The Captain’s Chair

John Hooper, Executive Director of Administrative Information Systems, CITC

The EIS Project implemented the PeopleSoft Learning Solutions, Financials, and Portal applications for the University of North Texas System. The project had a governance model including an executive sponsor (Phil Diebel, UNT System Vice Chancellor for Finance and Business Affairs), a multi-institutional steering committee chaired by Mr. Diebel, and a project management group (PMG) consisting of Bob Woelfel, Joneel Harris, Coy Hoggard (since retired), and myself. This structure worked for the EIS project but was not appropriate for an ongoing program. We have gone from a centrally managed project of fixed duration with schedule and budget concentrating on “vanilla” go lives to an EIS program with mostly small projects managed by the EIS product families. The current EIS program has an open duration, is service and enhancement oriented, and includes a recurring maintenance component (patches and fixes as well as major upgrades).

Due to this change in orientation, a new EIS governance structure has been created. This governance model recognizes and supports the autonomy of the product families, but also provides a governance structure to supply oversight for the EIS program. The model provides a framework for strategic decisions and direction for projects and issues that are not confined to an EIS product family.

To perform this role, an EIS Program Management Group, a new PMG, has been established. This Program Management Group consists of the EIS product family heads for student administration, financials, human resources/payroll, contributor relations, and portal at both institutions along with Bob Woelfel and myself representing HSC-ITS and UNT-CITC respectively.

The EIS Program Governance Pyramid below summarizes the governance model

You can download the final version of the EIS Program Charter (PDF, 34KB) here.

NEWSROOM

EIS Portal Receives Technical Upgrade

Lynne Sinclair, Programmer/Analyst, PeopleSoft Application Infrastructure Management, CITC

A PeopleSoft upgrade is a process by which the PeopleSoft system is moved to a newer software version. On Saturday, March 18, at the end of this year’s spring break, CITC staff completed an upgrade of the PeopleSoft Portal software that supports the myUNT system. For the most part, this software upgrade was transparent to most people using myUNT. The upgrade provided behind-the-scenes technical improvements, laying the foundation for future functional enhancements to myUNT.

This upgrade was notable because it is the first PeopleSoft upgrade that UNT has performed since implementing the PeopleSoft software that runs the Enterprise Information System (EIS). UNT uses multiple PeopleSoft modules – Portal (which supports myUNT), Learning Solutions (supporting functions in Human Resources, Payroll, Student Administration, and Contributor Relations), and Financials (purchasing, budgets, accounting, etc.). Each module is on a separate track in terms of software versions and upgrades. Planning is currently underway for the next upgrade – for the Learning Solutions module.

PeopleSoft upgrades are complex and labor-intensive projects, although the Portal upgrade is much smaller in scale and impact than the upgrades for either Learning Solutions or Financials modules. In this regard, upgrading Portal first was a good choice, since it provided an opportunity for CITC technical staff to familiarize themselves with the PeopleSoft upgrade process and ensure that the technical infrastructure to support an upgrade was in place.

Even though the Portal upgrade was relatively small-scale, the project timeline covered about five months and involved staff from several CITC departments as well as support staff in the administrative departments that rely on myUNT / Portal for their day-to-day business. A “demo” version of the new-release Portal software was installed in November 2005, and technical preparations and project planning for the upgrade occurred in December 2005. Starting in January 2006, CITC staff performed four run-throughs of the Portal upgrade in a test environment, as practice for the real upgrade and to provide opportunity for testing of the upgraded system.

Early on go-live day (March 18), the myUNT system was backed up and shut down for public access, while the technical upgrade process was performed. In the afternoon, after the technical steps were complete, UNT’s portal administrators verified the results and also called in testers from key user areas for final verification testing. Once everyone was satisfied that all was well, myUNT was opened up once again for normal public access.

Financial Patches and Fixes

Dorothy Flores, Programmer/Analyst, UNT/HSC Fiscal Team, CITC; Paula Davis, Programmer/Analyst, PeopleSoft Application Infrastructure Management, CITC

The CITC Fiscal Systems team and members of several CITC EIS Infrastructure Services teams recently completed a very successful round of technical application updates, known as patches and fixes, for the PeopleSoft Financials suite of applications. There was much coordination between the functional users and our technical support teams, Application Infrastructure Management and Fiscal Data Systems Team in the CITC department, as we all worked to make this endeavor a success.

