shannon cepica - utdallas.edu · customer service & it business affairs. client services •...

FROM THE CIO

• OIT Mourns Loss of Assistant Vice PresidentThe Office of Information Technology, UT Dallas, and the world lost a wonderful leader, colleague and friend this month with the sudden loss of Shannon Cepica, Assistant Vice President for Customer Service & IT Business Affairs. It is an incredibly difficult time for everyone in the OIT family, the UTD campus and for our IT partners, who all were on the receiving end of Shannon’s wisdom, kindness and generosity.

Shannon joined UTD in 2015 after a decade of serving as the Managing Director of the Information Technology Division at Texas Tech University. Just as he did at Texas Tech, Shannon immediately began making a difference at UTD with his overhaul of what was then known as the Office of Information Resources business services. His guidance soon proved vital as he successfully navigated the first of several budget cuts with little direct impact to the staff. Shannon’s customer first reputation that he was known for at Tech became so apparent that he was tapped to also lead the Client Services team in OIT. Between his astute hires, talented staff and strategic focus, Client Services has become a shining star on campus. In 2017, I asked Shannon to also oversee our Marketing, Communications and Outreach team. The strides we’ve made this past year in those areas have been amazing, thanks in large part to his diligent leadership. Shannon was much more than a solid executive IT leader. His best role that he cherished was as a devoted family man. He made each one of his three children feel special and connected. The outpouring of comments regarding Shannon have been both touching and expected. He left huge footprints on this earth and will be greatly missed. Please keep Shannon, and his family and friends, in your thoughts and prayers as we all navigate the difficult days and months ahead.

SUMMER 2020In this issue:

• From the CIO –

• Help Desk Statistics – Page 2

• Help Desk Customer Corner – Page 2-3

• OIT Assisting with Live Events – Page 3

• Recap of Past Events – Page 3

• Save the Date for the OIT Forum – Page 4

• Follow us on Social Media – Page 4

• New High Performance Computing System

Established – Page 5

• Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE) Adoption –

Page 6

• Telephone Upgrade and Email Migration

Underway – Page 7

• University Receiving New Wireless Upgrade

– Page 8

• Upgrade to UT Dallas Virtual Private Network

– Page 9

• Upcoming Changes to Cisco WebEx – Page 9

• Getting to Know Our Team: Joseph Fickle

– Page 10

Questions or comments? Email [email protected] call: 940.369.5500/Toll-Free 855.868.43571Questions or comments? Email: [email protected] | OIT Helpdesk: 972.883.2911

© All rights reserved by the Office of Information Technology. Summer 2020Published Quarterly

d IN LOVING MEMORY d

Shannon Cepica

We Want to Hear From You!If you have any suggestions or feedback

on what content appeals to you, email us

at [email protected].

Frank Feagans

mailto:[email protected]

CUSTOMER SERVICE & IT BUSINESS AFFAIRSClient Services • Help Desk StatisticsBelow are some statistics that the OIT Help Desk have achieved year-to-date from January 1 through June 5, 2020.

A Closer Look At the Numbers • 24,246 total requests • 11,986 calls • (93 callbacks)

• 9,074 email requests • 1,369 portal tickets • 1,817 web chats

Assisted • 2,718 faculty/staff • 8,205 students

• Help Desk Customer Corner Customer Corner: Below are some of the most common questions that the Help Desk team received this quarter.1. Question: How do I reset my password or set up my UTD account?• Answer: Visit netid.utdallas.edu and follow the instructions on the page.

2. Question: How do I set up Duo/NetIDplus on my account?• Answer: You can set up NetIDplus at netidplus.utdallas.edu. Find full instructions at https://www.utdallas.edu/oit/howto/netidplus/.

3. Question: How do I set up email on my smartphone or tablet?• Answer: OIT is in progress of migrating faculty and staff to Exchange Online, so depending on your status, the instructions will vary:

For students, retirees, and migrated faculty/staff, follow the instructions at https://www.utdallas.edu/oit/howto/office-365/.For faculty/staff that have not yet been migrated, follow the instructions at https://www.utdallas.edu/oit/howto/exchange/.

