Recently, the University announced its plans to open a new campus in Dubai. The campus will be open for teaching in September 2018, with an initial plan to recruit 300 students, and a long-term goal to have 4500 students based in Dubai.
The Dubai project touches on almost every area across IT Services and our teams have been working to ensure all staff and students overseas get the IT support they need. Numerous process mapping workshops, and a careful review of our current IT systems, has already taken place.
There are still a number of key challenges ahead, many requiring systems development or configuration which include differences in time-zone, working week, currency, legislation and cultural norms. Once the campus opens, we will need to listen closely to customer feedback in order to quickly resolve any issues that may arise.
Dubai Campus Project — who’s doing what?
Below is a brief overview of who is responsible for what across the Service:
Application Services
Tara Lamplough, Commercial Development Team Manager, is leading on IT systems development and has already identified 50+ systems required for the campus.
Infrastructure Services
Rob Arnold, Head of Infrastructure Services, is leading on IT infrastructure with the following teams focused on key areas of the project:
- Core Infrastructure – responsible for setting up the local IT infrastructure in Dubai. Several members of the team will be travelling to Dubai over the next few months to assist with parts of the project, including installing and configuring systems remotely and on the ground in Dubai.
- End User Services – responsible for configuring and co-ordinating service rollout, and early life support for a period of up to six months. Naomi Blake, Service Delivery Manager (IT Support), is leading on the provision of our support service, and how we can meet the challenges posed due to time zone and working pattern differences.
Project Office
Liz Simcox, Head of Project Office, is helping to support all the above individuals and teams, making sure activities are coordinated and any issues are escalated appropriately.
Innovation
Nandy Millan, IT Innovation Manager, is leading on a project to set-up a digital wall in Phase 1 of the project.
Questions?
If you have any questions or concerns about the impact of the Dubai Campus project from an IT Services perspective, please contact Tara Lamplough, Commercial Development Team Manager
For general information please visit the Dubai Campus website.