Author Archives: Jennifer Kennedy

IT for start of teaching update

September 8th, 2015 | Posted by Jennifer Kennedy in IT preparations for teaching - (0 Comments)

Managed Desktop 2015 – The  new managed desktop image has now been released into PC labs and teaching rooms and will be installed on remaining PCs via a series of updates between now and October.  This is the list of software which is on the 2015 Managed Desktop. The look and feel of this year’s desktop …
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Progress on IT preparations for teaching – 2015/16

July 30th, 2015 | Posted by Jennifer Kennedy in IT preparations for teaching - (0 Comments)

Managed Desktop 2015 tested and ready to install The new version of the managed desktop (the standard suite of software that is installed on University PCs) has been created and tested and is now being used to re-image PCs. Staff PCs that are not being replaced will be automatically updated via a series of patches …
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Experts pass their exams

June 26th, 2015 | Posted by Jennifer Kennedy in Staff - (0 Comments)

Emma Jeffery, David Williams and Keith Burton recently passed the ‘ITIL Managing Across the Lifecycle’ Exam.  This is the last in a series of 9 exams which gives each of them the ‘ITIL Expert’ qualification.   It is part of a programme of service management training  for Corporate Systems staff in IS&T.

Software list for 2015-2016

June 24th, 2015 | Posted by Jennifer Kennedy in IT preparations for teaching | New technology | Working in partnership - (0 Comments)

The list of software which will be installed in teaching rooms is now confirmed and available here.  Each piece of software has a member of teaching staff responsible for testing it and signing it off.  If you aren’t the nominated tester but would like to have access to the software so you can try it …
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IT Change restrictions 4 August – 5 October – to protect the University’s critical time of year

June 24th, 2015 | Posted by Jennifer Kennedy in Uncategorized - (0 Comments)

As in previous years, to provide the best possible first impression for students and to facilitate smooth processing for staff around the start of the academic year, IS&T will be protecting University IT services by restricting the amount of change allowed to IT systems, infrastructure and equipment. If you are involved in a project or …
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IS&T Investing in people

June 23rd, 2015 | Posted by Jennifer Kennedy in Staff | Working in partnership - (0 Comments)

ITIL and Agile training pays off in Corporate Systems Over the past 2 years, the Corporate Systems team in IS&T has invested heavily in IT service management training for their staff. This has focussed on ITIL  (the industry-recognised best practice methodology for IT Service management) and Agile training (a requirements and solutions approach to software …
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New CIO for SHU

May 13th, 2015 | Posted by Jennifer Kennedy in Staff - (0 Comments)

  Howard Whiteley joined the University on 11 May as the new Chief Information Officer in IS&T. Howard joins us from the University of Manchester where, for the last 18 months, he has been leading the transformation of the IT Services function.  Prior to this, Howard led a major initiative at the University of Leeds to deliver …
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Testing software using the virtual 2015 Managed Desktop

May 11th, 2015 | Posted by Jennifer Kennedy in IT preparations for teaching - (0 Comments)

This year IS&T will be making much of the software for teaching for the 2015/16 academic year available for virtual testing.  This will be done through the University’s remote desktop services, vWorkspace.  You can already access a beta version of the 2015 Managed Desktop through this service to test software such as Java 8 and …
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Java 8 and the 2015 Managed Desktop

May 5th, 2015 | Posted by Jennifer Kennedy in IT preparations for teaching | New technology | Staff - (0 Comments)

A beta version of the new September 2015 managed desktop (the suite of software we install on University PCs at the start of the academic year) is now ready for staff to test. It is available in vWorkspace, within the ‘MD Beta Testing’ folder. Not all the new software will be installed in the beta …
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Phishing catches victims in minutes

April 16th, 2015 | Posted by Jennifer Kennedy in IT security - (0 Comments)

Don’t get caught by phishing scams.  This article on the BBC website shows how easy it is for people to be duped by phishing emails. Sheffield Hallam University runs virus protection and scam detection software and regularly deploys update patches to maintain security when vulnerabilities are discovered. The size of the University and the number of …
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