(Continued on page 3)

12 Questions or comments? Email [email protected] call: 940.369.5500/Toll-Free 855.868.43572 Questions or comments? Email [email protected] call: 940.369.5500/Toll-Free 855.868.4357Questions or comments? Email [email protected] call: 940.369.5500/Toll-Free 855.868.43572

The newsletter for the Office of Information Technology

Questions or comments? Email: [email protected] | OIT Helpdesk: 972.883.2911

Throughout the summer, OIT is hosting weekly Teams Tips demos that share the latest tips and tricks on various features in Microsoft Teams. From creating channels to Live events, sessions have nearly 70 attendees watching live, with an additional 70-90 viewers watching on the UTDInfoTech YouTube channel. Each course is designed to provide faculty and staff with a higher knowledge of using Teams to enhance effectiveness and productivity. Participants receive a first hand look at creative ways to optimize and organize work in Teams while also interacting with a live instructor. A full list of past and upcoming sessions may be found at: https://www.utdallas.edu/oit/o365/training/.

https://www.utdallas.edu/oit/helpdesk/

http://netid.utdallas.edu

https://www.utdallas.edu/oit/howto/netidplus/

https://www.utdallas.edu/oit/howto/office-365/

https://www.utdallas.edu/oit/howto/office-365/

https://www.utdallas.edu/oit/howto/exchange/

https://www.utdallas.edu/oit/howto/exchange/

https://www.utdallas.edu/oit/o365/training/

https://www.utdallas.edu/oit/o365/training/

CUSTOMER SERVICE & IT BUSINESS AFFAIRS Client Services (Continued from page 2)• Help Desk Customer Corner Customer Corner: Below are some of the most common questions that the Help Desk team received this quarter.

4. Question: How do I connect to the UT Dallas VPN?• Answer: GlobalProtect is the current supported VPN solution. You can find full instructions on downloading, installing, and connecting to the VPN at https://utdallas.edu/oit/vpn.

5. Question: How do I install Microsoft Teams?• Answer: Instructions on downloading Teams can be found at https://utdallas.edu/oit/howto/microsoft-teams.

MARKETING, COMMUNICATIONS & ENGAGEMENT Events & Outreach• OIT Assisting with Live Events The Marketing, Communication & Engagement team has been instrumental in assisting

with various Microsoft Live events since the transition to remote work. Events have seen

extreme growth, and the team has redoubled its efforts to reach the campus community.

If you have questions about online events, please contact Amanda Pritchard, Events, Outreach and Digital Media Specialist at [email protected]. Below is a recap of

some of our past events.

OIT Forum | May 21The May OIT Forum was the first time the event was offered virtually. The move to an online

format allowed for a record of more than four times growth in our average outreach.

More of the campus community joined the session for information on OITs efforts and

support of working and learning remotely, updates in Information Security training and

the latest in Teams Voice and email migrations.

Lunch-N-Learn | July 16In partnership with Center for Teaching and Learning and the Eugene McDermott Library, OIT hosted Laurie Burrus, LinkedIn Learning’s Education Innovation Advisor to

discuss methods of incorporating questioning, experimentation, observation, and association

into curriculums to drive innovation. The Lunch-N-Learn prepared nearly 100 registered

faculty and staff with strategies to develop leadership and talent within the classroom.

Laurie questioned the nearly 100 faculty and staff to consider “if we focus on producing

innovators, not subject matter experts, how might we shift our teaching approach?”




Bryan Sherwood, Assistant Help Desk Manager for Client Services, is running for Staff Council.

Joey White-Swift, Systems Engineer 1 for the Cyber Infrastructure team, is running for Staff Council.

https://utdallas.edu/oit/vpn

https://utdallas.edu/oit/howto/microsoft-teams

https://utdallas.edu/oit/howto/microsoft-teams


https://www.utdallas.edu/ctl/

https://www.utdallas.edu/library/

https://www.utdallas.edu/library/

http://www.laurieburruss.com/


MARKETING, COMMUNICATIONS & ENGAGEMENT Events & Outreach• Save the Date for the OIT Forum

With the transforming demands being made of higher education, The Office of Information Technology is developing processes to address the needs of campus. From the formation of a unique Team for every course, to enhancing VPN, and upgrading the wireless network, OIT has been diligently working to strengthen support. Our weekly Teams Tips demo sessions share features in Teams to streamline your workflow. Client Services will share how voice and email migrations to Exchange Online (EXO) allows departments to simplify communication and collaborate more easily.