This project was extremely important because it catches EIS up on over a year's worth of patches and fixes; a task that took about 3 months from start to finish and involved over 3,000 PeopleSoft program objects. It also gets Financials on a regular update schedule and improves the quality of support we receive from Oracle PeopleSoft. An added benefit is that staying current with these updates puts EIS in a much better position to move to an enhanced version of the Financials system, which contains improved functionality for our users.

We sincerely appreciate our users, supporting technical teams, and our own team members for their dedicated work on this project. We are confident that future patches and fixes will be marked by the same level of cooperation and success.

New Product Family Head for Contributor Relations

Cathy Gonzalez, EIS Training, Communication, and Administration Manager, CITC

Clint Shipp has recently stepped into the roll of product family head for Contributor Relations and participates as a member of the EIS PMG. In March of this year, Clint was hired at UNT as Advancement’s Director of Data Management. He serves as a director over two areas in the Division of Advancement: Development Services and Data Management.

Clint’s background with PeopleSoft comes from the private world of insurance where he was a part of the conversion process at the Geico Corporation in 2000 as supervisor for their Planning and Budgeting Department. Clint holds bachelor and master degrees in Economics and Public Affairs, and is pursuing a PhD on a part-time basis.

When I asked Clint to share with me some insight into experience with EIS, he said, “I have served as the Division of Advancement's liaison to the Program Management Group for the past few months. It has been great to see the level of EIS expertise and leadership we have on this campus. I look forward to taking on the challenge of the impending upgrade, as well as discovering creative methods of maximizing our capabilities with EIS.” We are happy to have Clint working with us and already value his expertise with enterprise systems.

• SELECTING COURSES:  When selecting courses to be graded, faculty will notice that EIS displays all course grade rosters that have been assigned to an instructor for the summer term.  To help determine which grade rosters to review the course grade roster selection displays, 1) the session for each course, 2) total enrollments and 3) the roster approval status.
• GRADER ASSISTANCE:  Instructors requiring grading assistance with a course should fill out an Additional Grader Form listing each individual needing access to a course's grade roster.  The additional grader form can be found online at http://essc.unt.edu/eis/docs/EIS_Additional_Grader_Access_Form.pdf and can be faxed back to the registrar's office.  The fax number is listed at the bottom of the form. 
• LARGE COURSE SECTIONS:  The Registrar's Office does realizes that entering grades in EIS for courses with large class enrollments can become problematic.   If you are an instructor teaching a course with over 80 students the Registrar's office is more than happy to assist you with your data entry.  We also have computers in our office that connect directly to the grade roster and bypass certain web functionality (that slows data entry) at your disposal.  Interested instructors can contact me at the email address or number below.
• COMMUNICATION:  Because grading is done 100% online the only practical means for communicating with instructors is via email.  Email communication is sent to the UNT campus email address.  Email setup can be reviewed at https://ams.unt.edu/email.php and can also be viewed at https://my.unt.edu.  In addition, leaving phone numbers and alternate email addresses with department chairs and administrative staff is appreciated.

Kronos Timekeeping Systems Goes Live

Steve Vrbka, UNT/HSC Payroll/HR Systems Application Team Manager, CITC

On July 17, 2006, a new timekeeping system went live. Kronos employs both time clocks and a powerful web-based application that automates the error-prone processes related to tracking employees’ time. Kronos makes it easier to control overtime by enabling managers to control their labor resources in real time. Using Kronos, managers can:

• reduce the risk of costly payroll errors and inflated labor costs,
• eliminate paper timesheets and opportunities for human error,
• approve and effectively manage their employees' time,
• deliver pay accurately and on time with consistent pay practices,
• free managers to focus on higher value strategic activities.

Employees can now swipe their UNT ID cards and select the appropriate job that they are about to work. Another option is the biometric time clock where employees swipe their card and then enter their finger print. This print could eventually become equivalent to their signature on their current timesheets. The web-based application allows both employees and their managers to go on-line to enter, edit, and approve their time.

Once an employee’s time is approved by their manager, the time data flows directly into the EIS Time and Labor module and then on to Payroll—eliminating the need for managers to re-enter the time manually.

