EHE’s IT support had a jump on COVID-19

Even before COVID-19 arrived on U.S. soil, service desk members in the Office of Information Technology in our college were thinking ahead.

Is it possible, they asked, to provide IT services remotely from home? At the time, they were seeking flexible schedules to meet personal or family needs. But they and Paul Patterson, IT service manager, recognized that the strategy had potential for other uses as well.

They decided to run some tests. Technicians Kevin Welsh, Mark Colleli, Scott Colleli and Hassan Mirza spent an evening making and taking calls. They used typical support scenarios requested by students, staff and faculty, and the experience let them ensure they had the tools needed.

Everyone on the IT team was pleased with how seamless the services were, despite being delivered from home. Further, the two student workers, Andi Martin and Treavon Clark, were thrilled to be equipped to take remote calls as well.

The system administrators, Christine Streeter and Peter Brandt, whose normal duties require them to be on-call 24/7 for emergencies, already could perform 95% of their work remotely.

“Meanwhile, we worked with the (university’s) Office of the Chief Information Officer to offer new services to our graduate students and researchers,” Patterson said. “We gave them remote access to their lab computers and specific software, so they could continue their work uninterrupted. Brandt and Streeter ensured that their data management systems were capable, secure and robust enough to handle the load.”

In another preparatory step, the IT office borrowed 50 laptops from OCIO and prepared them in less than 48 hours. “I believe we loaned faculty or staff 30+ computers before we were asked to stay at home,” said Patterson.

COVID-19 arrives

By late February, a few of the service desk workers began to provide remote support on a flexible schedule. By then, COVID-19 was recognized as taking hold on U.S. shores.

On the day the university called for employees to work from home, the college’s service desk had all technology fully tested and ready to go. On March 16, the team packed up everything they needed and began to work from home the next day.

“We have been at our respective homes ever since, maintaining the college’s computing infrastructure and providing the same level of help as always,” Patterson said.

“As many do, we have a daily morning call with the whole team to touch base, talk about the previous day, the day ahead and whatever else we want to share as a group. And we always check on each other’s health.”

Dean Don Pope-Davis applauded the efforts of the team. “I appreciate the initiative they took in anticipating the needs of our faculty and staff,” he said, “and the support given them by Joe Roush, our chief operations officer, to be ready.”

For assistance with remote work or teaching, contact the EHE Service Desk at servicedesk@ehe.osu.edu or 614-247-4357.