ITS ITANA and Data Center Activities

Looking into the future I think I'm currently involved in two groups that pretty much reflect the crown jewels of the decision makers in IT at Penn State. (Granted there are a few more)

ITS ITANA was modeled by Kevin and Jeff after the national ITANA organization that stands for Information Technology Architects in Academia. The local group is charged with first getting to know each other in terms of their respective organizations and bringing to the table issues and suggestions to improve our collaboration and over time improve our efficiencies in ITS. I think the group is a great mix with no one having any preconceived notions! I think this is a huge plus!

It was interesting that Jeff Reel, Steve Kellogg, Scott Smith and I had already planned to meet but this fits in perfectly with ITANA since all four of us happen to be members. We met for the first time last Friday and it became apparent that even if we don't actually form a sub-committee as part of ITANA that we should continue to meet to discuss issues such as Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity along with just sharing ideas to become more informed and efficient. Not to mention diving deeper into how we may be able to better understand our respective groups and produce services or share spaces that make sense. An example being: Steve and I trading computer spaces for DR. Well at least Steve tried until he figured that the transformer would probably glow a bright red if I plugged my stuff in. Thanks to Jeff Wolfe and Vijay we did some more trading. Isn't that how it's supposed to work, doesn't Penn State sign all of our paychecks?

At any rate that's a perfect segue into talking about the future of our Data Centers at Penn State.

Kevin asked me along with Ian Salada (OPP) to co-chair an RFP committee to commission a study of ALL Penn State data center spaces (yes all). Without going into great detail you can imagine the scope and impact of this project.

IT organizations across Penn State were asked to fill out a survey at the beginning of the calendar year. The data received will be used to help the successful consulting firm gain knowledge about us and our current practices. With that said, it will be somewhat open ended for the consultant to make recommendations regarding future construction, business continuity, tactical and strategic planning to name a few.

I believe this project (along with subsequent activities) (and a LOT of money) will ultimately shape the way Penn State is seen worldwide as an institution positioned to take on the challenges of IT for generations to come.

I'm just happy to be associated with these groups!