The first departments to go live on this new system are the Union, Dining Services, the Gateway, and Coliseum. Shortly thereafter Printing Services, Facilities, Housing and Admissions will be going live. Several other departments have also expressed a great interest in this new system.

Automation of Processes for Financial Aid

Mahshid Grooms, Programmer/Analyst Lead, Student Services Data Systems, CITC

Automated Alternative loans processing (application, change transaction, and receiving EFT) has improved service to students and enhanced job productivity for Financial Aid staff. This process saves Financial Aid staff from manually processing the ALT loans and also saves the Student Financials Department from processing paper checks. A total of $658,336 Alternative funds thru EFT have been received this summer.

Through the use of two applications that comprise part of EIS, AppWorx and Cypress, automation of Mass Packaging chains and Loan processing chain (origination and change transaction) have been automated. This automation saves Financial Aid staff from having to manually submit jobs and monitor the jobs until completion. Cypress is an application currently being used to distribute various types of reports to departments. AppWorx facilitates the scheduling of the report distribution. Examples of other reports that are being distributed currently using these applications are phone bills and payroll reports.

Cognos 8 Business Intelligence Upgrade

Robert Jones, Administrative Computing Team Manager, EIS Tools and User Services, CITC; Kevin Cox, Computer Systems Manager, Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence, CITC

Cognos is a leading provider of business intelligence (BI) software that supports reporting and query, data integration, and performance analysis. Cognos 8 BI from the Cognos product line was chosen as the solution for querying data in the EIS data warehouse and producing reports based on the data for UNTS.

After a period of 6 to 7 weeks of assessing the impact of a Cognos 8 upgrade, the upgrade itself was successfully completed during the week of July 17th. While some software upgrades may take a considerable amount of down time resulting in lost productivity for users, the Cognos 8 upgrade was accomplished with downtime occurring only from 5:00 p.m. Friday to approx 5:00 p.m. Saturday of that same week.

This latest edition of Cognos 8 BI has resulted in faster report generation. Additionally, in the future, it will provides us with the capability of doing some fairly sophisticated data analysis and high level summarization of the university's business data, including graphical dashboarding and scorecarding applications made available through the portal. In the world of BI, dashboarding refers to the use of a user interface that organizes and presents data/information in a way that is easy to read. Scorecarding is an analysis technique designed to translate an organization's mission statement and overall business strategy into specific, quantifiable goals and to monitor the organization's performance in terms of achieving these goals. Scorecards are similar to dashboards in a way that provides easy-to-understand, summarized, at-a-glace data.

Budget Reports Get Tune UP

Cathy Gonzalez, EIS Training, Communication, and Administration Manager, CITC

Interactive budget reports were discussed in the April 2006 issue of theEnterprise. The reports are delivered to appropriate faculty and staff through the myUNT portal using the Cognos ReportNet application. Report viewers can drill down from the report summary to details of individual transactions. The drill down function occasionally reacted with a latency factor which left the viewer waiting for the next screen to appear. To resolve this issue, budget report data is now processed using the application of data modeling. A simplistic explanation of data modeling is the analysis of data objects and their relationships to other data objects. The result of the data model is improved speed and efficiency for users when they view the budget reports delivered through myUNT. Other reports developed with ReportNet and delivered via the EIS Portal are HUB (Historically Underutilized Businesses), Human Resource/Payroll, and Internal Audit reports.

Technical CafÉ

Update on Oracle DBMS

Eric Duchemin, Administrative Computing Team Manager, Oracle Database Administration, CITC

The UNT System, UNT and UNTHSC utilize the Oracle Database Management System (DBMS) as the underlying database platform for central administrative applications. Central administrative applications include EIS PeopleSoft Applications such as Learning Solutions (LS), Financial System (FS), Portal Administration (PA), and Contributor Relations (CR). Central administrative applications also include EIS non-PeopleSoft applications such as Degree Audit (Darwin), Resource25, EC-Image, Kronos, COMPCO Telecom, Data Warehouse, AppWorx (production scheduling system) and WebCT.

The Oracle Database Administration Team at UNT currently maintains between 69 and 75 individual databases (instances) supporting the various environments such as production, development, quality assurance, conversion, demo, and training for each of the major applications. The actual number of databases (instances) at any given time varies depending on the various stages of application implementation or conversion and migration. For example during the Portal 8.9 upgrade, the number of supported databases increased by 7 and after the upgrade those extra databases will no longer be needed and will be removed. Similarly for the Learning Solutions 8.9 upgrade (currently in development), the number of databases will be increasing by 7, for the duration of that project.

