The University of Dundee CIO moving organisation to cloud as part of transformation programme

The Director of IT said that the service will allow its staff not to be constrained by a fixed device and enable them to access the cloud system from across the university. (See also: HSBC CIODarryl West uses bank adopting cloud-first-strategy.)

The cloud service will allow The University of Dundee to create a better engagement with its students through a self-service instant response to its staff, but Monk admits there have been several challenges rolling out the technology.

“We have had the old system for 15 years and understanding how the existing systems work; and how people can use them rather than sticking with the standard single tools,” he said.

The service, which will see the University partner with TechnologyOne, will enable users to view data as the university could not rely on its traditional system having too many manual handles and routers to configure.

Monk, who is leading the cloud strategy, had set an aggressive timeline for the project as he admits he wanted to challenge his team, the business and its vendors to deliver.

“Technology is changing at such a fast pace and there are times when you can afford to have a longer timeframe but then you won’t be able to get the benefit of implementing the technology and that’s not where we want to be,” he said.

To keep up with the rapid uptake of innovation The University of Dundee has changed the way it delivers its products. (See also: University of Nottingham deploys private cloud, ‘saving time and money’.)

Core network infrastructure

The university is currently half-way through replacing its entire core network infrastructure with the Director of IT admitting there has been a reduction in cost with an overall increase in performance and IT resources.

Monk, who had been appointed the Director of IT since September 2016, was previously teaching IT at the university and has seen his leadership skills improve while in the role.

“For my team keeping them engaged through listening, communicating and observing them in their roles can help me reduce the stress of the team,” he said. “I want to continually focus the team on the day to day migration of the cloud system with the short timeframe we have at the university,” he said.

Director of IT Monk admitted the university was not in the position to have several operations teams which could work 24/7 to support the campus’ needs but decided to partner with a cloud vendor who could help manage the applications.

“The platform will enable us to have a global reach rather than a local one which can help foster a culture of improvement for the campus and drive us towards becoming Scotland’s leading university,” he said. (Read next:TalkTalk Business COO Duncan Gooding on security strategy since 2015 cyberattack.)