itsnews As some of you will be departing for the Christmas break before the end of the week I wanted to take this opportunity to say a big “thank you” to all IT Services staff for all your hard work and achievements in 2012. I can hardly believe that a whole year (nearly!) has gone by since I began working here and time has flown by incredibly quickly.
When I first began my job as Director last January I said how impressed I was by the ability and dedication of all our teams within IT Services. That opinion has been reinforced by our response to the many pressures we have faced over the past 12 months. This year has seen an unusually high level of change within the University, including: the contract with UPP, the opening of our Malaysian presence in Kotaraya, the creation of the central Admissions Office, a new Vice Chancellor, further budget reductions, and many more. Within ITS we have also had our fair share of staff changes, including significant change in the IT Services Directorate team as we said goodbye to Mike Barsley and Mark Cockshoot and welcomed Christine and Anton as new Assistant Directors. Through all these changes we have consistently risen to each challenge and have maintained our reputation for delivering high quality services to our customers.
Change is always double-edged: it is often exciting and essential to making progress, but it can also be a cause of anxiety for some, especially when resources are tight and there is so much to do. My overall impression is that there is a real sense of dynamism and purpose within the University as it goes into 2013 and ITS will play an increasingly important part in supporting major developments for the future. Next year will be challenging, again, but also a year of opportunity for us as we continue to develop our services.
So thank you all for everything you’ve contributed to our success in 2012, and I trust that you will each have a restful Christmas (well, enjoyable anyway!) and a peaceful New Year.
John