Announcements

Microsoft Office 365 users will now see additional tiles in their list of applications.  OneDrive and Office Online (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote) are now available for use from a browser.  For more information, visit:  office365.stanford.edu

Dear Colleagues,

As you are all aware, information security remains a shared concern and plays an important part in protecting university assets and personal privacy. To strengthen this protection, in January 2014 the university established a requirement to verifiably encrypt all employee Windows and Macintosh laptops/desktops used on the campus network by May 31, 2015 (with limited exceptions for special research equipment). More than 24,000 of these computers are now encrypted, and I deeply appreciate your participation in this effort.

The theft and loss of devices has been (and will continue to be) a common occurrence, and if these devices are not encrypted, the consequences to the university can be highly time consuming and expensive. Fortunately, modern encryption technology provides robust protection for both Stanford data and personal information, with virtually no downside.

What's new?

We are now entering the next phase of the encryption initiative where we are: 1) requiring verifiable encryption of Apple and Android mobile devices that are used by employees on the campus network; and 2) restricting access to the campus network from unencrypted laptops, desktops, and mobile devices that are subject to the requirements. This phase will be rolled out over the next few months. With more than 12,000 employee mobile devices already verifiably encrypted using AirWatch (Stanford's mobile device security solution), we are well on the way to completion on the mobile front.

What should you do first?

As an important first step, please visit our new "My Devices" website (mydevices.stanford.edu) to see a list of the computers that Stanford's records indicate are currently associated with you, along with their compliance statuses. If you see a device that is no longer in use or no longer associated with you, simply click the "Remove" button. You can find more information about each device by clicking on the link in the Model column.

What happens next?

On October 20, we will begin a rolling deployment of the mobile device encryption requirement and the unencrypted laptop/desktop/mobile device network restrictions, progressively including all employees over several months. When your time comes, we will notify you by email, and you will have a 30-day grace period to encrypt any non-compliant devices. A 30-day grace period also applies to any new devices as well as those that fall out of compliance. We will send you weekly reminders listing these non-compliant devices and the remaining grace period days for each. The emails will refer you to My Devices and our Encryption website (encrypt.stanford.edu) for instructions explaining what to do and how to get help if needed.

What's not new?

Visitors to Stanford and employees with personal devices not used for Stanford business can use the guest wireless network without having to meet the encryption requirements. Meanwhile, the long-standing University policy to verifiably encrypt all devices storing HIPAA and other High Risk data (dataclass.stanford.edu), regardless of ownership or where they are used, remains unchanged. In special cases where specific research computing systems cannot be encrypted and no High Risk data is involved, exceptions can be requested.

The tools provided to assist you in the encryption process and subsequently periodically verify the compliance status of your devices have long been in use at Stanford, and we are committed to full transparency regarding the operation of these systems. VLRE, one of the newer tools developed in-house, is an encryption verification option for laptops and desktops where High Risk data is not involved. To validate its functionality, the source code was reviewed by Stanford's Computer Science department. You can find information about what data is collected by SWDE/BigFix, VLRE, and AirWatch. We specifically do not collect user content (email, calendar events, contacts, instant messages, personal files, etc), passwords, or GPS location information from devices using these tools.

Where can you find more information?

Your starting point for information security is security.stanford.edu, where you can quickly find links to the My Devices and Encryption websites along with a copy of this memo.

Thank you for supporting this important privacy and security initiative.

Sincerely,

Randy Livingston
VP of Business Affairs

Mac OS X version 10.11 is now live.  Before upgrading to the new version, please review the University IT compatibility page.
Note that the OpenAFS client is not compatible with OS X 10.11.  If you upgrade you will need to use the web client or SFTP to access AFS.

University IT is a collaborative partnership of the three IT units within Stanford’s Business Affairs organization, all dedicated to delivering world-class service and technological solutions in support of research, teaching and learning, administration, and healthcare.

The September issue of the University IT newsletter is now available.

