>
>
>Date:    Fri, 10 Dec 1999 09:22:20 -0500
>From:    Lynn Cummings <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: CIT Recommendations and Support for Web Development Software
>
>For the future, how can we make these decisions in a more timely manner, so
>that individuals, departments and training programs have input into the
>decision-making process?  As some of you may know, Training & Development
>purchased Frontpage  last spring and we have been offering courses in that
>since June.  It would be very helpful to my program and the faculty and
>staff who take courses here if this decision had been made 8 or 9 months
>ago when I was investigating the best route to go.  (For what it's worth,
>when I was investigating this topic, Web designers and other businesses who
>used Web publishing software in the Burlington area all recommended
>Frontpage.)  Because we have to plan our curriculum at least 6 months in
>advance  and new curriculum sometimes means new software purchases  I would
>like some suggestions as to how we can better coordinate across the campus
>on important decisions like this.  Thank you.  Lynn
>
>
>
>At 05:28 PM 12/9/99 -0500, Dean Williams wrote:
> >Based on the latest market reorganizations, product evaluations,
> >faculty and staff input, and the recommendations of the UVM Web Team,
> >CIT is recommending NetScape Composer or Adobe GoLive for web page
> >and web site development.
> >
> >For additional information, you can find an article by Wesley Wright
> ><[log in to unmask]> on CIT's Web pages, http://cit.uvm.edu/.  Or
> >go directly to:
> >
> >    http://cit.uvm.edu/index.html?Page=Story29
> >
> >-Dean Williams

Lynn-

Many times I've echoed your sentiments above in similar situations.
The College of Arts & Sciences needed an electronic scheduling
package that would allow our receptionist to schedule student
appointments with multiple staff-people.  CIT had nothing to
recommend (not entirely their fault but partyly), so we selected
Meeting Maker XP.  A year or so later it was revealed to us that CIT
had conducted a test of various packages available (one of which was
Meeting Maker XP) and had selected a different package.  Now we find
that Netscape is dropping support of the CS&A calendar package in
Communicator.  At worst this means that we're looking for yet another
package and will need to figure out how to export and import over 900
personal calendars.  At best it means that we're now going to have to
PAY for a calendar client that we used to get for free (I'm sure that
all of you budgeted for this, right?)

To a certain extent this is the nature of a very dynamic industry.
Inevitably we will be in situations where we had to pick something to
solve some immediate need, but then market forces or internal UVM
factors, or the unpredictability of ever changing standards, takes
UVM as a whole in a different direction.  On the other hand,
communication regarding standards and product evaluations, in fact
regarding most anything at all with the exception of system
maintenance outages, has gone from barely adequate to completely
non-existent. We find out what CIT is doing only after the fact, or
through our own internal CIT contacts.

We've hired a VPLIT (Vice President of Learning Information
Technology, pant, pant, pant), but have yet to see even the
beginnings of a drawing together of Information Technology of any
sort.

CIT was in the process of selecting a Problem Tracking System which
would at least give all of us the ability to enter problems, refer
them to the proper parties in our far flung IT community and to check
on the progress of individual trouble tickets.  This process started
at least 9 months ago, and has the resounding support of nearly EVERY
IT support staff-person inside and outside of CIT. Still no decisions
have been made.

My feeling is that CIT needs to determine its role in the IT
infrastructure of UVM.  Roger Lawson and others, you must choose and
choose now:  are you going to lead?  Follow?  or you will be forced
to get out of the way.

To Lynn and all others involved in IT at UVM, if we can't get CIT to
be more effective and provide the leadership we need in order to best
support our clients, then it's time to stop working with them and to
form our own standards.


----------------------------------------------
Andrew Hendrickson
Information System Analyst
College of A & S Computing Services
UVM
479 Main Street, Room 305
Burlington, VT 05405-0144

(802) 656-7971
Fax (802) 656-3018
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