CSIRO information technology support changes
We advise visitors to the ATNF and users of our facilities that computing support arrangements within CSIRO are changing. The main changes that will be evident to visitors are in making requests for computing help at the Marsfield site in Sydney, and in how visitors interact with the local support-staff at Marsfield. At the observatories, the role of the local support-people has not changed.
Previously, requests for help were made by email and from time to time by phone. There is now a new centralised (across all of CSIRO) Enterprise Service Desk (servicedesk@csiro.au) that is used for IT support requests. Mail sent to the old "helpdesk" address is automatically forwarded to the new address. Telephone assistance is available at the numbers 96 666 (internal phone) or 02 6276 6666 (external phone). The Service Desk will coordinate resources to resolve requests for help.
CSIRO IT
The background to these changes is that CSIRO has initiated a project to change the way in which IT support is delivered. Previously, ATNF's IT support was provided by a combination of the Computer Services Group (CSG, run by the CTIP division) and a corporate group in Canberra (ITS). There is now a new entity called "CSIRO IT" which holds the majority of IT resources in CSIRO. The former entities ITS and CSG are now part of CSIRO IT. It is planned that IT support will be consolidated CSIRO-wide enabling CSIRO to deliver better IT support so that more resources can be focussed on science.
CSIRO IT is not responsible for all IT-related activity in CSIRO. For example, research into new Information Technologies is still directed by individual scientists and engineers. There are also substantial grey areas between basic infrastructure support and scientific research, where support is needed from people knowledgeable in both the field of research and in setting up IT infrastructure. The boundaries will be worked out over time. No ATNF staff were transferred to CSIRO IT, as we had already outsourced the infrastructure work to CSG and ATNF IT staff also have other operational roles.
The new IT support structure has three tiers. The first tier is the Enterprise Service Desk which deals with the initial call and may be able to fix the problem. If they can't, they will pass it on to either a Business Support Team or to a Technical Specialist Team. The former CSG IT staff at Marsfield are still on site, but are now in a mixture of Business Support Teams and Technical Specialist Teams. With time, IT staff may slowly move around the organisation and into new roles.
The transition to CSIRO IT is first being applied in a pilot program which covers the Sydney basin region and Newcastle. This includes the ATNF Marsfield site. The pilot is scheduled to run for three months (until about the end of October) when other parts of CSIRO will be brought into the new structure.
This is a complex change process and it will take some time to accommodate all of the changes and make it fully effective. If you are visiting the ATNF in the near future, please be aware of these changes taking place. When making a request, note that the person you interact with on the Service Desk will not be located at Marsfield. This means you will need to indicate where you are and whether you are a visitor or not. It is a good idea to include a telephone number where you can be reached.
We welcome any constructive feedback that you might have on the new IT support arrangements.
Neil Killeen, Vince McIntyre
(Neil.Killeen@csiro.au) (Vincent.McIntyre@csiro.au)