During the summer and early autumn, University IT will be deploying an upgrade to Stanford's Anti-Malware Service for faculty, staff, and student laptops and desktops. Learn more about Stanford Anti-Malware.

University IT begins migrating Stanford's email and calendar system from Zimbra to Microsoft Office 365 this month. The five scheduled rollouts will take place on July 13, July 20, July 27, Aug. 3, and Aug. 10. 

Visit the Office 365 service page for more information on Office 365 and how to prepare for the migration. For additional news and updates on the project, visit the Office 365 news page. 

University IT is a collaborative partnership of the three IT units within Stanford’s Business Affairs organization, all dedicated to delivering world-class service and technological solutions in support of research, teaching and learning, administration, and healthcare.

The June issue of the University IT newsletter is now available.

University IT is a collaborative partnership of the three IT units within Stanford’s Business Affairs organization, all dedicated to delivering world-class service and technological solutions in support of research, teaching and learning, administration, and healthcare.

The May issue of the University IT newsletter is now available.

Important!  The new Google Chrome browser version 42 and higher will no longer work with live Blue Jeans meetings.  If you try to join a Blue Jeans meeting in Chrome v42 and higher, Blue Jeans will redirect the meeting from your Chrome browser to your operating system's pre-installed browser (Mac=Safari, Windows=Internet Explorer, or Linux=Firefox). Click here for more details.

Drupal community support for Drupal 6 is expected to end soon. For information security reasons, University IT strongly recommends migrating Drupal 6 sites to Drupal 7 as soon as possible rather than waiting until support for Drupal 6 ends.

Migrating your site to Drupal 7 is not an automated process and could take up to several weeks or months, depending on the size of your site. Read more information on how to migrate your Drupal 6 site to Drupal 7.

Beginning on February 25th, you will be prompted for two-step authentication when logging into the Stanford Virtual Private Network (VPN).  For more information and instructions, please see http://vpn.stanford.edu/twostep.

Stanford University Libraries (SUL) is updating the method by which authorized community members access restricted journals from off-campus.

Rather than using Stanford's VPN (Virtual Private Network),  SUL wants community members to use its EZProxy service:

http://library.stanford.edu/using/connect-campus/ezproxy-alternative-campus-access

The community is encouraged to use this new method immediately.

This is a notification that the Drupal community will stop releasing updates for Drupal 6 sites about three months after the release of Drupal 8, which is likely to be released in the next year. University IT will continue to test and provide updates to Drupal 6 sites through the upgrade tool as long as the Drupal community releases them. While University IT will not support any new Drupal 6 installs through the Collaboration Tools Installer, University IT will not take down any existing Drupal 6 sites.

University IT strongly recommends upgrading to Drupal 7 soon and not waiting until after Drupal 8 is released. Stanford faculty, staff, and students who are interested in starting a Drupal site are encouraged to use Stanford Sites, a self-service tool for building Drupal 7 websites.

For more information on navigating to Drupal 7, see Moving From Drupal 6 to Drupal 7.

On Saturday morning, December 13, 2014, the appearance of Stanford WebLogin changes to align with the University Identity guidelines.  Additionally, two-step authentication is updated with new and better methods for obtaining your two-step authentication code.  For more information, visit:  Two-Step Authentication.

Stanford University suspends operations, where feasible, during the winter holiday season, 5 p.m. Friday, December 19, 2014 through Friday, January 2, 2015. Accordingly, many University IT offices will close or provide limited support during winter closure. We will resume full support on Monday, January 5, 2015 at 8 a.m.

More information about service orders, support, and system outages is available at itwinterclosure.stanford.edu.

Note: Monitoring and support for critical services will be maintained throughout winter closure.

On Sunday, November 16, 2014, the SMS text message codes you receive for your Two-Step Authentication will increase from 6 digits to 7 digits.  Additionally, you will receive the message from a 313 area code (previously 650). 

