Ohio State University - Case Study

Case Summary
Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio
Services: Ohio State's Office of Information Technology helps faculty, students and staff make the best use of technologies for learning, teaching, research and administration.
Critical needs: Web content management. Application code management. Version control. Workflow. "Xpedio has enabled us to reduce the amount of manpower and energy that goes into the day-to-day upkeep of IS documentation and code management by transferring the process online. We've been able to free up staff to work on longer-term projects that aren't intricately involved in our daily operations. Xpedio was extremely useful to us right out of the package, and IntraNet Solutions has provided excellent, highly responsive technical support." - Bruce Boda, senior systems manager for Ohio State University's Office of Information Technology

Background
Ohio State University's Office of Information Technology (OIT) previously housed rows of file cabinets full of information systems (IS) documents, as well as more than 75,000 pieces of application code stored in various places throughout its computer system. Now, the file cabinets are gone, and while the pieces of code still exist, they are now in one place.

How did Ohio State make this change? The university tapped IntraNet Solutions' Xpedio Content Management system to manage its IS documents and PeopleSoftä code migrations online.

By using Xpedio, OIT has reduced costs and increased staff productivity. "Xpedio has enabled us to reduce the amount of manpower and energy that goes into the day-to-day upkeep of IS documentation and code management by transferring the process online. We've been able to free up staff to work on longer-term projects that aren't intricately involved in our daily operations," said Bruce Boda, senior systems manager for OIT.

How Ohio State's IS Content and Code Management System Works
Xpedio enables OIT's more than 200 employees to access, contribute and revise IS documents and code through its online content and code management system.

Ohio State's entire collection of IS documents are stored in Xpedio where OIT's staff can access them through the Web quickly, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The documents include database designs, documents, job operating instructions, disaster recovery procedures and OIT policies and procedures. Users can contribute these documents into Xpedio in any format, such as word processing, spreadsheet or graphic files, and Xpedio automatically converts the content to Web-based formats, such as HTML, XML, PDF and WML, for publishing to Ohio State's online documentation site.

If changes need to be made to these documents, staff can check them out of Xpedio, make revisions and then enter the content back into the system. Xpedio's version control features enable OIT to keep track of the most current versions of documents, while saving previous drafts for review.

In addition to storing IS documentation, Xpedio stores and manages the migration of a large amount of code for Ohio State. OIT code is stored in an online library managed within Xpedio, and users can search the library links for specific pieces or sections of code. Similar to content, code can be checked into and out of Xpedio to make revisions, which are tracked by Xpedio's version control function. The tracking feature enables OIT to quickly identify and fix problems within Ohio State's computer systems as it can pinpoint exactly when code was changed or migrated into the Xpedio production environment.

Xpedio's workflow feature enables OIT staff to efficiently send requests for code changes online to OIT configuration management staff. For example, the Office Of Human Resources may request a change to a particular program for functionality they cannot currently perform. OIT would receive this request, and programmers would check that particular code out of the system, alter it and check the revised code back into Xpedio. The workflow feature would in turn route the code migration request to the application managers for approval and then send the request to configuration management for production migrations.

Ohio State is currently in the process of integrating Xpedio's security function with its LDAP security model. When the integration is complete, Xpedio's user authentication features will ensure Ohio State's information and code are accessed only by users who are entitled to see them.

Benefits of Bringing IS Content and Code Migrations Online
The Xpedio-powered content and code management system generates cost savings and increased productivity for OIT.

"Xpedio has enabled us to redirect staff resources so we're utilizing each employee's most valuable skills," Boda said. "Fewer employees are involved in the day-to-day maintenance of our systems and more are utilized for long-term projects. For example, Xpedio allows our configuration management team to handle all of the daily code management activities, which frees up our application, database and infrastructure staff to work on the PeopleSoft Version 8 upgrade."

By storing and managing the majority of IS documents and code online, Xpedio increases the productivity of OIT's staff. Xpedio enables OIT to perform code migrations more quickly because the third party objects are stored and organized in one place online. OIT also can rapidly identify the source of system errors and problems by tapping into Xpedio's version control feature that tracks all code changes and migrations. This capability ultimately reduces the amount of computer system downtime for Ohio State.

Xpedio also gives OIT much needed, 24-hour access to IS information and code. "The OIT staff is on call to repair system errors 24 hours a day, seven days a week," Boda said. "By making our IS documents and code securely available online, Xpedio enables our teams to fix these problems from home if they're called in the middle of the night or on weekends."

A final benefit of Xpedio is its rapid, easy installation. "It took IntraNet Solutions only three hours to install Xpedio and six hours until it was completely up and running in our office," Boda said. "Xpedio was extremely useful to us right out of the package, and we have had very few problems crop up as we continue to complete the entire implementation. IntraNet Solutions has provided us with excellent, highly responsive technical support. Our calls are typically returned within 30 minutes, and we usually have a fix within a day."