Technology Infrastructure for Education and Research

What is the TIER Program?

TIER is a campus-wide program that originated from the 2005 Repositioning Information Technology initiative. While the Repositioning IT initiative emphasized creating appropriate savings and efficiencies within administrative areas, there was a need to focus the strategic concept to reflect the efforts involved in designing IT infrastructure services for current and future educational and research requirements at UCLA.

As a result, the TIER Program was implemented with a focus on the future as UCLA now moves to designing and implementing the next generation of infrastructure IT services that are at the core of UCLA’s primary mission of education and research. While savings and consolidation opportunities are important under TIER, they are not the driving forces. As UCLA moves out to the greater academic campus to support its principal mission, TIER will respond to the technological infrastructure requirements for sustaining UCLA as a leader in education and research by providing technical and financial support.

The TIER program can be viewed as a natural extension of the UCLA Connected project. Where UCLA Connected was a massive effort to modernize building network infrastructure for over 69 academic buildings at a cost of $49 million over 10 years, TIER is more about change management and will focus on how networks are implemented, managed and maintained.

Who do I contact for more information regarding TIER?

The TIER program is managed by the UCLA Office of Information Technology. If you are interested in this program and require any further information, please contact Tier Program Director Karen Ribback at kribback@oit.ucla.edu.

Who is eligible?

The criteria for participation in the TIER program includes consolidating multi-tenant intra-building network equipment, expanding the campus or regional backbone structure to reduce inter-building fiber leasing costs, and moving to shared management models within a building and/or functionally or geographically similar region.

More specifically, TIER is committed to the consistent application of funding (currently at $2.1 million annually) to projects that meet emerging next generation network criteria, most importantly align with the following principles and goals:

1. To move to shared network management models – creating cooperation among network service providers for consolidated multi-tenant buildings and/or regional networks.
2. To consolidate independent networks into single building or regional (multi-building) networks, as appropriate.
3. To reduce or eliminate duplicative equipment in multi-tenant buildings.
4. To ensure the appropriate longer-term equipment maintenance requirement is adhered to – which implies that networks be maintained independent of funding source.
5. Specify and procure equipment such that the equipment can be incorporated into an evolved next generation network model.

In a practical way, TIER is also addressing the gaps created by the natural progression of and lifecycle issues for technology and infrastructure that is now evident for some of the earliest Connected projects, administrative buildings that were not part of the Connected project, and those academic buildings that, for historical reasons no longer relevant, did not get the full benefit of the Connected program.

The goal of TIER (aka Repositioning IT) initiative is to change the way UCLA's networks are implemented, managed and maintained. Most importantly, TIER is intended to go beyond what the 2000 Connected program accomplished by addressing the more challenging cultural issues associated with consolidation and shared management of networking on the UCLA campus.

What is covered under TIER?

A preliminary estimate of costs was presented to show that the annual $2.1 million available to support TIER would not meet the 100% financial requirements of these "early adopter" projects over the next four years. As a result, departmental investments in the form of “matching funds” are expected. The level of funding for any of these "early adopter" projects will need to be on a sliding scale basis – a basis that creates a financial incentive to encourage the willingness and commitment for these departmental units to participate in shaping this new cultural and management model, as well as on the needs of the departments to meet its networking needs under the next generation model.

The “early adopter” projects received funds for the following:

1. 100% Network equipment (switches, chassis)
2. Cabling, construction

What is not covered under TIER?

1. Equipment maintenance
2. HVAC, power / electrical upgrades
3. 10 Gig connection fee to Campus Backbone (CBN)

How can we get funding?

With the limited funds available to TIER and given the priorities and decisions to support the existing list of "early adopter" projects, only urgent requests will be considered for TIER funding during FY 2008/09.

If you have an urgent need and meet the eligibility criteria listed above, please contact the TIER program director to begin the following process.

The proposed process involved the following steps:

1. Contact TIER program director regarding department’s network needs.
2. Complete the TIER Funding Request forms (with as much supporting documentation as possible).
3. Submit the TIER Funding Request forms and proposed network design to TIER Program Director to begin the review and approval process.
4. With the support and guidance of the Program Director, complete the initial review process to validate the network alignment and design issues.
   1. Review by Campus Architect and Campus Security Officer.
   2. Review by IT Functional Oversight Committee (ITFOC) and Committee on IT Infrastructure (CITI)
5. Submit request for funding decision (with the assistance and guidance of the Program Director).

If you are interested in this program and require any further information, please contact Karen Ribback (TIER Program Director) at kribback@oit.ucla.edu.

What’s been done?

TIER program and projects

Phase I of TIER focused on creating the foundation of this initiative -- defining the funding principles and design criteria (refer to Appendix 1) to support a "Next Generation" campus network model. As this new network model has evolved, several opportunities and partnerships presented themselves -- permitting the implementation of these new network principles as part of an "early adopter" program.