Register online

Dial-In InformationPersons with disabilities may submit a request for accommodations to participate in this event at UT Dallas’ ADA website. You may also call 972.883.5331 for assistance or send an email to [email protected]. All requests should be received no later than 2 business days prior to the event.

• Follow us on Social MediaKeep up with the fun things happening in the Office of Information Technology, receive

technology updates and view outages by following us on social media.



The Office of Information Technology team helped support the College + Netflix Creative Jam kickoff last month.


SAVE THE DATE

OIT FORUM | AUGUST 13 | 9 to 11 AM

In response to utilizing and adopting Teams Live events for students.

https://forms.microsoft.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=HR0ojU2c90uxbgMtFd6fbPN2ZKuUAXFBsz61-7Z6ecdUMU1BNzRaVURLNU84Slo1RVZBS01VNkdQMy4u

https://www.utdallas.edu/institutional-initiatives/equity/ada/?subject=


https://www.facebook.com/UTDInfoTech

https://twitter.com/UTDInfoTech

https://www.instagram.com/utdinfotech/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/utdinfotech/

CYBER-INFRASTRUCTURE & RESEARCH SERVICES• New High Performance Computing System Established

The Cyber Infrastructure (CI) Team is pleased to announce that it has been busy working all summer to set-up a new High Performance Computing (HPC) system named Europa. Europa will have over 8,000 cores and over 167\terabytes of ram dedicated to scientific calculations for researchers across campus. This shared service is provided to campus researchers free of charge. The growth of the systems that will be available to researchers required moving to the Arlington Regional Data Center (ARDC).

By moving the queue of free compute nodes from Ganymede, which supports a small cluster in central IT of roughly 25 nodes to a lower cost data center, the CI team will be able to increase the amount of cores available to power on by 10 fold. For those who are familiar with Ganymede, the system will work the same way. All of the moving efforts to the ARDC are being fully led by Director of CI Operations, Jerry Perez, Ph.D.

If you have any questions, please contact Jerry Perez at [email protected]. You can also reach our team at [email protected]. We are excited with the increased services we are bringing online and can’t wait to help serve your research needs.




Dr. Christopher Simmons, director of cy-berinfrastructure and research services in the Office of Information Technology, was recently awarded a $1.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The grant will enable experts to provide high-performance computing training for postdoctoral researchers who will then support UT Dallas researchers and those at other UT System institutions. Read more about the grant.

Dr. Jerry Perez

https://www.utdallas.edu/oit/about/cyberinfrastructure-research-services/



https://nsf.gov/

https://www.utdallas.edu/news/campus-community/cyberinfrastructure-grant-2020/

INNOVATION, CLOUD & PLATFORM SERVICES• Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE) Adoption

The Office of Information Technology (OIT) has initiated Cloud Center of Excellence

(CCoE) as its next phase in Cloud Adoption. With the foundation set by our teams in

Migration Readiness Planning (MRP) engagement, CCoE aims to apply cloud computing

strategy to ease up the challenges in these unforeseen times. The goal of CCoE is to scale

beyond the starter team in the areas of Cloud Engineering (Infrastructure, Operations

and Security Engineering), Cloud Business Office (Enterprise Architecture, Governance,

Finance, Marketing) to serve the University with cloud solutions and skills development.

Members of the CCoE understand the required constraints, risks, and regulations that

led to the current set of IT controls. The collective efforts of the CCoE is to turn that

understanding into solutions or controls, which enable shifting left or self-service for

applications and services. As solutions are created, they’re shared with IT teams in the

form of code samples, controls, or automated processes that serve as templates for

various new efforts. The templates help to guide the innovation activities of various

teams, while delegating responsibilities to the participants in various migration or

process improvement efforts.

