This was the first time UIT delivered a major OS upgrade remotely. New technology helped, but it was our dedicated team members who made it a true success. From design to deployment, the project team kept the focus on the community and ensured they communicated early and often, solicited and actioned on feedback, and offered personalized scheduling and support when needed. The best upgrades go unnoticed, but it's important that we take a moment to reflect on the lessons we learned (especially the positive ones) and celebrate the accomplishments that brought us to where we are today.

Phase 1: Design

The design phase involved multiple groups coming together to share what has and hasn’t worked in past deployments and to apply those lessons to create a new strategy centred on delivering the best possible experience to our community.

The project’s success was due to its teams, but more importantly, to the incredible individuals who make up those teams. The following people were instrumental to Phase 1’s success.

CTS were among the earliest adopters of the new OS, taking the initiative to test and familiarize themselves with what would quickly become the new normal. As that early work progressed, CTS partnered with OEWB to help shape the design approach. OEWB promptly assessed the impact of Windows 11 on the 91��ɫ community, confirming the upgrade as a critical technological change. They also collaborated with Employee Relations to keep YUSA staff updated throughout the project. Infosec was responsible for creating our Windows 11 security baseline and ensuring it aligned with the Center for Internet Security (CIS) benchmarks. WTS identified the compatibility and readiness of core Infrastructure services and business-critical software applications. They also designed standard OS images and automated the migration and upgrade workflow from Windows 10 to 11. Together, their teamwork set a strong launch pad for the next phase’s successful rollout.  

Phase 2: Deploy

If a traditional OS upgrade wasn’t already hard enough, the Windows 11 deployment was complicated by Microsoft’s tight support deadlines and exacerbated by the new challenge of remote deployment. CTS not only met these short deadlines but ensured the pace of work didn’t leave the community’s needs behind. The secret to CTS's success was their conscious effort to deliver human-first customer support; throughout both phases of the project, CTS acted as the community’s voice. This included an early-and-often approach to communications as well as a form-based feedback mechanism used to gather community information and input. You may even have received one of their forms asking you to join the early adopters or to provide feedback on the apps you use.

CTS did an incredible job scheduling and executing the rollout stages. They created customized adoption schedules based on end-user role responsibilities and organizational needs, while avoiding peak periods for key resources. The team also scheduled key blackout dates during which critical systems wouldn’t be touched. They started small with an initial deployment of 40 people, and steadily expanded outward. This phased approach allowed the team to scale support, control early issues, validate the rollout process, and apply valuable lessons before moving to the broader community.

Kudos

The upgrade would not have been possible without Rick, Jeremy, and Prabhjot from CTS. They oversaw communication, scheduling, troubleshooting, and the implementation of changes. While known for their incredible operational work, the CTS members stepped into the project lead and team roles and shone. That meant the rest of the CTS team had to step up and cover for their team members, and so our first Kudos goes out to the too-oft-unsung operational staff doing the good work of keeping the lights on and the macro-machine that is 91��ɫ running. Thank you to Jeffrey Ciprian, Paul Clack, Jeff DeRosa, Akhil Justin, Alireza Kharazmi, Akash Mahmood, Ninara Sada and Liana Simons for taking on the extra work to make this success possible.

“With proper planning, deploying smoothly to the whole community (over 4000 machines) is not that daunting of a task. Having grace with people who have technical debt was crucial, and was done by identifying technical limitations early on, and working with affected groups to maintain continuity of service without having unforeseen expenses. I am most proud of not needing to purchase any Windows 10 extensions.”  

Prabhjot, Microcomputer Analyst, was also integral in the Windows 11 deployment. She was thrown into the deep end of this project only a few short months after joining UIT. Charged with managing deployment schedules and maintaining communication with managers and directors, Prabhjot more than equalled her task. She showed an aptitude for adapting her communication style to fit 91��ɫ’s different team and individual needs. In any moment, she might be going toe-to-toe with our most technically minded IT workers, then switching it up to explain it to the people who couldn’t tell you what an operating system even means. Prabhjot effectively instructed thousands of remote users with high-quality, step-by-step guidance. Prabhjot demonstrated the courage and verve she has since become famous for, rising to meet a daunting challenge early in her time at 91��ɫ. A team player to her core, when we sat down to talk to her about her accomplishments and what she was most proud of, she took the opportunity to praise her colleagues:

“I am proud of the entire project. Jeremy was a great team member who constantly provided me with technical support, while Rick was there every step of the way to encourage me. I am thankful to him for giving me a chance to work on such a big project and always pushing me.”  

The crew's success depends on a steady hand at the wheel. We need to acknowledge and celebrate the man who steered the ship. CTS Manager and project lead, Rick Sambhi, led his team masterfully, keeping his finger on the pulse of the entire project. Rick led daily standups to keep his team ahead of problems that crop up on projects of this scale and ensured everything stayed on schedule. His constant support of the team and belief in them played a huge role in the project’s overall success. Rick had the following to say to his team:

"This project’s success was driven by strong collaboration, careful planning, and effective execution. With support across UIT and valuable feedback from early adopters, we were able to confidently deploy Windows 11 to the UIT support community."