University IT is tremendously excited to let you know that the lynda.com service is now available for free at Stanford.

Thanks in part to the generous support of many campus partners, Stanford faculty, staff, and students can start using this highly-respected service to spur their learning and development, as well as get just-in-time help on subjects that include business, design, digital media, web development, and so much more. There are over 3,000 titles "chunked" into short topic-based videos that your colleagues can access at their convenience, 24x7.

To get started, faculty, staff, and students to go to:

• lynda.stanford.edu (to find out a little more)
• Universit IT's Lynda service page (to find out even more) or
• lynda.stanford.edu/login (to start using the service)

Those already using lynda.com will have the option of merging their existing account information into their Stanford account. New users can simply create their Stanford account. Any additional support is available easily from the lynda.com resources available at the site.
 

Registration for the Stanford IT Unconference taking place on October 30th, 2014 is now open. Learn more and register at https://itunconference.stanford.edu

As part of the Converged Communication package, BlueJeans audio/video conferencing service is now available to all current faculty, staff, and students at no cost.  To access your BlueJeans account, go to stanford.bluejeans.com and log in with your Stanford SUNet ID. Upcoming training sessions are available. See the BlueJeans training schedule for more information.  For more information, visit:  videoconferencing.stanford.edu.

ReportMart1 users take note: A new reporting tool is now available for data reporting and analysis.

As part of the university’s initiative to modernize business reporting on campus, the ReportMart1 reporting system was retired on July 31, 2014. All reports currently run out of the ReportMart1 portal have been migrated to Stanford's Oracle Business Intelligence (BI) reporting portal.

The Stanford BI portal provides a full range of reporting and analysis tools in an easy-to-use interface. In addition to published reports, users have access to interactive dashboards, ad-hoc queries, and dynamic search tools.

Getting Access to the BI Portal

Access to the BI portal is authorized via the Authority Manager application by the respective department stakeholders.  ​

Go to the BI portal and use your SUNet ID and password to login. Mac users will not need to use Connect/Citrix to access the BI portal. See the Browser Recommendations page for more information about supported browsers.

Training

AS offers an Introduction to the Stanford BI Portal (AS-6005) class via STARS monthly.

For those unable to attend a BI portal training class, a quick start guide is available.

Getting Help

If you require assistance or more information about the BI portal, please submit a HelpSU request.

On June 21, 2014, Stanford will change the addressing scheme of its free, self-service web hosting environment from www.stanford.edu to web.stanford.edu. More information is available.

The Internet is abuzz with news of the "Heartbleed" bug that affected the security of the majority of web servers in the world, as well as other computer systems that rely on OpenSSL code. This bug is serious, but its immediate impact at Stanford is not cause for alarm.

In an era of identity theft and cyber crime, information security is one of the most pressing issues facing higher education institutions today. The eNews recently sat down with Armand Capote, senior director of Infrastructure and Architecture in Administrative Systems, to discuss what measures AS is taking to fortify and protect Stanford’s administrative application infrastructure. Below are selected highlights from the conversation.

On a department level, AS is responsible for managing the systems that run the business of the university. How does AS secure these systems and the data they contain?

System security is one of the highest priorities of our organization. We work closely with the Information Security Office (ISO), business offices, and application vendors to deploy systems according to well-established security guidelines and best practices.

That being said, hackers are only getting more advanced and brazen. New system vulnerabilities and exploits are constantly being discovered, and this requires constant vigilance on our part. AS routinely monitors for these types of events across all of our systems, and typically addresses them within a week or less of discovery.

Last summer’s system security breach highlighted the need for heightened IT security across Stanford. Did AS implement any new security procedures as a result?

Prior to last summer’s event, access to most Stanford systems simply required entry of a SUNet ID and password. That model left systems vulnerable to stolen passwords; there was no way to tell if the person typing the password really WAS the person who owned it. As an immediate measure once the security breach became known, AS implemented and enforced new internal SUNet password requirements; all AS staff were required to establish longer/more complex passwords, and to change them on a very short schedule.

