College of Dentistry | University of Florida

Fresh Outlook

 

Fresh Outlook: Enhancing & Upgrading IT Service & Security

Changes Are Coming to Your Desktop!

In the next few months, we will be moving from Groupwise e-mail and Novell login accounts to Exchange e-mail and GatorLink login accounts. Our rough estimate is that we will start migrating departments by the end of October. We hope to be done with the migration by the end of February. We will be doing a department at a time and we will do our best to work around you and your department's schedule.

This is not just a change from one email program to another: it also affects logins, network identity, and the interconnectivity of UFCD computers to the UF computing world.

Why We're Changing

  • Outsourcing some services to the Health Science Center IT department will allow UFCD IT to focus on mission-critical functions such as server security and better availability.
  • The Outlook (PC) and Entourage (Mac) e-mail clients are compatible with all smart phones (including the iPhone) and will allow instant access to the entire campus directory (as opposed to just the UFCD directory).
  • Moving away from the Novell environment will result in a cost savings of approximately $34,000 per year.
  • There will be fewer username/password combinations for IT and users to handle.
  • Exchange provides the same functionality as GroupWise (calendaring, proxy access, etc.)
  • Upgrading our default operating system and Microsoft Office suite will reduce software issues.

What Does This Mean for You?

  • All Windows computers will be erased and re-imaged. This is to make sure that we migrate to a clean environment with no legacy issues from our old environment.
  • Since Windows XP will be going out of support in a few years, we plan on installing Windows 7 as part of this migration.
  • Office 2003 is also reaching the end of its lifecycle, so Office 2007 (2008 on Macintosh computers) will be the default Office product on all of the re-imaged computers.
  • All supported Macintosh computers will need to be joined to the domain and managed centrally. This will mean that you will be using your UFAD/Gatorlink username and password to log in to your Macintosh. This will enable us to push software and updates to these computers more easily.

How to Prepare

Before IT can reformat your computer, you will need to do the following:

Training & Resources

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FAQ

What changes will there be in my day-to-day use of my computer?
  1. You will log in to your computer using your GatorLink login, not your Novell login.
  2. Your e-mail client will change from GroupWise to Outlook (PC) or Entourage (Mac).
  3. You will have the ability to adjust your own spam filter settings.
  4. You will still be able to receive mail at your user@dental.ufl.edu account. However, you will no longer have a separate user@ufl.edu account, as both will now point to the same mailbox.
Since HSC IT is taking over some IT services, who should I call for support?
You should still contact the UFCD help desk for most of your IT support issues. However, password resets for your Gatorlink account will go (as before) to central campus IT at 352.392.HELP.
What is the H: drive? How do I access it?
Your home drive, or H: drive, is a folder set up on the network that is meant for you to store your work-related data and files. Only you have access to it, and it is backed up regularly.
You can open the H: drive from My Computer (PC) or the Finder (Mac), where it will appear as a drive, labeled with your name, alongside your computer's other disk drives.
Which files should I move to my H: drive?
You should move all work-related files that are currently on your local hard drive to your H:, or Home, drive. These include:
  • Files that contain restricted information
  • Files that contain important information (such as research data) that you don't want to lose in the event of a hard drive failure
Which files do I need to back up to my own media (such as a CD or a flash drive) if I want to retain them?
Any non-work-related files that are currently on your local hard drive. These include:
  • Personal music files
  • Personal photographs, videos or other media files
What counts as "restricted information," and therefore should NOT be on my local hard drive?
Types of restricted information include the following:
  • Patient information of any kind
  • Student grades
  • Social Security numbers
  • Financial information (banking, credit card numbers, etc.)
  • Employee contract information
When is the deadline for having my files moved over to the H: drive or backed up?
We will be migrating each department at a different time.
Who can I contact for help or to answer my questions?
You can contact the UFCD help desk at 352.273.5701 or help@dental.ufl.edu.

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