The implementation was a huge success. The feedback that CTS received was very positive. We wanted to take a second to share some feedback we got back from the community. One member wrote, “Just wanted to send a note to say that I’m impressed with how smoothly this upgrade went. Ran like clockwork per the instructions that were provided. In comparison, my wife’s workplace upgraded their laptops to Windows 11 last month, and it did not go well, at least for her.  After something like 5 attempts, they gave up and just replaced her laptop.”  

Kudos to the team behind it all!

The post Human Touch in a Virtual World: The Windows 11 Upgrade appeared first on Office of the Chief Information Officer.

Without IPA, we are left using existing on-premises, legacy solutions and tools, such as SAS and Oracle, that limit continuous integration and deployment. Our current multi-source data pool is  time intensive, which creates bottlenecks and inefficiencies. With no error handling, there isn’t a way to provide alerts for missing or incorrect data values. The IPA project addresses these problems by developing and deploying an advanced analytics platform utilizing Microsoft Azure Data Services, which enhances data analytics capabilities, improves scalability, and supports institutional planning and reporting.  It ensures that the University can handle large datasets more efficiently, facilitate near real-time data processing, and support strategic planning with actionable insights, all of which will help to provide a robust, centralized system that will democratize data to support informed decision-making and reporting.  

The 5 Goals of the IPA Project

Establish a modern, unified data & analytics platform 

• Single Source of Truth
  A unified data platform eliminates silos, ensuring everyone has access to consistent, reliable information from vetted sources. 

• Faster, Easier Reporting
  Automated data pipelines and standardized frameworks drastically reduce manual effort and delays. 

Improve data quality, integrity & governance 

• Trusted, High-Quality Data
  Strong validation rules and governance practices ensure accurate, reliable, and consistent  information 

• Responsible & Ethical Use
  Data is accessed and used only for its intended purpose, in alignment with 91��ɫ’s mission, values, privacy expectations, and ethical standards 

• Robust Governance & Compliance
  Clear stewardship roles, access controls, and adherence to 91��ɫ’s policies and retention requirements promote secure, compliant, and transparent data management 

Enhance institutional reporting & decision-making 

• Enhanced Decision-Making
  Advanced analytics and predictive modelling help identify trends, forecast outcomes, and support proactive decisions. 

• Faster, Easier Reporting
  Reporting automation enhanced by Natural Language Processing (NLP) enables faster, more accurate outputs. 

• Automate Processes
  Reduces manual intervention, freeing staff to focus on analysis and strategy. 

Drive efficiency, collaboration & knowledge sharing 

• Automate Processes
  Streamlined workflows reduce manual work to extract data which results in reporting delays. 

• Greater Efficiency and Scalability
  A scalable solution that grows with the demands and needs of the institution. 

• Enhanced Decision-Making
  Staff collaboration and knowledge sharing improve insights and response time. 

Support long-term innovation & scalability 

• Future-Ready Innovation
  Modern infrastructure built for emerging technologies and new use cases. 

• Greater Efficiency and Scalability
  Dynamic scaling supports growth and cost optimization. 

• Governance, Security and Compliance
  Continued protection of institutional data while innovating responsibly. 

Kudos

We wanted to take a moment to recognize some individuals without whom this project could not have not progressed in the ways it has. 

Firstly, we would like to recognize Meenakshi Shankar, our data engineering lead. Meena has been instrumental in designing the data model, establishing naming conventions and development standards, conducting code reviews, implementing data quality checks with robust exception handling, and mentoring team members. Her guidance has helped ensure the project is built on a sustainable technical foundation, and, quite fittingly, she has proven to be truly exceptional when it comes to exception handling.

Next, we would like to recognize James Niu, our data quality analyst, affectionately nicknamed&�Բ�����;“the encyclopedia.” James works closely with the team to interpret the government reporting requirements, ensuring that the rules are applied consistently and accurately. Data quality is a critical component of the IPA initiative, and James plays a key role in maintaining that standard. He is responsible for validating the data against the reporting requirements, identifying and flagging any data quality issues for follow-up, and documenting the results to support transparency and accountability. 

We also need to take a moment to spotlight Karen Furlonge, the Project Lead and driving force of this initiative. Karen consistently keeps the team focused on the bigger picture, ensuring that we look beyond the technical perspective and maintain a strong focus on the end-user experience.. She advocates for designing with users in mind, emphasizing that the new data must be intuitive and accessible, enabling our community to obtain the right information without needing an advanced understanding of the underlying business processes or technology. 

She provides support for the team, helping to remove obstacles and ensuring everyone has what they need to succeed. As the UIT representative, she engages with the 91��ɫ data and analytics community to highlight the transformative power of the new IPA platform. Karen had a few words to share on IPA’s journey and impact:  

This project began with a clear and important goal: to ensure that our data is accurate, consistent, and meaningful for those who rely on it. By carefully defining requirements and applying business rules consistently, the team has worked to build a strong foundation for reliable data and trusted insights.

Along the way, the project has become more than a technical initiative—it has been a collaborative journey driven by a shared commitment to meaningful change. Teams from OIPA, OUR, and UIT have come together, combining their expertise and supporting one another to overcome challenges.   

The IPA project represents a significant step forward, transforming our data and analytics capabilities. It’s not just about better data – it’s about enabling and empowering better decisions for our community. 

The post The IPA Journey appeared first on Office of the Chief Information Officer.