Once Two-Step Authentication for Web Auth accounts became standardized across the university, the stolen password risk was greatly mitigated; however, WebAuth Two-Step does not cover direct access to network hosts and database systems— the kind of access we regularly use in Administrative Systems. To address this vulnerability, AS deployed an additional internal two-step authentication layer for all AS staff who manage application infrastructure.

We also convened an ongoing task force to perform a comprehensive security review of our application infrastructure. The team meets weekly to examine both technology and process improvements aimed at further strengthening our long-term security posture. One of the important best practices that this group is proposing across Stanford IT is the idea of keeping privileged account credentials separated (i.e., not using privileged credentials and normal user credentials on the same machine). That means that if a system is compromised, it is much less likely to be used as a "pivot" to gain access to other, more secure systems.

Have there been any challenges implementing these new security procedures? What has the implementation process been like so far?

Implementing new security procedures is always a challenge at the organizational level; you have to weigh the security risks against the financial and/or operational costs of managing them. Finding the right balance between the two is tricky, and this is something that we routinely discuss at length with our business partners and system owners.

In light of recent events, there is a heightened awareness on campus regarding information and/or computer security. This has made it easier to implement new security procedures, since everyone at Stanford has a vested interest in protecting our systems and information.

Many departments on campus are looking for ways to strengthen application infrastructure and/or desktop security. Is there anything in particular that you would recommend?

The Information Security Office (ISO) has put together a wealth of security information and resources on its website. I urge departments to use the ISO recommendations as a guideline.

For those looking to further enhance desktop security, I recommend that departments consider leveraging our virtual desktop infrastructure. A virtual desktop has substantial security advantages over a traditional desktop because it is physically located on a remote central server rather than on the user's local computer. A virtual desktop cannot be lost or stolen in the same manner as a laptop, which means the data is at a much lower risk of “walking away.”

Several departments (Financial Management Services, the Office of Sponsored Research, Research Financial Compliance & Services, and the Graduate School of Business) have already adopted this technology for their user bases. I’d be happy to discuss virtual desktops with any department interested in learning more.

There’s one thing that all Stanford’s administrative applications have in common, and that's Registry data. Regardless of an application’s size or purpose, it's almost certain to require Registry data (people, organization, account, course, workgroup, and/or authority information) in order to function.

Enter the Middleware and Integration Services (MaIS) team!

MaIS is among the unsung heroes of IT at Stanford, quietly working behind the scenes day after day to support the collection, maintenance, and distribution of university Registry data.

As you can imagine, Registry data is updated quite frequently across campus. Thousands of changes are recorded in the Registry daily, and these updates must be propagated to the myriad of applications that use this data. 

The MaIS team manages the system infrastructure (middleware) that enables Registry data to flow from one application to the next. MaIS essentially serves as the middleman facilitating data communication between applications—no small task!

In addition to providing middleware support, over the years the team has developed several custom applications that expedite the collection and distribution of Registry data. These self-service applications include Authority Manager, Organization Manager, Workgroup Manager, and StanfordYou.

The MaIS team often partners with external campus groups on data integration projects. To learn more about MaIS and the Registry, contact Manager Maria Inciong or visit the MaIS website.

Prompted by new federal regulations, AS is collaborating with the Dean of Research and Research Financial Compliance and Services on a new system to support certification of payroll charges for research projects.

The eCertification Payroll Distribution system will create an annual online report that displays the payroll distribution for each employee whose salary is charged wholly or in part to a project subject to federal regulations.

School/department administrators and Principal Investigators (PIs) will go online to review and formally certify the payroll distribution report for their associated research projects. In all, about 2,000 PIs and administrators are expected to use the system.

Development on the project began in Summer 2012, and the team successfully wrapped up a short pilot with a handful of users across campus in late 2013. The new system will be rolled out university-wide in phases beginning in early 2014.

