A digital workplace that works for everyone

The vision is simple. Office 365  will be the heart of our digital workplace - providing the everyday tools for communicating and collaborating that everyone uses.   Anyone, anywhere across our global community will use these from any device using Eduroam Wi-Fi. 

My stuff goes in One Drive.  Our stuff goes in Sharepoint.  It all goes in the cloud! 

Most specialist applications will be part of our 'flexible desktop'.  Anyone, anywhere  will use these from any device.  Application data will go in One Drive too. 

Others are already part way there. I like what this team at Deakin University are doing with Office 365.

The impossible squeeze

Sometimes this seems an impossible squeeze.  Our budget is standing still.  We're spending less than 10% on investment projects that make a real difference to learning and research.  The other 90% is barely keeping the lights on.   Meanwhile we live in a world that is changing so fast we can barely imagine the next new reality before it arrives. 

This was the message of Neil McAleece's brilliant presentation this week at our full team meeting.  We are going to have to do things differently  - know when to let go of control, jump into the Cloud, be prepared to play and occasionally to fail.  Here we come Office 365! 

Love his video compilation of changes that we can all remember if we are older than a teenager!   

Where did 2015 go!

I'm sitting in an Airbnb apartment in cool Lyon.  What a place!  All the fun of Paris without the 'do I look too English in this fleece?' 

It takes a holiday to remember that being too busy to blog isn't OK. 

2014 just disappeared.  That was the year we took Information Services apart and rebuilt it for the digital age - new structure, new leadership team, new ways of working, new culture! Just a little energy was required from everyone! 

Now we are ready.  And to prove it, we have the first full year of tangible results.  This is what happens when IT comes to the table..

2015 - a year to remember!

New rules of engagement!

Alarm bells ring for me when I hear you talk about 'IT projects'. Presumably an 'IT project' is something you can safely leave to the geeks. The geeks will work their magic and tell you when they are done.

This is magical thinking and dangerous.  It leads to familiar headlines - 'yet another IT project fails' - the ones that give politicians bad press days.  Those headlines make me shout, 'There's no such thing as an IT project!'

All projects are business projects. Ultimately, in our case, they must benefit learning or research else what's the point? None of them are just about new technology. None of them can be left to the geeks alone.

Technology means 'tool' and tools are useless until someone sees their potential and applies them with skill and purpose.  Most people are happy enough with the tool they have already.  It's familiar. Life is predictable and safe.  Why would they change? It's hard to convince them to adapt, and adopt the new.  In fact, this is nearly always the hardest part of any project.

This is where you need to lead and play the starring role. Yet, time and again, this is the part which is forgotten or underplayed. Time and again, this absence turns out to the be the truth behind the headline.

So here are our new rules of engagement....

1. There's no such thing as an IT project
2. Don't ask us for new technology. Tell us the business challenge you are trying to meet.
3. You play your role and we'll play ours. This is a double act

The 'e' should stand for 'excitement' not 'experience'

We talk endlessly about the 'student experience'.  We know this matters.  By coming to Nottingham students are investing in a life changing, challenging 'experience' through which they aim to discover their potential, become the best possible version of themselves and maximise their chances of a fulfilling life and career.  This is our product and it had better be different and special.  Why else would students choose our 'experience'.

For me, learning is exciting.  When I'm facing fears and learning fast, I feel energised, excited and happy.  These are the words I'd like our students to use about learning and being at Nottingham.  Excited and engaged students are more likely to be successful, more likely to speak affectionately about their University, more likely to remain part of a life long alumni community, and more likely to come back for more.

So here's the exciting thing for our IT geeks and creative geniuses - the University needs you!  You know how to put the 'e' factor into online learning and being.  You know that students  need no encouragement to use mobile apps and YouTube and Facebook and iPlayer and Netflix and Spotify…. Start thinking now and help us figure out how to build 'student excitement' in our digital University of Nottingham.  

I want a car not a list of parts for self-assembly

There's only one chance to be a 'new starter'. What a golden opportunity this has been - to experience what it is like to roll up as a new employee and be introduced to IT at Nottingham.

I ask for the standard.  What do you normally give the mobile professional?  What do you recommend?  I have simple needs …..I want one device.  I want to move around from wired to wireless, and get to my data wherever I am.  I work at home a lot. Please let me take my office home with me.  (I'm in my kitchen now.) I want to know my data is backed up and safely encrypted.  I want to be able to work off-line on the train sometimes and know that my email and data will synchronise again as soon as I'm reconnected.   I need a core set of applications.

But there are no standard services it seems.

I feel like someone who went to a garage to buy a car - something to get me quickly and safely from A to B.  What I'm given disappoints.  It is a long list of parts...an engine, a few wheels, a gear box.  I'm sure it's a great engine but I don't want to assemble the parts myself,  not even if there is a great instruction book.  (There isn't an instruction book.)

When I talk about service, I mean "a means of delivering value to customers by facilitating outcomes customers want to achieve without the ownership of specific costs and risks".  I just want a safe, convenient and comfortable way of getting from A to B.  You are the experts guys.  Walk tall and tell me the best way to do that.

New job, so many new people...

Started my new role as CIO at the University of Nottingham this week.  So here's the first challenge…..how to meet 210 people, remember their names, know what they do and where they sit across more than 25 locations.   This is my team and I need to know them all as individuals and by reputation as quickly as possible.  My diary's packed with introductory meetings but I can't meet everyone that way.  So I've sent everyone some introductory stuff about me and asked them to reciprocate  - an electronic business card, with a picture, and a personal profile, as well as hints and tips for me on what I need to know quickly about this place.  Fantastic response!  I have had 36 back so far - all really informative and interesting .  Now I have my pointers to some of the rich information I need.   It's always good to know what's growing in the garden before you start digging!