Eight "early adopter" projects were presented for TIER funding in FY 2006-07. Two projects that were new building construction projects (Broad and CNSI) were awarded TIER funds in FY 2006-07, while the remaining six projects were awarded TIER funds in FY 2007-08 and FY 2008-09. The six emerging projects included Physical Sciences / Physics & Astronomy department; Kinross Building (with Library & ORA/OPRS); and 4 buildings within the CHS complex -- Factor (Schools of Nursing and Medicine), Dentistry, Public Health and NPI -- within a broader Medical Sciences Regional network concept. These early adopters are important in that they will help to create a better understanding of the operational impacts and practical application of these new NGN principles and criteria for the evolving network design requirements on the campus community. This knowledge will help to create a realistic plan for a campus-wide rollout by FY 2008-09.

In 2007, OIT partnerships have advanced the TIER program for networking on several fronts. The following are a list of the program’s accomplishments:

1. Development of TIER Funding principles and early design principles.
2. Establishment of high level concepts and design criteria for the UCLA TIER network by the next generation network team (an evolving model that is updated on the NGN wiki).
3. Development of partnerships with the campus community to identify projects that demonstrated need and early alignment in the direction of one or more of the next generation design criteria.
4. Development of a formalized review and approval process for proposed projects requesting use of TIER funds.
5. Realization of an additional 10% cost savings (estimated at over $200,000) by leveraging the campus purchasing power and bundling equipment purchases for TIER.
6. Development of a common and consistent partnership-based memo of understanding to be signed by all units who are participating in the TIER program and in receipt of TIER funds.
7. Approval of and funding for eight TIER projects (two projects in FY 2006-07 and six project in FY 2007-08 and FY 2008-09) as noted below:

FY 2006/07 projects
Network equipment for two new buildings:

1. CNSI
2. Broad building

FY 2007/08 projects
Network redesign and equipment upgrades for the following four buildings:

1. Factor (School of Nursing and Medicine)
2. Public Health
3. Physics and Astronomy
4. Kinross (Office of Research Administration & Library)

FY 2008/09 projects
Major network redesign and equipment upgrades for the following buildings:

1. Dentistry
2. Semel Institute (aka NPI -- Department of Psychiatry)

 

What’s next?

FY 2007/08 Programmatic Goals

TIER, in much the same way as the UCLA Connected Project, envisions integrated building networks for multi-tenant buildings and seeks to achieve equipment and maintenance consistency across the campus. While Connected achieved a great deal, TIER is the next step in building the necessary foundational changes in funding and management models which are necessary to achieve this vision. As such, TIER proposes to focus on the following priorities in FY 2007/08.

1. A long term funding model that can meet the transition demands of the campus to adopt the next generation network

   The TIER program effort over the past year has largely been to negotiate agreements between willing participants who see the benefit of increased cooperation with the potential to consolidate networks within a building or to regionalize in geographical or functionally similar area. The TIER program is largely one of change management with incentives for people to move in cooperative directions and/or to achieve alignment with next generation network directions. These incentives exist in direct and in-direct ways, with TIER funding being the most direct benefit. However, the current funding allocation for TIER is not nearly enough to keep up with the normal upgrade demands (estimated at $6 Million annually), let alone continue as an incentive mechanism.

2. A campus network maintenance plan and program

   Indirectly, units can benefit by having greater skills and abilities available to them through greater cooperation. Equally, the availability of spare equipment is more likely to result through increased collaboration. A common observation is that some units maintain their equipment others do not. There is the potential to achieve decreased maintenance costs through campus agreements, creating an incentive to maintain and sustain high performing and secure networks. In either case because of the importance of maintenance, TIER funds should be given where there is agreement to maintain equipment.

3. A campus network gap analysis / study

   A clear understanding of the priorities and timeline for network upgrades is critical to moving forward. A campus gap analysis should be part of the next generation design team’s effort. As much as UCLA Connected achieved, there remain some buildings (including academic buildings) that have not reached the standard for building infrastructure and/or technology. And as the campus moves towards the provision of voice services through voice over IP (VOIP) there will be increased building infrastructure requirements, across a number of campus buildings, for space, power and air conditioning to accommodate the new equipment.

4. Next generation operational designs and procedures.

   Finally, work must continue in the development of the next generation network model. We envision two additional teams being formed – one being an engineering team that can use the higher level design criteria to create standard network specifications and the other being an operational team that studies implications of the new design and creates new operating procedures for how networks are managed and maintained. These teams should include dedicated central, CTS, AIS and OIT resources as appropriate with job function, in addition to federated campus participation.

5. A campus network services provider costing model.

   A preliminary agreement has been developed for the network service providers supporting the early adopter projects as represented in the Attachment A of the TIER Funding MOU. However, a common and consistent partnership-based Network Services Provider memo of understanding and costing model for provisioning network services is needed. The TIER program does not envision one campus centralized network provider. Rather it depends upon a strategy where different network providers emerge and receive TIER funding for services based upon geographic location or function or by other agreements that achieve the same through outsourcing network services. A workgroup of network service providers will be identified to evaluate and develop recommendations for costing model(s) to be adopted by TIER.

6. The Chancellor’s call for proposals.

   Given these priorities, it is recommended that in the 2008/09 academic year of the TIER program, only urgent requests be considered for TIER funding rather than the program taking on more “early adopter” type projects.