To learn more about the eCertification Payroll Distribution system, visit the DoResearch website.

Vice President for Business Affairs Randy Livingston announces the formation of a faculty committee to assess the information security challenges facing Stanford and help chart institutional strategies for addressing them. Several elements of the information security mandates announced on Jan. 15 for Stanford employees will be suspended in the meantime.

Dear Colleagues:

On Jan. 15, I sent you a communication outlining new information security mandates for University employees. Since that time I have heard from a number of faculty expressing their concerns about the potential impact of the mandates on individual privacy and research productivity. While all of us share the goal of containing and mitigating information security risks, we want to respect and protect individual privacy, and avoid impairing the University's research efforts.

On Feb. 11, I met with the Faculty Senate Steering Committee to discuss faculty concerns. I proposed formation of a special faculty committee to assess the information security and privacy challenges facing Stanford, help chart an institutional strategy that reflects the diverse needs of University stakeholders, and partner with the administration in revising the mandates. The faculty committee will be formed within the next two weeks and will be led by Andy Fire, Professor of Pathology and Genetics, and co-chaired by David Palumbo-Liu, Professor of Comparative Literature and English, who are also members of the Faculty Senate Steering Committee.

While the committee undertakes its review, all agree that we should suspend several elements of the mandates as described below:

1. Windows XP - The mandate to migrate from Windows XP laptops and desktops will be suspended for devices that manage scientific instruments or run unique software applications that cannot be easily upgraded. The April 8 deadline will remain for laptops and desktops used as standard business systems.

2. BigFix - The deadline for installation of BigFix will be suspended for systems that do not store or access personally identifiable information (PII), such as Social Security and credit card numbers or protected health information (PHI). BigFix must be installed on University and personally owned systems that store or can access PII/PHI no later than May 28.

3. Identity Finder (IDF) - This tool, which scans computer files to identify PII that a user may have downloaded unwittingly, will not be used except with specific consent of the individual whose files are being scanned.

4. Encryption - The requirement to encrypt laptop and desktop devices will remain with the following deadlines:

1. New University-owned laptops and desktops must be encrypted immediately following purchase.
2. SWDE encryption must be in place on all University-owned and personally owned devices that store or can access PHI in any manner by Feb. 28.
3. SWDE must be in place on all devices storing more than 500 PII records by July 31, and with more than 10 PII records by Nov. 30. PII belonging to the device user and family members, such as would be found on copies of an individual's tax return, will not be counted under this requirement.
4. With the exceptions of the devices that manage scientific instruments without PHI/PII, we will pursue a goal of having encryption in place on all laptops and desktops by May 31, 2015.

5. Encryption for Mobile Devices - The requirement to install Mobile Device Manager (MDM) is suspended for those individuals with no access to PHI. However, for those with access to PHI, the original mandate to install MDM on University-owned and personally owned mobile devices by Feb. 28 will remain.

6. File Backup - Frequent and secure file backup is highly recommended for all systems and all members of the Stanford community. We are suspending the requirement to use a University or department managed file backup service, but these services remain available to all members of the Stanford community.

Once the faculty committee is formed, we will communicate its membership and encourage all of you to provide input to them.

We also will be issuing additional communications soon providing tips for maximizing your own computer security and answering common questions we have been receiving from the Stanford community. Strengthening our information security is an imperative for the University, but we intend to do so in a manner that is consultative and using transition processes that are as simple as possible for everyone to implement. Thank you for your partnership in these efforts.

Regards,

Randy Livingston
Vice President for Business Affairs

Stanford University has decided to suspend operations, where feasible, during the winter holiday season. In support of this decision, most groups within University IT will be closed from end of day Friday, December 20, 2013 through Friday, January 3, 2014. Normal business operations will resume on Monday, January 6, 2014 at 8 a.m.

Services to both hospitals and the clinics (SHC and LPCH) will continue as normal during this time, and staff will be available to provide the expected levels of support.

