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Dear reader,
As we look back on a challenging year with many new developments, we also see a year in which ETH had to tighten its belt; tighter than it has ever been used to. We shall achieve just as much in the coming year, even though budgets will still be tight in 2024. This makes it all the more important for us to drive forward the automation and efficiency of business processes through digitalisation.
Digitalisation: for many, it's just a buzzword that looks good on presentations. For IT Services, however, this has always been part of our job. We use our solutions to accelerate business processes and offer transparency that would otherwise barely be possible. For us, digitalisation is not just a word, but is reflected in real, tangible results.
As the year ends, read three examples of this in inside|out and look forward with us to another year of digital progress.
I would like to thank you all for your excellent collaboration and wish you all the best for 2024.
Warm regards,
Dr Rui Brandao
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| Goodbye to wooden stamps. Marco Mobiglia, Wolfgang Sichler and Roland Fehr, from left, are the brains behind the simple, fast and secure stamping of new documents |
eSiegel: Stamping documents electronically |
As part of WELBA’s modernisation, the enrolment certificate (IMBE) was fully digitalised using the "eSiegel ID" service. It is now possible to stamp documents in bulk. With such a stamp, documents can be checked for authenticity, origin and integrity by persons external to ETH Zurich.
Using the eSiegel service, the ITS can provide a regulated electronic seal in accordance with ZertES (Federal Act on Electronic Signatures) for an application. Official documents created in large numbers by ETH in applications can be signed easily, quickly and securely with a stamp. The stamped document can be checked by any recipient online, at any time and from any location. This greatly eases the organisational burden on ETH, as documents no longer have to be printed out and sent. It is also easier for recipients, as they can retrieve the IMBE themselves and store it where they wish. The service is intended exclusively for bulk business. Documents cannot be stamped individually, and use of the service must be authorised by the ITS Director. More about the service can be found in the IT Service catalogue. The WELBA project (further development of teaching applications) is a joint project of ITS and Academic Services (AkD).
Wolfgang Sichler, Windows Services (ITS APPS) |
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| WLAN for day guests / visitors |
| Visitors to ETH receive uncomplicated Internet access via our WLAN. It is now possible to register via email as an alternative. |
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| Without an inventory, compliance is at risk, and in the event of a possible manufacturer audit, the consequences are dire (image on the left); staged by the "user" Christian Hagen, who is "punished" by the "auditor" (played here by Ralph Curschmann) for incorrect licensing. Inventoried devices help with compliance (image on the right). The "users" Mario Russo and Markus Brodbeck, from left, can relax using the installed software, whilst also optimising their software costs into the bargain |
Introduction of the tool SAM with software inventory |
IT Services is introducing the "RaySAMi" software tool in stages to support software asset management (SAM). Information on installed software is either collected from the target device using inventory software, or data is read from deployment systems such as JAMF and Baramundi. The licence details created from the data help to reduce costs and ensure compliance.
SAM from ITS enables a reduction in software costs whilst complying with the software manufacturer's regulations. The newly introduced SAM tool, RaySAMi, supports us in several different ways. One of the tool’s main tasks is to record the installed campus software and the hardware used (e.g., processor type and number of CPU cores) on the target devices. This is done either via SAM software installed on the device, or by using data from existing sources, such as deployment tools (JAMF, Baramundi).
The processed data is used to create a 'licence balance sheet', which compares software usage with the acquired usage rights from licence agreements. This is no easy task: a SAM tool must take complex usage rights into account, such as secondary usage rights, virtualisation rights, the 90-day rule, platform dependency, subscription obligations, etc. when comparing the licence information. Modern SAM tools such as RaySAMi offer effective and professional support in the area of software asset management. The aggregated data can be used to generate reports and dashboards that help the SAM team, management and decentralised organisational units (ZOs, departments) to achieve cost optimisation and compliance targets.
To gain initial practical experience, ITS is rolling out the new tool within the IT Services and the central bodies (ZO) in an initial phase. The departments are then integrated through a customised onboarding process. Department-specific requirements are taken into account in each case. With the new tool, SAM is to be better established in all units of ETH Zurich in order to utilise existing resources more efficiently. More details about SAM can be found on the WIKI page (login, in German only).
Ralph Curschmann, Procurement and Compliance (ITS CCR) |
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| DeepL Pro Translator subscription |
| The DeepL Pro machine translation service can be ordered from the IT Shop (subject to a charge). Benefits of a DeepL subscription: There is no monthly limit to the number of characters translated. It also offers data security, as texts are deleted after translation and are not used for machine learning. Even with the Pro version, however, confidential and strictly confidential information must not be machine translated. |
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| Paul Signer, Roger Schlumpf and Fabio Consani, from the left, know how much the cloud costs |
Transparent cost overview of the cloud resources used |
Cloud resources are billed according to usage and can vary from a few centimes a month to thousands of francs a day. This makes it difficult to maintain an overview. For this reason, IT Services has developed the new "Cloud Resource Management" service, which supports and simplifies the procurement of cloud resources and displays the costs incurred via the "Cost Management Portal" (CMP) transparently.
For years, ETH has been using various cloud providers such as Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google GCP. Users were able to assemble and use computer infrastructures for their purposes, but had to handle the ordering, installation and payment themselves using their credit cards.
IT Services are now offering support: they have negotiated contracts that comply with ETH specifications and found partners to ensure agreed conditions and prices. The Cloud Service Centre has also developed methods for automating the management of various cloud instances and bring them closer to ETH. This also includes cost transparency via the "Cost Management Portal". ETH members can now order cloud resources from Azure or GCP via the IT Shop. In doing so they must specify an annual budget and a cost centre. This ensures that all chargeable components are assigned to the correct project.
The various components and their associated costs are displayed in the CMP. Additional warnings can be configured, e.g., to notify the person authorising the budget once half the budget has been spent. The costs are charged monthly. The "Cloud Resource Management Offerings" are now available in the IT Shop. If you have any questions, please submit a ticket to the CSC. The CMP will be completed by Q1/Q2 2024. More information in the CSC blog.
Paul Signer, new Group Head of Portfolio Management (ITS CCR)
Roger Schlumpf, Senior Software Engineer & Cloud Architect, Portfolio Management (ITS CCR) |
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| In search of emails |
| Our tip: Make regular checks to see if legitimate emails have ended up in spam. Read the ITS Blog to find out where to look. |
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Learn more about this IT find |
Join us on a journey through time: This old ETH phone was saved from disposal by an ITS employee. Take a guess and find out more about the IT find.
Question: What is the minimum number of wires needed to make a phone call? |
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| Save the date: Informatiktage 2024 |
| The next Informatiktage event will be held from 18 March to 23 March 2024. The ITS is also taking part, together with the D-INFK (Department of Computer Science). Visit us on the open day on Saturday, 23 March in the CAB building. |
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| Optimising the ETH printer landscape |
| In the future, the printer landscape should be designed to be sustainable and cost-efficient. IT Services are participating and have initiated the following packages of measures. |
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| Cookpit: culinary delights in pictures and words |
| For the start of the 2023 autumn semester, the ITS APPS section put the new "Cookpit" system into operation in close cooperation with the responsible departments at ETH and external caterers. More about the new system and web technology in the ITS Blog. |
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