University of Waikato(MIS100 2010)

By CIO Staff | Thursday, May 27 2010

2009 ranking: 28

Senior IS executive: Kevin Adamson, director of ITS
Reports to: Head of corporate services
Size of IS shop: 94

PCs: 5020
Mobile PCs: 385
Terminals: 540
Hand-held devices: 185
Total screens: 6130

Industry: Educational services
PC environment: Dell, Linux, Windows XP, Mac
Server environment: Dell, HP, Windows, Linux, Mac
DBMS: Oracle, SQL, Jade
Address: Gate 5, Hillcrest Road, Hamilton
Website: www.waikato.ac.nz
Key IS projects this year: Extension to the wireless network; enhancement to the student experience (including the Waikato mobile web); staff academic portfolios; finance system upgrade; enhancement to staff mobility; ICT BC and DR planning; grade book integration; enhancement to high performance computing; enhancement to web and portal sites; enhancement to staff email, calendar and collaboration capability.

Significant IT projects are underway this year for the University of Waikato. A major objective for the ICT team is to enhance research capability and overall support. This will be achieved through enhancement of high-performance computing, upgrades to the university’s web and portal sites, and developments to staff email, calendar and collaboration capabilities.

It will also be important to improve access to information via the web, while also repurposing content and services for delivery on mobile phones to both staff and students, says director of ITS Kevin Adamson. This goal will be achieved, in part, through an enhancement to the student experience, including the Waikato mobile web. Planned extensions to the university’s wireless network will further support and enhance staff mobility, increasing productivity and performance. Grade book integration will be completed in an effort to help improve administrative processes and enhance the student experience.

Despite a decrease in operational, project and staffing budgets for 2010, a number of projects are in the works. Business continuity and disaster recovery planning will take place over the next several months, in addition to an upgrade of the university’s finance system software. The development of a telephony strategy will establish future directions for voice and unified communication services. Virtualisation and cloud computing projects initiated over the previous year have been successfully completed.