The majority of University IT offices will be closed. A small number of staff will be on hand to support university offices that must remain open. These staff members will provide operator services, monitor and support critical applications, process high-priority service orders, and provide priority response to urgent HelpSU requests. Please note: You may experience longer-than-normal response times during this period.

For University departments needing work orders to be completed before winter close, please submit your request no later than December 9, 2013 for Data Center orders or December 11, 2013 for telephone orders. We will make every effort to complete orders received by those date on or before December 20, 2013. Orders received after those date may not be completed until on or after January 6, 2014.

Complete details regarding University IT support and staffing plans during winter close are available at: itwinterclosure.stanford.edu

In a letter to the Stanford community, Vice President for Business Affairs and Chief Financial Officer Randy Livingston provides an update on the recent breach of Stanford's information technology systems and offers recommendations for maximizing one's own computer security.

Members of the Stanford Community:

I’m writing to you today to outline steps that the University is considering to make our network more secure in light of the attack on Stanford’s information systems infrastructure that occurred last month.

Background

In late July, Stanford discovered that an unauthorized party or parties gained access to a portion of its information systems infrastructure. The attack appears to have been launched from an overseas location and was similar to foreign state-sponsored attacks reported in recent months by many large organizations in the United States. The purpose of the attack remains unclear, although data security experts suggest that these kinds of attacks are aimed at capturing intellectual property that could have commercial and economic value to the intruders' country. The intruders may also be interested in tracking activities of their overseas citizens. Universities are increasingly the focus of these intrusions, as reported by The New York Times in its July 16 article, “Universities Face a Rising Barrage of Cyberattacks.”

Upon discovery of the attack, as a security measure we sent a notification to all employees and students directing them to immediately change their passwords. While our investigation is continuing, we believe the attackers gained access to all Stanford SUNet ID account usernames and a “hashed” version of the passwords. The hashing algorithm converts a password into a different string of characters. While this hashing of passwords disguises the original password, hackers have the capacity to decipher simpler and shorter passwords. Though Stanford has no evidence that the hashed versions of the passwords were deciphered, Stanford is notifying all SUNet ID account holders of that possibility.

At the present time, we have no evidence that personal information — other than usernames and hashed passwords — has been accessed, but this is an ongoing process and we are continuing to investigate. Stanford has retained experts to assist us in this investigation, and we continue to work with law enforcement as well. As the Times and others have pointed out, cyber-intruders are persistent in their attempts to gain access to information systems and are very good at covering their tracks. We will continue to update the community and take action as information develops.

New security measures underway

To better protect Stanford assets and our information — including University data as well as personal information — additional security protections are being adopted to meet the ever-increasing threats of attacks. These safeguards will result in some inconvenience to users, but please be assured they are being implemented to improve our overall security.

One of the first measures will be to implement two-step authentication. When logging into certain Stanford applications like Axess or Oracle, in addition to their user names and passwords, users will need to input a second factor or means of identification. Users can learn more about two-step authentication and voluntarily begin using it by going to the Accounts page on the Stanford website. Click “Manage,” then click “Two-Step Auth” and follow the instructions. To date, more than 3,000 SUNet account holders have begun using this security feature. In the coming weeks, two-step authentication will become mandatory for accessing certain critical applications.

In addition to two-step authentication, Stanford is also taking steps to improve and enhance the security of its core infrastructure systems.

It is important to recognize that the hackers of today are very sophisticated. We cannot assume that new procedures, passwords, and security enhancements fully eliminate their continued presence. It may take several iterations of security improvements over some period of time to regain confidence in the security of the network.

Cooperation from users is essential

While we have no evidence that personal information — other than usernames and hashed passwords — has been accessed, the University is encouraging all users of Stanford’s computer network to be increasingly vigilant regarding their online activities. Cooperation from the University community will be essential, and everyone — staff, students, and faculty — will need to take more personal responsibility for the security of user devices and confidential information.

