The majority of computer labs at todays academic institutions face a common
set of business challenges in security, operations management, and managerial
decision support. These challenges cause significant direct losses, which can
be attributed to factors such as lack of access control and inadequate security.
Moreover, there are substantial opportunity costs related to workstation downtime,
sub-optimal work schedules, poor employee supervision, and inefficient occupancy
management. Given that the value of computer assets ranges from hundreds of
thousands to tens of millions of dollars, and that educational budgets are at
historic lows, it is important to streamline business processes, optimize use of
resources, and provide required levels of security in a computer lab. The solution
is an integrated Computer Lab Management System that can turn a primarily
manual lab management business into a flawless automated and highly efficient
operation.
A Typical Computer Lab
A typical computer lab at an academic institution is an organizational unit
responsible for providing users with access to workstations. The lab may comprise
one or more computer rooms located at various points on the campus. To access
workstations, users perform some form of sign-in either by registering
themselves in a log or by turning in an ID card. Sometimes access to workstations
is unrestricted.
The lab is supervised by a Manager, who is responsible for overall lab performance,
carries out day-to-day management duties, and plays an active role in budgeting,
staffing, purchasing, payroll, and other money-related matters.
Labs hire Technicians, employees responsible for the overall condition and
availability of the equipment. Technicians conduct complex repairs, maintain stock
of spare parts, order and install software, communicate with vendors technical
support services, and perform other technical tasks.
Labs also hire a number of Lab Assistants, usually students working part-time.
Lab Assistants supervise computer room operation and user sign-in, conduct
technical and customer support, and perform minor troubleshooting and simple
maintenance tasks.
The Challenges of Managing a Computer Lab
In most cases, the business processes for running a computer lab are either not
computerized at all or are computerized using office automation tools. This results
in the following problems, just to name a few:
- Lab assistants cannot be alerted to potential violators signing in to use a
workstation. Lab employees do not have effective means to maintain and
query the list of users known for malicious activities. There is no way for a
lab assistant to know that a student signing in to use a workstation damaged
a thousand dollars worth of equipment a year ago.
- Workstations cannot be locked from the control center. As a result, a lab
assistant cannot force a user out of a workstation before a class starts or if
the user just refuses to go. In addition, a lab assistant cannot prevent users
from occupying workstations without permission while the assistant is out of
the room.
- There are no means to identify users who performed a malicious activity. A
lab manager, alerted about SPAM distribution that originated from one of the
lab machines several days ago, cannot identify who used the workstation at
that time and what other workstations had been used by the same person.
Such an activity will go unpunished encouraging other hackers to abuse lab
resources.
- Room occupancy cannot be managed efficiently. Lab personnel cannot tell
how many stations in each room are available, whether another room located
in a different building is booked for a class, under-occupied or has users on
a waitlist. As a result, there is no way to redistribute users to vacant
workstations in other locations.
- There are no means of monitoring employee attendance. Most lab assistants
are temporary employees; managers should not rely on their work discipline
blindly. Attendance tracking will greatly facilitate supervision and payroll
calculation.
- Inefficient technical support. Technicians do not have means of tracking issues
and collaborating with lab assistants. Suppose a lab assistant found an
issue and left a 'Post-it' note attached to a workstation to inform a technician.
Later, a janitor removed the note. Now it will take long time for a technician to
spot the issue. Moreover, it will be hard for a technician to collaborate on the
issue if the lab assistant works a different shift. Workstations cannot be
marked unavailable for user sign-in.
- There is not enough information for scheduling and staffing decisions.
Managers need to draft lab and personnel schedules. They cannot do this
well without knowing the occupancy levels within each lab. They need to
know what hours of the day or days of the week require more lab personnel,
when will it be enough to keep only one or two lab assistants on site, best
times the lab could be closed due to minimal traffic.
- There is not enough information for budgeting and purchasing decisions.
Managers do not have reliable statistics on what models fail more often than
others. They cannot answer basic questions regarding total cost of ownership
for each model; whether the lab has enough Macintosh vs. PC computers,
how many more of each type is needed and how to justify it to the Vice
President; what spare parts to purchase and in what quantity; what is the
estimated maintenance budget for the next planning period and how to justify
the budget to the Vice President.
Lab managers generally realize that information systems help them resolve these
issues. As a result, many have developed homegrown applications covering various
aspects of lab management. Sometimes two or more labs on the same campus
will independently come out with solutions featuring similar functionality. Yet, the
quality and feature set provided by these homegrown systems leave much to be
desired.
