CIO Forecast 2007: When Cars and Pigs Fly
Author: David L. Rotman
January 2007
by David L. Rotman, Cedarville University
As you and I read the many trade journals that cross our desks and computer screens, we encounter many siren voices saying “Turn in here!” Surely, this will be the year of the “SuperApp” and our organizations will be in peril if we do not respond accordingly. While these predictions are useful prods for strategic planning, it is often helpful to hear what other real-world organizations are doing. It is in that spirit that I outline below some 2007 priorities for Cedarville University. Your particular organization may not focus on the same set of projects, but seeing our list will help you do a “reality check” regarding your own projects.
Storage Management
Back in the year 2000, our standard-issue computer had a 15 gigabyte hard drive. In 2006, our standard-issue hard drive was 250 gigabytes. This explosion in storage on the desktop has been mirrored in the server room. For example, our collection of production data has grown from 3 terabytes in 2004 to 4.5 terabytes in 2006. The rapid growth in storage has caused us to move from a tape-based backup system to a disk-based backup system…but we are still having a hard time keeping up with a reasonable backup schedule. So, for 2007 we will be looking to start the transition from direct-attached storage to an iSCSI SAN. We have not been able to cost-justify SAN storage in the past (direct-attached drives are cheap), but we are starting to see that the availability of data snapshots in a multi-OS environment is key to an effective backup strategy.
Virtualization
Cedarville operates over 80 servers, utilizing a variety of operating systems (Netware, Windows, Linux). It seems that every few weeks we need to add yet-another-server for some specialized function. It is time to explore virtualization as a way to reduce the number of physical servers, cut capital costs, and lower electrical and cooling expenses. We are expecting virtualization to provide two additional benefits: rapid deployment of similar servers and fast disaster recovery. For example, we operate eight Groupwise email servers. Using virtualization, we can configure one server and then clone the other seven in just a few minutes. By keeping a copy of the base server image, we can facilitate disaster recovery in the event that we would need to establish a group of servers at an off-site location.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP)
According to Forester research, “34% of companies are evaluating or piloting VOIP…21% are rolling out, 14% are fully deployed” (CIO Magazine, November 15, 2006). For an educational institution, supporting VOIP means providing traditional corporate phone service to our employees while allowing our students to use consumer-related technologies like Skype. Cedarville is beginning a pilot VOIP project using the Asterisk open-source PBX. We will be running Asterisk on a standard HP ProLiant server (one of those “yet another” servers!). We will be testing an assortment of desk instruments and a couple of soft-phone clients. We have not yet made a commitment to transition the entire campus to VOIP, but are watching closely campuses that have made that commitment (Sam Houston University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, University of Pennsylvania) and are considering VOIP for a building which should be under construction by mid-2007.
Our move this past year to a controller-based wireless network environment was done partly in preparation Voice over Wireless LAN (VoWLAN). We think the use of the wireless 802.11 network to carry voice calls is inevitable. Using a controller-based wireless network facilitates handoffs as callers walk from one access-point zone to another. We will be filling out the wireless network in 2007 so as to eliminate dead zones in some office areas.
As a university, we have decided to allow student Skype traffic on our network. We have also used Skype for business purposes, such as conducting an interview with a prospective employee in a country where using the PSTN would have been dangerous. As reported in eWeek (October 30, 2006), Skype has well over 100 million users around the globe. It will be hard to keep Skype off business networks with this level of acceptance by consumers.
Agility
Wikis, blogs, and other “Web 2.0” technologies have been adopted by American students as tools to be used in their social lives. We are working hard to implement these technologies for instructional and institutional purposes. We have implemented several course-related blogs and wikis. Our president uses a blog to communicate with prospective students and other constituents. We have begun using several wikis to document procedures and to provide shared work spaces for committees. We expect these technologies to become pervasive within the institution during 2007.
Software Upgrades
In January of 2007, we will be completing a rollout of Groupwise version 7 across the campus…just in time to start implementing Internet Explorer 7, Office 2007, and Vista. Internet Explorer will be rolled out as a security upgrade via Windows Update Services early in 2007. Our Office migration should be fairly straightforward:
- Make Office 2007 available on an optional basis through May 2007
- Load Office 2007 on any new computer or re-imaged computer starting in May 2007
- Remove availability of Office 2003 by late fall of 2007
Deployment of Vista is more problematic. We need to get a stable Novell client before we can begin the deployment and we need to begin testing our 100+ software applications for compatibility. Our preference is to wait for wide deployment of a new operating system until the first service pack is released, but we will be under some pressure to accelerate deployment because of the number of student-owned systems that will arrive with Vista pre-loaded.
Network access control (NAC)
Students and employees bring a wide variety of computing devices to campus…from networked game systems to advanced multi-processor computer systems. These devices have the potential of spreading software infections throughout our network. We have implemented some simple registration strategies to identify these “guest” systems and we provide an anti-virus license to all students, but we do not yet have an automatic method for inspecting systems as they connect to our network. We will be exploring various vendor options during 2007. Our strong preference is to obtain a system which treats the wired and wireless networks the same, and is network switch agnostic.
Pandemic planning
Cedarville University has appointed a task team to begin contingency planning related to a potential flu pandemic. This planning will include some attention to maintaining network and computing operations in a situation where employees may not be able to get to the campus (or leave campus if they are already here).
Focus on staffing
Our technology agenda for 2007 is loaded with significant projects. Some recent events, however, have reminded me how important it is to maintain a focus on people. In October, one of our programmers was killed in a car accident. This person was on our staff for over ten years…first as a student and then as a full-time employee. I am glad that he and I had spent some time over the years talking about life issues. Other events like the recent engagement of one of our staff members have given special meaning to working together as friends and encouragers.
What is this about cars and pigs flying?
In working on this article, I was reminded of a particular newsstand magazine that focuses on science and technology. This periodical includes seemingly annual predictions of automobiles that convert into personal-sized airplanes. It appears that we are no closer to cars flying than when the original prediction was made over 40 years ago. In contrast, I hope that I have highlighted projects that you will find to be realistic for your organization.
You may also be familiar with the expression that an event will happen “when pigs fly.” The corresponding Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_pigs_fly) has some interesting comments on the origin of this expression, but also includes a summary which is applicable to our technology projects:
“Possibly the first occurrence of a pig actually "flying" occurred in 1909 when the British aviation pioneer Lord Brabazon made the first live air cargo flight with a pig in a basket tied to a wing-strut of his airplane. Additionally, if enough thrust is applied, any pig is capable of ballistic flight.”
Technology projects for 2007 may require some flying pigs: appropriate technology accompanied by considerable energy. Through good planning and hard work, we can make a difference in our organizations.
