2006 IT Loan

The Division has extended its last IT Loan.

Financial Services Executive Director agreed that the Division could extend its 2006 Infrastructure Fund loan (the IT Loan) to 31 March 2007. Commitments against the loan to 28 February 2007 now equal the amount of the loan. No further commitments will be made. Further approved equipment purchases and leases will be funded from the Division’s 2007 budget.

Projects still outstanding for which allowances have been made in the 2007 budget are:

1. New and replacement desktop, portable and server computers (mainly leased);
2. Media Facilities refurbishment (completion);
3. Multimedia Showcase of Student Work; and
4. Autocue

ICT Bids

Each year the Division calls for bids to purchase ICT (Information and Communication Technology) equipment for the following year.

The Deputy Head of the Division has initiated the bid process for next year’s Divisional spending on equipment. Because of changing circumstances with budgets and purchasing arrangements (a new finance system, move to leasing rather than buying), it is unclear at the moment how the process will be resolved.

The Division is half-way through replacing photocopiers and printers, and will need to continue this process to replace older, out-of-warranty, more troublesome equipment: about $80,000 of equipment will need to be purchased or leased to cover replacements. Between 120 and 240 desktop, portable, lab and server computers will need to be replaced in 2007 if we are to keep to our policy of disposing of equipment once its warranty expires: replacements will cost from $240,000 to $480,000.

Next year the Division will begin the year with a commitment to honour at least $85,000 in lease payments in 2007 for equipment leased in 2006. Leasing $320,000 more equipment in 2007 will cost around an additional $110,000 in lease payments over a full year.

Financial Services has not provided the Division with details of the cost of leasing the equipment leased in 2006: the figures provided above are based on a rough estimate of the costs of leasing outlined by Financial Services during introductory seminars on the University’s arrangements with Macquarie Bank. The theory is that we pay roughly the same as we would have paid for the equipment if we had purchased it outright, but with 12 payments spread over three years. At the end of the lease the equipment is returned to Macquarie, with additional charges possibly due then if the equipment is not returned in good order.

Prioritising the IT Loan

Basis for giving priority to bids for equipment funding.

When Executive considers the IT Loan bids they should endorse the principle that items purchased through the Infrastructure Fund should, where possible, be made available to the whole Division through the CRC or TSU.

The bids for video and still cameras in this year’s IT Loan bids should only be approved subject to the cameras being available for loan through the CRC or TSU, with demand timetabled through the Media Facilities Users Group (MFUG).

IT Infrastructure Fund

What DOES the IT Infrastructure Fund cover?

The Division borrows from the University’s IT Infrastructure Fund (the IT Loan) to pay for maintaining and growing the infrastructure used in the Division to support teaching, learning, research and administration. The Fund has financed replacement and new desktop computers, media equipment, printers and photocopiers, commissioning costs, software and so on: all the costs necessary to replace old equipment and grow the resources available.

The Loan is attractive to the Division since the Division only pays back two-thirds of what it borrows: a system established six or seven years ago to help the Divisions replace outdated (and expensive to maintain) infrastructure with up-to-date alternatives.

University administration is now enforcing much stricter limits on what loan funds can be spent on: we are advised that funds can only to be used for capital items such as computers, fax machines, printers, desks, workstations and so on that may or may not be “capitalised” depending on purchase price.

A Financial Services Project Team review of transactions in the IT Loan has shown it is being used for consultancy, repairs and maintenance and licence fees: mostly due to the Division replacing, maintaining and building the Division’s ICT infrastructure.

It would be prudent in future to limit purchases from the IT Loan to that which can be categorised in the University financial system as Equipment & Furniture $5000 & Over or Equipment Expensed - Less than $5000. This leaves about $60,000 of expenditure annually on other items traditionally purchased through the IT Loan that will need to be funded from other sources (with no discount).

Update 7 October 2005: The Division's practice (and it seems the practice of the other Academic Divisions and ICT Services) has always been to fund capital purchases, consultancy, repairs and maintenance and software licence fees (items to do with providing and maintaining our ICT infrastructure in the Division) on the IT Loan. These items have not been questioned in the past nor has any dispute arisen.

The Division's position is that it will continue to use the IT Loan in this way.

IT Loan Fund

Over time the original intention of the IT Loan, or IT Infrastructure Fund, has become a little blurred.

In 1998 VCAC introduced an IT Infrastructure Fund (the ‘IT Loan’) that allowed Divisions to 'borrow' against future budget expectations for the purchase of information technology equipment. An assumption underlying the establishment of the Fund was that if Divisions could upgrade their infrastructure to new and uniform equipment, the savings made on not having to repair, maintain and support a wide range of obsolete equipment would allow them to pay back the loans. Adrian Westerman reported to Council in February 1999 that:

This fund had worked well with significant improvements in IT infrastructure throughout the University being realised during 1998 and most cost centres repaying loans through savings during the course of the year. [http://www.canberra.edu.au/secretariat/committees/council/1990-/1999-docs/1999-02-05.pdf]

The Division of Communication and Education has failed to realise the full benefit of the Fund because the old equipment that is supposed to be replaced by the new purchases is being recycled (in an attempt to satisfy increasing and insatiable demands) rather than being sold or trashed.

Each year there is more technology of increasing variety and age: maintenance costs are higher, older equipment restricts our ability as a Division to, for example, provide training, expert support and to roll out new operating systems and services like remote assistance.

Staff and student numbers (at least in some units where resource costs are high, and postgraduate student numbers) are growing, and staff and student expectations of the quality and sophistication of the resources that should to be available to them are also increasing. These issues are not being addressed effectively in the Division’s resource planning, at least in relation to the provision of space, infrastructure and technology.

