One of the motivations for this change is the recognition that network infrastructure is an increasingly critical element of patient care, and that we need to reduce organizational barriers between different elements of the network in order to provide the best possible overall architecture and support.
Like Information Technology Services, UW Technology is committed to high quality service for UW Medicine. During the transition and after, you can expect to see IT Services and UW Technology working together to meet your information services needs. Naturally, there are some well-founded concerns about what the transfer of the in-building network responsibilities will mean for your current high-profile projects, your everyday services, and your direct person-to-person interactions. The following are some of the questions you might be asking and our attempt to answer them in the early stages of the transition project. Please, do not hesitate to contact any of the people listed below with any additional questions, concerns, or ideas for making the transition happen smoothly for you.
| Question: | When will this transition happen? |
| Answer: | It has already begun. UW Technology and IT Services are building a project plan, which we will share with anyone who is interested. Connections are being made at all levels of the two organizations to identify exactly which activities should be transferred, when to transfer them, and how best to provide on-going support. |
| Question: | What will be the impact on my currently active projects? |
| Answer: | One of our primary objectives is to smoothly continue with existing networking projects. Each project is being evaluated to determine which ones are best completed with existing IT Services staff, which should be done jointly with UW Technology staff, and which should be transitioned as soon as possible in order to optimize the use of the talent available. There will be no adverse impact to project cost or schedule. |
| Question: | How can I find out what is happening to my project(s)? |
| Answer: | In August, there will be regular communications channels in place for UW Technology to report status of projects. We know you do not need yet another reporting framework so we will work with UWMC and HMC to have a unified method of communicating. In the meantime, UW Technology and IT Services are working together to identify all of the stakeholders and how best to communicate with you. We very much want to understand your concerns and to learn from your ideas, as well as to be able to keep you informed of progress or any potential problems. |
| Question: | When the transition is complete, whom will I call when I have network issues? |
| Answer: | The IT Services help desk will still be the primary point of contact for day-to-day issues. |
| Question: | Whom do I contact for information on my project(s) during this transition? |
| Answer: | As the transition project progresses, we will provide you with more direct contacts. In the meantime, the people at IT Services with whom you have been working will still be available to you. We would also welcome ideas and concerns addressed to any of the following people:
Terry Gray, Associate Vice President for University Technology Strategy and Chief Technology Architect, UW Technology Scott Mah, Director of UW Technology Services, UW Technology Sandy Moy, Chief Operating Officer, UW Technology Gary Sugai, Director of Security Infrastructure, UW Medicine IT Services Steve Tarr, Chief Technology Officer, UW Medicine IT Services |
