The Board of Trustees heard positive news from Chief Information Officer Brice Bible, who reported positive progress on consolidation and modernization programs within the Office of Information Technology.
In his presentation, Bible said OU's four major information technology initiatives, are all operating within their schedules and budgets. The programs are all improvement plans aimed at increasing security and cutting expenses.
I think we're very well poised to focus on service and focus on efficiency
Bible said of the IT Improvement Plan, a project designed to increase network security for OU following a 2006 breach. The project, organized as a 20-point plan, also called for restructuring of IT's 230-member staff.
The Rufus Initiative, designed to modernize the student information system, is about a fourth of the way though its development cycle. It continues to roll out new tools, and new recruiting and admissions programs are expected into 2011.
We are on time on schedule and under budget at the moment Bible said of the program. By this time next year we should be very close to having the full system deployed.
Antiquated equipment at the university and proper network access for students and faculty could pose problems, Bible said.
The IT Realignment program seeks to consolidate all of the servers on campus under central OIT management. The program seeks to reduce redundancy, increase control and cut up to 10 percent from OIT's $30 to $35 million annual budget.
Around 350 servers were identified outside of OIT's central management. 200 of those identified do basic central services that need to be realigned within OIT.
The remaining servers were research servers which did not need to be realigned because they do not contain sensitive material, Bible said.
Trustee Gene Harris praised Bible as well as Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit for their leadership through the initiatives, saying leadership from across campus has made success possible.
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Tristan Navera
