Departmental Onsite Computing (DOCS) Presentation

150 University Hall
November 6, 2009
10:00 am

Overview

Departmental On-site Computing Support (DOCS) provides desktop and server support to academic, administrative, and research departments. The DOCS service is intended for departments that do not have their own local support staff, do not have enough computers to warrant hiring a full-time support person, or need supplemental or more expert technical help. Services are offered on both a monthly and hourly basis. Attend this presentation to find out how your department can use the DOCS service!

Agenda

Monthly, Hourly, and Server Service Overview - Michelle Bautista
Customer Stories:
- SPH: Health Research for Action -Andrea Spurgeon
  - Our offices are off-site in downtown Berkeley and we have 23 employees and many students who rotate through.
    - We’ve been using DOCS for 4 years? I used their services at my previous job at the Office of the President
    - Mostly Macs, some PCs.
    - Mark and Luc have been especially adept and helpful.
    - How do you use DOCS service?
    - DOCS helps us plan and implement our technical needs in a way that's easy to understand. They give us clear, step-by-step instructions.
    - They configure and maintain our servers and desktop computers. They reconfigured our shared server and implemented better security measures.
    - DOCS keeps our network running because it's not supported by central IST. DOCS also helped us work with/around stubborn firewall issues in the Wells Fargo Bldg., being that we have an outside network vendor here.
    - DOCS installs software and hardware and troubleshoots problems. Their follow-up is good, usually checking if everything (after the “fix”) is working okay. Often they can make changes and assist us remotely without much, if any, disruption to our work flow.
    - They keep our computers safe from hackers and viruses.
    - If a computer goes down, DOCS is there to get it up and running with minimal downtime. They strategize to figure out creative alternatives to solving tricky issues.
    - They help us access campus-wide systems like CalMail, CalAgenda, CalNet, BFS, and BAIRS.
    - Our data network isn't robust enough to support UCBackup, so DOCS developed an in-house backup system.
- ASUC: Robert Jittrikawiphol
- Philosophy: Matt Wolf
  - Philosophy subscribed to DOCS in 2003 to obtain support for a graduate student computer lab.
  - DOCS agreed to support the lab and was willing to tailor its services to the environment. At the time, DOCS did not support any other computer labs on campus.
  - The high quality service from DOCS led Philosophy to extend DOCS support to administrative staff.
  - By utilizing DOCS for desktop support, Philosophy frees internal IT staff to work on infrastructure and departmental applications.
  - Philosophy has a different desktop support provider for faculty. This could easily have resulted in coordination problems. But, DOCS does an excellent job with communication and documentation, which helps keep everyone on the same page.
  - We recommend DOCS and would encourage other units to consider the service as a cost-effective desktop support solution.
Q&A - The DOCS team

We encourage you to submit questions in advance to docs@berkeley.edu.

Missed the presentation? View the slides here.