Heads of School need to be mindful of the resource implications of proposals they endorse especially with respect to:

• projections of student numbers (are there enough items to be bought to satisfy the projected demand?);
• costs of commissioning of any new hardware or software;
• staff numbers and their skills;
• training costs for existing and future staff required to use or demonstrate the equipment or systems;
• additional infrastructure, licensing or provisioning requirements; and
• ongoing maintenance and administration costs.

Executive should ensure that the IT & Infrastructure Committee considers these TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) issues in making its recommendations, and that all the members of the IT & Infrastructure Committee agree with the whole approach to managing any particular proposed resource over its life.

Leasing ICT equipment

The University is discussing leasing arrangements with a number of potential partners.

The Commonwealth Bank, with its partner ComputerFleet, has approached the University with a proposal to consider leasing rather than buying ICT equipment like computers, monitors, printers and even media equipment like digital cameras.

The system could work like the current IT Loan system to the extent that Divisions retain their autonomy to purchase equipment that fits their needs, although the University may also be separately considering centralising some purchasing if it can be shown to drive down the cost.

Under the ComputerFleet proposal, the University would replace equipment like desktop computers every two years, and end up paying less than the University pays for the computer if it buys a replacement every three years. Under the current IT Loan arrangements, the Division only pays 67% of the cost of new equipment (the rest is funded by the University centrally to encourage the Divisions to keen their stock of IT equipment current), so it may cost the Divisions more if they were to absorb the whole cost of leasing.

Benefits of the ComputerFleet proposal include:

• Replacement of ICT equipment every two years;
• Asset tracking is handled by the ComputerFleet’a ClientXpress software, management of which can be decentralised to the Divisional level or even finer;
• Using the ClientXpress software, costs can be applied easily to local cost centres and easily transferred as needs change (like research projects that may be completed, for example);
• At the end of the lease period ComputerFleet’s partner, APCD, disposes of the assets.

2004 IT Projects

Major projects funded in 2004 include:

New and replacement computers
245 new and replacement computers were purchased for the Division, including staff desktop, portable and student lab machines, covering replacement for three student labs; replacement of all the existing computers in the ILTC plus 20 new ones; portable computers for loan from the CRC and ILTC. Also 10 new servers were purchased: 7 new ones for the video recording and reticulation system, and 3 replacements for older servers.

Staff desktops for all full-time academic staff in the School of Languages and International Education, and some desktops used by part-time staff in the School, are being refreshed with new computers all capable of receiving, recording, editing and saving to DVD or streaming server, analogue television services from the RF reticulation system (the services available include foreign language services in Spanish, Japanese and Chinese, as well as the local analogue free-to-air channels, SBS World News, and a number of English-language news programs).

Data projection
Seven new data projectors were installed around the Division.

SmartBoards
As required by the NILL group, four SmartBoards have been fitted around the Division, and anotherone installed in one of the teaching labs.

Mini Disc recorders
With the change in format of the mini disc recorders during the year, the Division purchased a number of the older format. The older format is compatible with other Divisional equipment, whereas the newer, HD format is not compatible. High maintenance costs with older recorders meant replacing them was sometimes more expensive than purchasing new ones, where stock of the older format was still available.

Digital SLR still camera
The Division's photographic service is now fully digital, with Alan Nicol purchasing a Nikon D70 camera and parts for taking marketing photos and documenting Divisional activities. No more waiting for processing, scanning images and managing bits of film and paper photos: the results are available immediately for print or electronic delivery. Also no more film processingreduces ongoing costs.

Microteaching upgrades
The Microteaching rooms can now be used to videotape presentations, lectures, demonstrations, counselling interviews and a range of other activities using 2 cameras, a computer, and/or the SmartBoard. VHS and miniDV formats for recording and playback to monitor or video projector are both supported; the sound quality has been greatly improved; and lighting will be renewed soon. It is even possible, with some additional hardware (and expertise), to stream the live activities in the rooms over the Internet.

eMeeting Videoconferencing
The hardware and software required to allow videoconferencing between desktop computers has been purchased and will be installed for testing in January. A one-year trial licence of Marratech eMeeting will be available in calendar 2005 to see whether the Division (or the University) can use this approach to teaching.

The limited twelve-month licence we have purchased will allow for one unlimited "auditorium" session at a time, where any number of participants can join in, and 20 "mix-and-match" seats that can be used in any combination to provide say two concurrent 10-seat tutorials, or four 5-seat tutorials, or any other combination up to twenty concurrent participants.

A perpetual licence will cost around $70,000 for the same capacity, with an annual maintenance charge of $12,000 ($82,000 in the first year including the maintenance charge, then $12,000 per year after that for software maintenance and support), should the University wish to continue with the service after 2005.

Participants will be able to video and/or audio conference (if they have a video camera and microphone), text chat, and share a whiteboard or screen shots of applications and presentations with the whole group. While the licence for the server software that allows all this to happen is expensive, the end-user's client is free and can be downloaded from the Internet for Macintosh, UNIX or Windows computers.

Satellite reticulation and recording
The ongoing saga of the satellite system continues, but huge progress has been made: six terrestrial and 11 satellite television services, and three local and four satellite radio services are now available on the RF networks in Buildings 1, 5, 9 and 20, and linked to the CIT. A Video on Demand Server with 10 TB of storage (that should be enough for over 3,000 hours of high quality video, including backup and working files) is installed and being commissioned, and as a trial the First Test between Australia and New Zealand was available streaming live over the University network in full digital splendour if you knew where to look.