, and support and measures its success by the success of its clients • Value-added: IST enables McGill people to excel in teaching, research, and community service • Agility and responsiveness: IST actively engages McGill people to discover needs for new products, support, and services, and works with vendors and others in post-secondary education to meet these needs • Integrity: IST does what it says and its actions reflect the values of respect and honesty in dealing with itself and with others 10 December 2002

4. Achieving the vision IST units and staff as primary stakeholders in the mission of the University: • are leaders and technical innovators • engage customers in planning and executing their work, and continuously gauge their progress against benchmarks defined by customer requirements • recognise that their success depends on meeting or exceeding their customers’ expectations • are well-informed of trends in higher education and in the IS/IT industry • are trusted, respected, and key stakeholders in designing the goals and objectives for information technology and systems developments at McGill • are team-focused and process-based in meeting challenging and exciting work opportunities 10 December 2002

5. Achieving the vision (continued) IST organisations and staffers: • work in teams with functional experts on information systems and technology processes and practices to create computer efficient and elegant solutions that are optimised from a client’s perspective • have freedom of appropriate action to accomplish mandated tasks and objectives and are accountable for results • are recognised for their achievements and ready to improve by accepting constructive criticism • are provided with the tools and support to be successful • are given projects for which a value-added outcome is self-evident • are encouraged to build larger successes on the basis of smaller ones 10 December 2002

6. Striving for a balanced approach 10 December 2002

7. VP-IST Mission Statement The Office of the VP-IST supports McGill’s core mission and serves McGill students, faculty, academic, administrative support staff, alumni, and friends by: • identifying, sponsoring, co-ordinating, and guaranteeing the delivery of user-centered information systems and services to the University community • encouraging, co-ordinating, and guaranteeing data and systems infrastructures that are technically sound, secure, state of the art, financially viable, and poised for future developments • balancing the best of today’s practices with strategic planning that takes into consideration life-cycle times for products and services and that ensures long-term flexibility, cost-effectiveness, growth, and renewal of resources 10 December 2002

8. IST Organization 10 December 2002

9. Client Services Mission Statement Client Services implements the strategies and policies established by the Office of the VP-IST by: • serving as the bridge between the general University community and the IST technical experts • being the primary and first point of contact for IST help and problem resolution • providing the University community with high quality and focused levels of support services via the help desk, PC support, and training and documentation services 10 December 2002

10. Client Services Organization 10 December 2002

11. Client Services Goals and Objectives • continuously improve support for the users of services provided by IST • engage clients by providing a “Client Services Policy” that defines the support services to be offered • define performance objectives against which service levels can be measured and monitored • provide a single interface to support consumers of centralized IST services within the University community 10 December 2002

12. Client Services Integrated Support Services • a unit with dedicated focus on the provision of support services • individuals who provide first-line maintenance will be managed by one director who is enthusiastic, focused, responsible, and accountable only for support services • by reporting directly to the VP-IST the new unit and its director will give the provision of support services a central role in IS/IT decision-making at McGill • creation of the new unit is an acknowledgement of the importance of client/customer support services • and, the staff of ISR, NCS, ICC and the Libraries Systems Office will focus their effort on their core competencies, and will provide tier-two and tier-three help 10 December 2002