Users should, at a minimum, take the following steps to protect themselves and the University:

• Change passwords regularly, both for University connectivity and for personal use — financial, health, etc. For any personal accounts, use passwords  that are different from your SUNet password.
• Follow protocols to make passwords more difficult for an unauthorized user to determine, including using capital and lower case letters as well as numbers and symbols. The longer and more complex the password, the safer it is.
• Be aware of efforts by outside parties to gain access to passwords and personal identification information. This begins with understanding and recognizing “phishing” attempts. A phishing attack is the practice of attempting to obtain your user name and password or other confidential information, typically by sending an email that looks as if it is from a legitimate organization but contains a link to a fake website that replicates the real one. Phishing attacks have been increasing and are more sophisticated than ever.
• Turn on the native encryption capability provided by recent versions of Mac OS X (versions 10.7 and newer) and Windows 7 (Ultimate or Enterprise edition) or Windows 8 (Professional or Enterprise edition) and through Mobile Device Manager (MDM) for iOS devices (versions 5.1 and newer) and compatible Android devices (Android OS version 4.0 and newer). Talk to your department’s IT contact for guidance as to the procedure for turning on that capability.
• View the information security awareness video on the Accounts site referenced earlier.

As many employees have multiple devices that are linked into the Stanford system, use best practices for securing not only your University-issued devices but also your home computer and personal mobile devices.

Moving forward

Further investigatory work — systems diagnostics, intensive activity monitoring, and working with law enforcement — is helping us understand more specific details of the attack on our system. Much of this work must remain confidential as it is helping to identify further steps that the University can take to protect and ensure the security of its systems and data.

As has been the case with other organizations that have experienced similar intrusions, efforts to ensure that Stanford’s infrastructure is free from compromise will be measured not in days or weeks but in months. The sophistication and persistence of these kinds of intrusions, combined with the complexity of the University’s data and information systems, create challenges that make the securing of those systems a painstaking process.

Thank you for your support and understanding. We will keep you updated on our progress.

Sincerely,

Randy Livingston
Vice President for Business Affairs
Chief Financial Officer

Stanford's 122nd Commencement in June launched more than 3,300 graduates into the world, ready to make their mark and make a difference.

While students prepared for the Wacky Walk, they were likely unaware of the frenzied work going on behind the scenes to make it happen.

The weeks leading up to commencement are an intense period of feverish activity for the entire university as faculty and administrators rush to process final grades and transcripts.

This work puts a significant load on the university’s information systems, and during this period AS works around-the-clock to keep these systems humming.

Staff from several practice areas within AS provide extended on-call coverage, with employees standing by evenings and weekends to address any potential system issues or questions. Daily standup meetings and hourly email check-ins with key business office stakeholders ensure consistent awareness of current systems status.

These efforts, combined with standard operating procedures, ensure a stable computing environment to support a smooth Commencement (and a happy Wacky Walk).

Contact Sameer Marella for more information.

Ready for the next-generation reporting tool at Stanford?  

The Payroll and Labor Expense Management (PLM) reporting system is preparing to make its campus debut.

The multi-phased PLM project seeks to create an ad hoc payroll and labor reporting environment in OBIEE (Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition) that combines data from both PeopleSoft and Oracle.

This represents a significant accomplishment. End users gain the ability to create and manage their own custom reports in payroll and labor areas such as leave, timecard reporting, labor schedules, payroll adjustments, etc.

 More than 20 interactive reports will be released to end users campus-wide in early August. Similar to the reports generated in ReportMart3, the new reports will feature area-specific security to facilitate distribution to a wider campus audience. 

Contact Vijay Gandra for more information about the PLM project.

As a precautionary measure in the wake of an apparent breach in its IT infrastructure, Stanford University is asking all SUNet ID holders to update their passwords. Go to accounts.stanford.edu and click Manage, then select Change Password. We also encourage your to turn on Two-Step Authentication, available on the same page on the Two-Step Auth tab. This will require a single-use code in addition to your password for access to campus systems. Also, please be vigilant for unusual activity in systems that may signal unauthorized access. The investigation is ongoing and we will keep you updated as new information is available.