Some of the initial projects include, Zabbix AWS Proxy, IPAM AWS Instances, GPU

based hosted instances, QnA ChatBot, Contact Centers, Virtual Labs (WorkSpaces and

AppStream 2.0.)

For any questions or comments about the Cloud Center of Excellence, please email

[email protected].



Did you Know? The Office of Information Technology Help Desk team has resolved 41,795 tickets. OIT has also provided 44.5 million core hours for research computing since August 2018.



12 Questions or comments? Email [email protected] call: 940.369.5500/Toll-Free 855.868.43572 Questions or comments? Email [email protected] call: 940.369.5500/Toll-Free 855.868.4357

SYSTEMS, SECURITY & IT ARCHITECTURE• Telephone Upgrade and Email Migration Underway

The Office of Information Technology (OIT) is excited to announce it is “moving the mark” with Microsoft telephony functionality. On June 1, OIT began transitioning depart-ments and Colleges to Microsoft Teams Voice and migrating faculty and staff emails to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online (EXO). The efforts will continue through the summer and in to the early fall semester. The migrations schedule can be found on the OIT website. This website also contains FAQs, statistics, and relevant information to the effort. Please check the page periodically for updates to the schedule and additional information as we inch towards the 100 percent mark. You can follow the graphic on our website to monitor progress.

Microsoft Teams Voice allows you to simplify communication and collaborate more easily, all with enterprise-level security. You will receive new features such as:• Send or receive calls from your UT Dallas phone number anywhere.• Access your voicemail from anywhere.• Engage UTD staff, faculty or students quickly with easy-to-use, intuitive controls from your smart phone, computer, or web browser.• Access your favorites, speed dial contacts, or create groups of frequent contacts easily.• Resolve critical problems in real time through video calling, desktop sharing, document co-authoring, and other features.and customer service experience they are gaining by working for OIT and the Help Desk will be invaluable as they pursue the next step in their careers after graduation.

Questions or comments? Email [email protected] call: 940.369.5500/Toll-Free 855.868.43577


Pulin Bhatt, Director of Client Services and Wen Kuo, Enterprise Systems Developer II, both helped fill the Comet Cupboard last month with the Office of Information Technology’s drive through event.


https://www.utdallas.edu/oit/telephone-upgrade-and-email-migration/

https://www.utdallas.edu/oit/telephone-upgrade-and-email-migration/

https://www.utdallas.edu/oit/news/telephone-upgrade-email-migration/


SYSTEMS, SECURITY & IT ARCHITECTURE• University Receiving New Wireless Upgrade

The Office of Information Technology (OIT) is in the process of upgrading the University’s wireless network solution from Cisco Systems to Mist by Juniper Networks.

What is Mist?The Mist platform is a state-of-the-art, innovative approach to wireless that combines Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, and data science with the latest wireless technologies. It delivers a smart, agile, and scalable solution that optimizes the wireless experience and brings insight into the network. It also allows for additional optimizations to assist with roaming and brings the benefits of Wi-Fi 6 (also known as 802.11ax) to campus.

What Changes Should I Expect with Mist?Most users should experience improved performance and coverage with the upgrade to Mist. However, some older devices may no longer connect to the new wireless network. With this in mind, OIT is broadcasting a second wireless network, called Cometnet_Legacy. We recommend using this network only if your device cannot connect to CometNet as most of the benefits of Mist are not enabled on this network.

What Changes Will Guests Experience with Mist?The upgrade to Mist will also change the experience for guests accessing the UTDGuest network. These users will need to register in the guest portal with a cell phone number or email address. Full instructions on connecting to UTDGuest can be found in our Knowledge Base.

What Buildings Have Deployed the New Wireless?*While we expect to make progress deploying Mist in campus buildings throughout the summer, customers should be aware that this is a multi-year effort.

• Research Operations Center (ROC)

• Science Learning Center (SLC)

• Student Services Building (SSB)

• Student Services Building Addition (SSA)

• Student Union (SU)

• Naveen Jindal School of Management (SOM & SOM2)*Other Buildings will Be Deployed Later this Summer

Should you need more assistance, please contact the OIT Help Desk.



