FAS Report Spotlights Computers

A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage are things of the past.

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences Committee on Information Technology wants to put a computer on every desk by June 1997.

A recent report by the committee, "Strategy for the Next Few Years," states, "Every member of the faculty and every member of the administrative staff should have (or at least have convenient access to) a networked computer through which the [World Wide Web] is accessible."

The committee has not yet determined the number of computers needed to reach this goal, but "an inventory is currently in progress," according to the report, which was discussed at Tuesday's Faculty meeting.

The report estimates that $2,500 buys a computer for the "typical professional."

But the financial impact of this proposal is difficult to predict, according to committee members.

"It's a goal," said Professor of Government Gary King. "It's not like anybody is going to write one check. It's like everyone is going to write a check."

At Harvard, computers are purchased through individual professors using grants, money from department budgets, funding from deans and the FAS Computer Services budget. There is no University-wide coordination for computer purchasing.

"It's not like [FAS Computer Services] makes the decision whether each faculty member should have a new computer," King said.

More critical for budgets than the original financial outlay is the cost of support and upkeep of these new computers.

Including maintenance and assuming computer's lifetime is five years, a rolling renewal plan costs $600 per computer per year or $1.5 million per year to maintain 2,500 faculty and staff.

The University does not have statistics about current spending on purchasing and maintenance.

The new computers will also require additional technical support; the report recommends at least 20 more staffers.

"Support arrangements are under constant discussion, and the details are not set yet," said Franklin Steen, director of FAS Computer Services.

Even with the additional staff, Harvard's support "is less than most commercial enterprises," Steen said.

Networking

The report also recommends improvements to Harvard's High Speed Data Network (which provides e-mail and Web connections), many of which have already been implemented.

FAS Computer Services has already installed additional servers and performed the network upgrades called for in the report, according to Steen.

Computer Services is also working on increasing each user's disk space.

This summer, Computer Services finished wiring many of the River houses, the last step in providing inroom network hook-ups to undergraduates.

The report, though, reveals that some of the wiring done before 1988 may have to be redone as network demands increase.

"The telephone system installed in 1988 has served us well...[but some] of this wiring will not support speeds ten times higher," according to the report.

Replacing the 1988 wiring "would be very expensive. We should not do it now," the report says.

A bigger problem facing this committee and information technology at Harvard more generally is the speed at which technology changes.

"If you were to have guessed five years ago where we would be today in information technology," said King, "you're guess would have been completely wrong.

More critical for budgets than the original financial outlay is the cost of support and upkeep of these new computers.

Including maintenance and assuming computer's lifetime is five years, a rolling renewal plan costs $600 per computer per year or $1.5 million per year to maintain 2,500 faculty and staff.

The University does not have statistics about current spending on purchasing and maintenance.

The new computers will also require additional technical support; the report recommends at least 20 more staffers.

"Support arrangements are under constant discussion, and the details are not set yet," said Franklin Steen, director of FAS Computer Services.

Even with the additional staff, Harvard's support "is less than most commercial enterprises," Steen said.

Networking

The report also recommends improvements to Harvard's High Speed Data Network (which provides e-mail and Web connections), many of which have already been implemented.

FAS Computer Services has already installed additional servers and performed the network upgrades called for in the report, according to Steen.

Computer Services is also working on increasing each user's disk space.

This summer, Computer Services finished wiring many of the River houses, the last step in providing inroom network hook-ups to undergraduates.

The report, though, reveals that some of the wiring done before 1988 may have to be redone as network demands increase.

"The telephone system installed in 1988 has served us well...[but some] of this wiring will not support speeds ten times higher," according to the report.

Replacing the 1988 wiring "would be very expensive. We should not do it now," the report says.

A bigger problem facing this committee and information technology at Harvard more generally is the speed at which technology changes.

"If you were to have guessed five years ago where we would be today in information technology," said King, "you're guess would have been completely wrong.