All services previously ordered in the old ordering system moved to the new OrderIT on May 8, 2013. To learn about service ordering, see orderithelp.stanford.edu.

The current model for faculty and academic staff appointments at Stanford might be described as inconsistent — and also perhaps a little bit archaic. Seeking to streamline and automate the faculty and academic staff appointment process, the Faculty Affairs Office has joined forces with Administrative Systems to collaborate on an integrated appointment management system for use by all the schools. 

The centralized system will help reduce appointment processing time, improve accountability and compliance with University policies, and facilitate coordination with Faculty Affairs and Human Resources.

The first phase of this 12-month project is underway to build the necessary platform and processing for the Professorial Amendments process, which will allow users to make changes to professional appointments online.

AS is partnering with the Dean of Research and several schools on the business requirements for the project, including the professional schools (Business, Law, and Medicine) and the Schools of Earth Sciences, Engineering, and Humanities.

Technical design and development are in progress, and the first phase is expected to go live in Spring 2013.

Contact Sameer Marella for more information about this project.

In Summer 2012 AS worked with the Graduate School of Business (GSB) to virtualize and migrate many GSB application services (including both administrative and academic applications) to the AS virtual farm.

AS leverages virtualization and low-cost, high-performance storage solutions (based on VMware and NetApp technologies) to provision and manage the servers that run AS (and now GSB) applications.

Moving to this infrastructure enabled the GSB to both modernize its systems and reduce associated maintenance and support costs.

"The biggest thing is that we migrated several of our hardware systems to virtual servers," said David LeVine, Information Technology Operations Services Manager at the GSB. "That was a big win for us because a lot of these systems were end-of-life or approaching end-of-life."

The technology also enabled AS to migrate the GSB systems "as-is"— no additional application reconfiguration required — and with minimal downtime. 

"It was a fairly seamless transition," LeVine said. "There is always a hiccup here and there, but overall we are satisfied with the end result."

Based on the success of this project, the GSB and AS have moved forward with a second phase to deploy new applications and transform the recently migrated "as-is" systems to more fully leverage AS infrastructure.

Contact Armand Capote for more information about AS infrastructure and virtualization.

The Human Resources Metrics Dashboard, an online tool that tracks HR data, was launched last fall for senior leaders and HR managers.

The dashboard presents HR data in a consolidated view that includes dynamic displays such as charts and graphs.

The visual presentation of this complex data streamlines workforce planning and analysis by allowing users to drill down on the displays to their desired level of detail.

The dashboard represents the first phase of an effort to move HR data and information delivery to Stanford's new Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) reporting environment.

Further enhancements to the dashboard are planned for FY13, and will include the conversion of HR's ReportMart1 reports to OBIEE, and the creation of an ad hoc report/query tool. These reports will feature area-specific security, facilitating their distribution to a wider audience.

Contact Vijay Gandra for more information about the HR Metrics Dashboard.

The business process for sponsoring SUNet ID changed on April 2. Previously, it started with the person who needed a SUNet ID, but now the sponsor begins the process. Learn more and try the new system today.

AFS disk quota has increased to meet campus needs. Individual user quota went from 2 to 5 GB, group quota from 500 MB to 4 GB, department quota from 2 to 4 GB, and class quota from 1 to 2 GB.

Over the winter closure, University IT upgraded to CS Gold 6. Building managers can access the new version at csgoldweb.stanford.edu. 

Most University IT units will close on Friday, December 21 at 5 p.m. and re-open Monday, January 7 at 8 a.m. More information at itwinterclosure.stanford.edu.

Do you have visitors coming to Stanford? For access to the internet, just point them to the new “Stanford Visitor” network. Sponsorship no longer required!