A security newsletter I subscribe to recently referred to a fact sheet titled "Best Practices for Securing Your Home Network" that goes beyond home networks and wireless to cover email and traveling with mobile devices and more. It is one of the best overviews I have read for some time. It can be found at:
http://www.nsa.gov/ia/_files/factsheets/Best_Practices_Datasheets.pdf
Tuesday 23 August 2011
So, you want a special piece of equipment eh?
ITS is working to develop an IT Famework, essentially a set of policies to direct our operations. The advantage of having policy is that, if crafted well, they provide clear direction and a fair and equitable means to guide decisions; they set the rules. Policy is ever changing; legislative requirements, processes, and standards pass quickly and we need to adapt. We also may find that policy is not working well for its intended purpose, and need to change it for that reason.
For the last year or so we have used a process in the ITAPP Policy to vet special requests for computer equipment, requests that are outside of the usual allocation of equipment as stipulated in the college’s Computer Allocation Policy. This process is proving to be cumbersome and ineffective. The ITAPP policy is essentially a security, access, and bandwidth management policy that is not well suited to deciding on day to day, operational uses of technology. With this experience in mind, and with the direction of the ITAPP committee, we will bring forth to President’s Council changes to the ITAPP and the Computer Allocation policies to have special requests for computer equipment brought through the budget process. The budget process is well established, and is used to decide on practically all other significant equipment requests at MHC.
Relevant sections of the revised Computer Allocation Policy have been drafted (not yet authorized) as follows:
7) MHC employees will be provided with access to a computer based on the software requirement, teaching environment, and industry standard. In practice, this means that all MHC employees will be provided a MS Windows computer except in the following circumstances and assuming approval of the exception by the college through supervisory and budget processes:
For the last year or so we have used a process in the ITAPP Policy to vet special requests for computer equipment, requests that are outside of the usual allocation of equipment as stipulated in the college’s Computer Allocation Policy. This process is proving to be cumbersome and ineffective. The ITAPP policy is essentially a security, access, and bandwidth management policy that is not well suited to deciding on day to day, operational uses of technology. With this experience in mind, and with the direction of the ITAPP committee, we will bring forth to President’s Council changes to the ITAPP and the Computer Allocation policies to have special requests for computer equipment brought through the budget process. The budget process is well established, and is used to decide on practically all other significant equipment requests at MHC.
Relevant sections of the revised Computer Allocation Policy have been drafted (not yet authorized) as follows:
7) MHC employees will be provided with access to a computer based on the software requirement, teaching environment, and industry standard. In practice, this means that all MHC employees will be provided a MS Windows computer except in the following circumstances and assuming approval of the exception by the college through supervisory and budget processes:
- If software required for the job role can only be sourced for another computing environment, access to that computing environment may be provided.
- Instructional staff instructing MHC students in a non MS Windows computer lab will be provided with a computer compatible with, or the same as, the lab computers, if it is their preference. - Instructional staff instructing MHC students in the use of a software product that is only available on a non MS Windows computing environment will be provided with a computer that runs the software product, if it is their preference.
- Instructional staff who are teaching in a field of study or industry in which the use of a particular computing environment is predominant or a standard will be provided with a computer compatible with, or the same as, that particular computing environment, if it is their preference.
- Instructional staff who are teaching in a field of study or industry in which the use of a particular computing environment is predominant or a standard will be provided with a computer compatible with, or the same as, that particular computing environment, if it is their preference.
- Information technology support staff and educational technology support staff will be provided with appropriate access to whatever type of computer systems are needed for their job role.
Exceptions
Requests for computer systems and configurations that fall outside of the allowance of this policy must be based on the job related need of the employee(s) and take into consideration implications for support costs and support capability at the college, as well as purchasing cost.Process for Authorizing of Exceptions
The allocation of computer systems and configurations beyond the parameters of this policy will be determined through the MHC budget process, and requires:· the approval of the Budget Centre Manager and,
· the approval of the responsible Vice President and,
· and approval of the Budget Committee
Requests detailing the type of computer equipment requested, the cost, and the justification for the purchase are brought forth in the annual budget process by the budget centre managers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)