Cost Reduction Techniques Employed by the University
TIER Information Technology Inventory
WORKING DOCUMENT
Purpose
As the University struggles to meet the constraints of significant budget reductions, various options for cost reduction are being proposed that involve information technology. In some cases these propose to make additional use of information technology, in others to develop less costly services or to leverage existing services to gain institutional benefit.
The proposals for these initiatives either make assumptions about our current technology inventory or require an inventory and assessment as their first step. The purpose of the Information Technology Inventory project is to create a comprehensive view of the UCLA campus’ information technology deployment to support individual units’ activities to reduce costs, leverage existing infrastructure and to inform future decisions about technology investment and risk mitigation.
The shutdown of HVAC or electrical power in campus buildings may have severe consequences on locally maintained data centers, rooms housing servers and network communication rooms. Understanding where those rooms are located is critical to a reassessment of campus needs for 24/7 environmental conditioning and power. Presence of such equipment prevents a number of buildings from being “closed” during weekends or other recess times.
With computers becoming an ever more integral part of all institutional activities, the need for data center space continues to grow. Making space suitable for server rooms (appropriate environmentals, power and physical security) is extremely expensive, assuming that space can be found at all, which is increasingly a problem on a campus that is essentially “full.” Strategies for optimizing the use of the limited space available and, potentially, moving equipment off-campus require an understanding of our current inventory.
Regulatory compliance is becoming an increasing burden on the
WORKING DOCUMENT
Purpose
As the University struggles to meet the constraints of significant budget reductions, various options for cost reduction are being proposed that involve information technology. In some cases these propose to make additional use of information technology, in others to develop less costly services or to leverage existing services to gain institutional benefit.
The proposals for these initiatives either make assumptions about our current technology inventory or require an inventory and assessment as their first step. The purpose of the Information Technology Inventory project is to create a comprehensive view of the UCLA campus’ information technology deployment to support individual units’ activities to reduce costs, leverage existing infrastructure and to inform future decisions about technology investment and risk mitigation.
The shutdown of HVAC or electrical power in campus buildings may have severe consequences on locally maintained data centers, rooms housing servers and network communication rooms. Understanding where those rooms are located is critical to a reassessment of campus needs for 24/7 environmental conditioning and power. Presence of such equipment prevents a number of buildings from being “closed” during weekends or other recess times.
With computers becoming an ever more integral part of all institutional activities, the need for data center space continues to grow. Making space suitable for server rooms (appropriate environmentals, power and physical security) is extremely expensive, assuming that space can be found at all, which is increasingly a problem on a campus that is essentially “full.” Strategies for optimizing the use of the limited space available and, potentially, moving equipment off-campus require an understanding of our current inventory.
Regulatory compliance is becoming an increasing burden on the