What are the drivers behind the 2023 Device Lifecycle Programme?

The 2023 Device Lifecycle Programme is a University directive stemming from the New Ways of Working (NWoW) strategic pathway. In order to support the Smart Working framework, where staff are able to work on campus or at home, the University aims to provide all staff with one portable device to cater for flexible working.

As well as supporting the NWoW strategic pathway, the policy for a single, University-managed device allows for improved and efficient staff technical support in addition to a more robust cyber security model and compliance.

IT security breaches can be extremely costly. Older devices and a diverse range of equipment manufacturers cannot be managed centrally for security patches and software upgrades. Staff IT equipment must be fully managed with up to date software to be compliant with audit and risk standards such as Cyber Essentials Plus and ISO27001.

Finally, aging devices require more frequent maintenance and support, leading to low staff satisfaction with recurring issues such as poor performance and lack of software compatibility.

DTS have been tasked by the University with replacing old and unmanaged devices with new Surface Laptops (or MacBook Air).

What does this mean in practice?

Any staff member who is not currently using a UoR laptop is entitled to receive an upgrade to a Surface Laptop 5 i7 (at no charge to their department).  Current Mac users are entitled to a MacBook Air (at no charge to their department).

These DTS-supplied devices will be replaced at no charge if they become faulty, or at the end of their lifetime.

How can you receive a new laptop?

The Device Lifecycle team works with your entire team or department to co-ordinate the set-up of new devices for all staff members in scope for replacement. Contact the Device Lifecycle team to discuss.

What will be happen to devices which are replaced?

We are working on a new disposal strategy which will focus on reuse, recycling and recouping money for the University.  In addition, any equipment (especially Surface devices which are only a few years old but are no longer fit for the job function) will be reused within the University.

Further information

If you have any questions or need any advice, please contact the Device Lifecycle team who will be happy to help.

As part of our ongoing project to improve our services and ensure they meet current requirements, we are replacing the Mailman email distribution list service. You can read more about why we need to move away from Mailman in our post Changes to email distribution lists.

We have already migrated over 400 lists to Microsoft Outlook Distribution Groups. These are lists which contain internal members only.

Moving from Mailman Lists to LISTSERV

We are now ready to tackle moving our external facing Mailman lists to a new managed email service called LISTSERV.

LISTSERV has been running since 1986. Thousands of organizations worldwide use LISTSERV to manage email newsletters, discussion groups, email communities and opt-in email marketing campaigns that reach millions of subscribers.

Key information for existing list owners

The migration of lists and users will be done automatically by DTS over the next few weeks. If you are a list owner, we will email to let you know when your list migration will take place.  This email will also contain your new email list address.

There are a few steps we would like you to take to smooth the transition for yourselves and for your members.

• Familiarise yourself with the new interface (demo at Moderator interface)
• Notify members of the changes: We advise you to notify your members of the change of email address for your list.
• Update moderation and list settings: We have configured the new list moderation to be fairly restrictive, however you can make changes to these settings as you please.
• Use the new email address: We encourage you to use the new address as soon as possible. There will be a grace period of two weeks where both email addresses can be used.
• Send emails to both lists for two weeks: to allow all members to ensure that they have been successfully migrated, and that emails from the new service are being correctly delivered (and not sent to spam/junk).

I’m subscribed to a Mailman list, what do I need to do?

First of all, wait until you are advised by your list moderator that the list email address has changed!

• Familiarise yourself with the new interface (demo at Subscriber interface)
• Use the new email address: Please note that for the first two weeks after the migration, all email sent to the old address will redirect to the new list. An autoreply will notify the sender of the new email address to use.
• Create a LISTSERV account so you can access your settings and check your subscription status has migrated successfully. You must use the same email address as the email address used by your existing list.

Instructions, demos and FAQ

Instructions for list owners and subscribers can be found here: KI 1816 LISTSERV Information. We have also published an FAQ on the same page.

There are demos of the new LISTSERV interface you can try out:

• Subscriber interface
• Moderator interface

Further information and Contact

If you have any questions or need any advice, please contact the Mailman migration team via the IT Service Desk.

What do I need to know?

The Eduroam wi-fi security certificate has been renewed, which in some cases requires re-authentication when you join for the first time.

What do I need to do?

If you are using wi-fi on campus for the first time after 22/12/22 and you are having issues connecting, you should “forget” the Eduroam wi-fi network on your device and then re-join Eduroam, re-entering your username and password (particularly iOS users). If you get a message e.g. “Do you want to accept this new certificate”, please accept the new certificate.

If forget and re-join doesn’t work, please go to wifi.reading.ac.uk and download a new certificate for your device before connecting (you may need to use mobile data to do this if you have no other connections available to you).

Further help

If you still can’t get on to wi-fi, please visit our Service Desk on the first floor in the Library at Whiteknights where we can help in person. Alternatively, raise a ticket with the IT Service Desk.

Here are the DTS Service Desk opening times during the Christmas & New Year vacation.

Email and the IT Self-Service Portal will remain open; however, we will not be working as standard. New and existing tickets will not be actioned, but we will be monitoring urgent systems and services.

From Monday 9th January, all services are back to operating normally – term time opening hours.