Information Technology Services

Mission

I'm pleased to welcome you to the Fiscal Year 2007 Annual Report web site for University Information Technology Services, or "UITS," as you will hear and see us refer to ourselves throughout this report. Any review of UITS' performance and accomplishments during FY07 must take place against the backdrop of our organizational mission. The mission of UITS is to support the advancement of the University of Massachusetts in its core activities of instruction, research, and outreach, while operating within a framework of shared campus ownership.

Fidelity to this mission means that we enthusiastically embrace collaboration with stakeholders and customers from the five University campuses and our external clients. UITS exists not only to serve the campuses, but also to provide leadership in the judicious use of new technologies and new models of service to enhance the academic and business functions of the University.

Strategic Priorities

We endeavor to do all of these things while staying in tight alignment with the strategic priorities of the University Trustees. Among the Trustee Priorities that speak most directly to the services provided by UITS are the following:

• Develop first-rate University infrastructure
• Improve the delivery of administrative and IT services
• Enhance the student learning experience

Achievements

In the content of our Annual Report, you will see some key examples of things UITS is doing to develop and expand a first-rate IT infrastructure. I suspect that very few people are aware of the fact that UITS manages an environment that contains over 50 terabytes of data storage. This has grown over 800% since 2001. Or, were you aware that the server environment UITS maintains includes over 250 different server devices? The applications and business data housed on these servers would be of little value to anyone without a high capacity wide area network to connect our customers to these resources. In FY07, the statewide MITI network that UITS maintains underwent the first phase of major life-cycle upgrade that will not be fully completed until early in 2008. Through this network upgrade, the University will be well-positioned to meet the growth demands for IT services and data for many years to come.

FY07 also witnessed major strides in the improved delivery of administrative and IT services. The long-awaited upgrade of the University's financial applications was successfully completed, ushering in brand new systems for managing the University's grants and its purchasing activity.

Enhancing the student learning experience is a key part of the UITS service model. UITS supports the e-learning technology suite and web services that power UMassOnline. We are seeing and supporting dramatic growth in e-learning in all aspects of the University's instructional mission.

Serving UMass

As we support the University's strategic priorities for the long-term, we also strive to return value each and every day. Service to our campuses and their communities is why we're here. Whether through a brand new approach to our UMass U$ave program that is designed to save our campuses and our students, faculty, and staff literally millions of dollars in the aggregate when purchasing personal computers, our business intelligence initiative that is designed to provide better and more timely information for University decision-makers at all levels, or our identity management initiative that will provide end users with fewer login screens and better security, UITS exists to support and serve the University. FY 2007 was a year of accomplishment. But, our efforts and our attention are already locked on the present and the future. These are indeed exciting times for UITS and the University of Massachusetts!