The current version of the Oracle DBMS in use is Oracle 9i Release 2 (Oracle9iR2). Oracle has indicated that the end of premier support date for Oracle9iR2 will be July 1, 2007. After July 1, 2007 Oracle9i R2 will be on “Sustaining Support”. The most current version of the Oracle Database is Oracle10g Release 2 (Oracle10gR2) and Oracle is encouraging migration from older versions of the Oracle database such as Oracle 9iR2 to Oracle10gR2.

The Oracle Database Administration Team is currently laying the foundation for moving from Oracle9iR2 to Oracle10gR2. Laying the foundation includes:

• Working closely with the CITC PeopleSoft Administrators and Application Development and Support teams within CITC to evaluate and develop a strategy and timeframe for moving forward to Oracle10gR2. These groups work closely with the EIS Project Management Group and functional end-users in planning and coordinating, testing and conversions.
• Attending training on new features and changes.
• Evaluating application and third party support and certifications for Oracle10gR2.
• Testing, configuring and implementing Oracle Grid Control 10g, the latest monitoring environment for Oracle10g databases as well as existing Oracle9i databases.
• Testing backup, recovery and database administrative procedures.

Oracle10gR2 is backward compatible with Oracle9iR2 so changes to applications are expected to be minimal if any however robust and thorough testing will be necessary. Oracle has focused most of the efforts Oracle10gR2 toward improving management, disaster recovery and performance of the DBMS.

EIS Fast Facts

MyUNT Portal Activity during Summer 2006 Registration

The following statistics reflect the number of distinct logins to the portal during registration periods for Summer 2006 sessions at UNT.

Summer 1 session (regular registration dates: May 31 - June 1, late registration thru June 5)

Summer 2 session (regular registration dates: July 5-6, late registration thru July10)

Training Lab

Understanding Data Security in EIS

Vicky Walker-Brooks, EIS Security Team Lead, CITC

In the last issue of theEnterprise, Cathy Gonzalez briefly discussed the primary business users who are EIS ACEs, Access Control Executives. This issue, I will tell you more about how security is managed within EIS.

A decision was made at the beginning of the EIS project to use a distributed security model that puts the control of access to EIS subsystems and application data in the hands of the “data owners”. This was an extension of what we had begun in the old mainframe days. Upper management of each administrative service area, such as Human Resources for employees or Admissions for students, appoints these “owners” or ACEs (Access Control Executives), for all applications within the department’s span of control. The ACEs are considered stewards of their data and are directly responsible for granting access to their PeopleSoft menus and other non-PeopleSoft systems for their customers. They are also accountable to the Auditors for access that has been granted to their department’s data.

The EIS central application security team is comprised of myself and two other staff. Besides making sure all EIS users have a valid login to myUNT portal, the EIS Security Team manages access for all PeopleSoft environments and databases as well as most of the other systems within EIS. We directly control access to PeopleTools which allows the ACEs to manage their application security and grants development tools to any technical users. We provide tools, training and support to the ACEs in order to assist them in getting YOU, our customers, access to what you need to do your jobs.

If you need assistance with EIS security questions, please visit the EIS FAQ’s found online.

Training Calendar

• EIS Query/Crystal Basics: PeopleSoft (September 14 & 15)
  For EIS Administrative Users Only.
• EIS Timekeeper Training is now conducted on a one-on-one basis, and this can be organized directly with Brandis Kennerson, Human Resources (565-3995)
• EIS ePro Training Calendar
• Budget Reports Training (contact BudOffice@fis.admin.unt.edu)

WebCT Training

Please note: WebCT Vista will be unavailable from Tuesday, August 15 through Friday, August 18 due to extremely important maintenance. During the weekend of August 19th and 20th, WebCT Vista will be sporadically unavailable in preparation for the fall semester.

EIS WebCT training is available for faculty or staff new to EIS.Courses available are:

• Intro to EIS
• Administering Classes in EIS
• Intro to Queries in FS (requires approval by Associate Vice President for Finance & Business Affairs, and Controller)

If you are interested in distance learning options, request enrollment by clicking here.