With the move to virtual events, planning should ensure accessibility so that all attendees can have an optimal experience. Learn more about accessibility in virtual event planning at https://uaerg.utdal-las.edu/virtual-events-checklist/.


ACCESSIBILITY



https://uaerg.utdallas.edu/virtual-events-checklist/

https://uaerg.utdallas.edu/virtual-events-checklist/



SYSTEMS, SECURITY & IT ARCHITECTURE• Upgrade to UT Dallas Virtual Private Network

The Office of Information Technology (OIT) has upgraded the University’s supported Virtual Private Network (VPN) to the Palo Alto Global Protect client. This will replace the Cisco AnyConnect VPN client.

What is Global Protect?Global Protect is the application used to connect to the VPN at UT Dallas. A VPN provides an encrypted connection between your off-campus computer and the campus network, which will permit functions such as shared folder access and access to applications otherwise only accessible from on campus. You can find information on what services require the VPN by visiting our Remote Work page.

What Does this Transition Mean for Me?This transition will require users to download and install a new client. Global Protect uses single sign-on system for computer networks and the Internet called Shibboleth. It allows people to sign in using just one identity to various systems at UTD. If you use VPN on your mobile device, you will be required to use a client application that you can download from your devices app store. Global Protect applications are available for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, Chrome OS, iPadOS, and iOS. Help Guides can be found here.

• Upcoming Changes to Cisco WebExIn an effort to help mitigate budget impacts due to the rapid and unforeseen shift to remote work and preserve University resources, the Office of Information Technology will be reducing the options participants are offered in the current Cisco WebEx environment.Beginning Sunday, Aug. 16, the “Call Me” and Toll-free call-in features will no longer be available. However, you can continue to use WebEx through “computer audio” and toll call-in as the remaining options for connecting to a meeting. You can learn more about the changes to WebEx by visiting utdallas.edu/oit/news/upcoming-changes-to-webex-features/.



Letitia Davis, Manager of Learning Management Systems and Matt Knapp, Systems Engineer III were just a few of the OIT team members who came together last month to collect $265 and over 300 canned goods for the Comet Cupboard.


https://www.utdallas.edu/oit/remote-work/

https://www.utdallas.edu/oit/howto/vpn/

http://utdallas.edu/oit/news/upcoming-changes-to-webex-features/

http://utdallas.edu/oit/news/upcoming-changes-to-webex-features/




GETTING TO KNOW OUR TEAM• Continuing this issue, we will introduce you to a member of our Client Services team.

JOSEPH FICKLEIT SUPPORT SPECIALIST III1. How long have you been at UT Dallas?I moved to Texas from San Diego in July 2018. In a week it will be two years. 2. What is your past job experience? I have worked in the IT Support field for quite some time. I started with Apple as a Genius for almost 12 years. At Target Corporate, I worked on the enterprise design and graphics team providing Apple OS and hardware support to their inHouse design team,

circular department and product development teams in the US and India. I have worked for two different managed service providers which catered specifically to Mac based enterprise businesses providing both field and remote support.

3. What do you enjoy most about leading the Client Services team at UT Dallas? I am really enjoying being an integral part of the Teams Voice campus telephony rollout.

4. Is there anything you would like our customers to know, or a helpful tip you could offer them? You can use /Commands in the Search field in Microsoft Teams• If you type in “/” into the search box, all of our shortcuts & commands will show up!• Here is a link to learn more commands.

5. Tell everyone one fun fact about you? I have lived in 16 different area codes.



Joesph Fickle, IT Support Specialist III,

loves mountain biking, hiking with his

daughter, Nemesia, and spending time

with his cat Hermoine. Joseph attended

the Minneapolis College of Art & Design.


https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/use-commands-in-teams-88f61508-284d-417f-a53d-9e082164050b?ui=en-us&rs=en-us&ad=us

shannon cepica - utdallas.edu · customer service & it business affairs. client services •...

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