The Department of Management Information Systems provides a crucial link
connecting PEF’s membership and staff. MIS provides this link through the
support and delivery of Internet services, data services, PC services,
telecommunications, and video conferencing.
Accomplishments and Improvements in 2000-2001
Computers, Hardware, and Software
Through the continuous development and support of our help desk tracking system,
MIS completed and documented a 38 percent increase in productivity over the past
year. This has allowed us to do more for less. We have been able to continue to
support the current PEF organization, add additional supported software (such as
Windows 2000, Office XP, VPN access, and Outlook Web Access), add and administer
four additional servers (Windows 2000, Nortel Contivity), and add
enterprise-wide anti-virus scanning without an increase in personnel. We
supported over 160 workstations across the state in terms of hardware and
software.
This year has also been a difficult one for the computing industry with the wide-spread expansion of viruses. We were able to survive all these viruses thanks to a server-based scanning system that monitors all e-mail for viruses. This system is updated nightly and was able to prevent even the newest viruses from entering PEF’s network. Server-based viruses have become the latest virus threat and we have been fortunate to remain one step ahead of the game by applying security updates as soon as they become available. In addition, a sophisticated inspection firewall keeps our network secure from the very serious threat of hackers.
MIS supervised the introduction of new, networked digital copiers that serve
as copiers, printers, and scanners. These units are faster, of better quality,
and cheaper to run than previous equipment. In addition, this reduces the need
for individual scanners, printers, and all the support costs these hardware
appliances require. All of these copiers have been networked at our major
offices, and soon, users in any office can submit jobs to any of the copiers in
the other offices.
Data Services
MIS continues to provide membership information via paper reports, labels, and
look-up formats. This is the backbone for division elections, mailings, and
member mobilizing efforts. We are also in the midst of our huge undertaking of a
complete membership database redesign and implementation. When complete, the new
database application will be able to provide on-the-fly forms and reports
customized for the user to better meet the needs of the membership and PEF staff
by making data more accessible and thus shortening turn-around times on data
requests. The new database system will be available to our field offices and
will also have a module to aid in member mobilizing functions. We also project a
great savings in paper and processing costs due to the greater accessibility the
end-user has to the data. We are designing the system so that we may easily
upgrade access in the future by adding web enabled services and enhanced member
mobilization features.
Web Development
PEF’s web site continues to be a crucial link to our members. It is THE central
location where members and press alike can get the most up-to-date information
on what is going on at PEF. With daily updates and a tremendous historical
archive our web site has grown to over 2000 pages including the on-line
Communicator (a collaboration between PEF’s MIS and PR departments). Add to this
our massive e-mailing and mobilizing campaigns and PEF is able to communicate
with its membership as never before. Our
PEFOnline@pef.org campaign has been used to e-mail PEF news to our members
and has provided the means to expand our home e-mail network in preparation for
our next contract negotiations. Watch for future improvements in member
mobilizing, news dispersion, data collection, and interactivity from our web
site in the coming year.
Telecommunications & Videoconferencing
PEF continues to enjoy very low per minute phone costs of 6.8 cents per minute
for 800 and long distance calls through our contract with AT&T. We’ve recently
expanded to three T1 lines in Albany and fractional T-1 lines replaced dedicated
56K circuits in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany Legislative Office,
Poughkeepsie, New York City, and Long Island to meet the bandwidth requirements
of our data services and to provide more lines for our phone systems. The
acquisition of this additional bandwidth was done for less than a 10 percent
increase over existing costs thanks to increased competitiveness in the current
telecommunications industry. A new voice-mail capable phone system is being
added to the NYC office with the intention of connecting it to a T-1 in the
future so that we may further reduce phone costs. Videoconferencing continues to
be available at all field offices as well as PEF headquarters. Usage continues
to grow as staff becomes more accustomed to using the system.
And Beyond...
In the coming year, we will utilize the increased bandwidth of our network to
provide a multitude of services to our field offices that are currently only
available at headquarters. We will also be undertaking a massive PC/Server
upgrade project where we move from 166 MHz Windows 95 based PC’s to 1GHz Windows
2000 based PC’s.
Our goals are to continue and to improve on MIS’ past leadership and service. Our core objective is to facilitate the transmission of information in all its various forms to meet the needs of the organization and its membership as efficiently and effectively as possible. We now have the technology and know-how to accomplish this. We welcome the opportunity to continually meet and exceed the needs, demands, and challenges that will surely arise to best serve our membership.