Vice Chancellor John M Lutz

 

VUIT’s Highlights site provides important information about a variety of large-scale projects. During Fiscal Year 2017, we continued our work to separate the university’s network and infrastructure from VUMC’s and launched many crucial projects to help the university achieve its teaching and research missions, including a new application to protect against phishing and upgrades to classroom technologies.

We have made exceptional progress in both the SkyVU and the Transition Management Office (TMO) initiatives. Come Jan. 1, the university's financial, administrative, and research support systems will be supported centrally in the future using an Oracle-based solution dubbed "SkyVU." SkyVU will support the university's unique and growing needs and aspirations as driven by the Academic Strategic Plan. The cloud-based system will replace a complex web of approximately 15 current e-business services and will provide a modern and synchronized environment to allow university faculty and staff to spend less time on paperwork and more time on efforts that contribute to the university's mission.

Like SkyVU, the TMO projects will help assure that the university and Medical Center's smooth transition into two separate entities over the course of the next several years. This office manages 13 major programs, each composed of a set of projects, such as separating the data network and establishing a standalone VUMC email system, requiring intense coordination on behalf of the university and Medical Center to move forward as distinct organizations. Several TMO initiatives are closely aligned with SkyVU, such as implementing a new identity management solution and full directory services toolset.

You will recall that when VUIT came together in 2013 in an effort to centralize all IT organizations across the enterprise, we set forth founding principles by which we conducted our day-to-day business with customers in both the university and the Medical Center. Not only do these founding principles still hold true after separation, but they are now second nature to us. The following five principles transformed us into the organization we are today and have prepared us to evolve further:

• Focus on our customers
• Develop our team
• Cultivate governance
• Set the dials right
• Consistently communicate

I am very proud of the work we have accomplished in support of our customers and the university’s reorganization, and I look forward to seeing many of our projects come to fruition in Fiscal Year 2018!

Sincerely,
John