Presented by: Phyllis Treige, Jess Jones, Tamra Dagnon & Chris Diorio
Room: Plenary Room (1310)
Time: 1:20-2:00 PM
Description:
Big problems don’t have to be daunting. Use this process to pick apart, prototype, and test real solutions in a limited amount of time to inform projects that solve challenges for the University and our constituents.

This presentation will dive into how we’ve adapted the Google Ventures Design Sprint process to understand, diverge, converge, prototype, and test big problems in a short period of time. We’ll share two case studies, the benefits, and the lessons learned. And, you’ll have the chance to explore whether a design sprint might be right for you.

Presented by: Mike Vavrus, Chuck Goehler
Room: 1185
Time: 1:20-2:00 PM
Description:
Data continues to grow, and the risks of managing data especially in databases on or off-site present an interesting dilemma–how to manage databases so that they are safe and yet appropriately available? This round table discussion is meant to provide a forum for technologists to talk about the different types of databases they’re using and techniques for ensuring that their data is appropriately available.
We’d like people to come away with good awareness of high level, relatively common issues with database management, and of how others on campus are dealing with these issues.

Presented by: Patrick Meade
Room: Nicholas Hall (2080)
Time: 1:20-1:40 PM
Description:
Version control is a requirement for software development and very useful for system administration. Our industry has been through many kinds (RCS, CVS, SVN), but the current standard in our industry is Git. This talk walks people through the basics of version control, and using Git on their own projects as well as collaborating with others.
Ideally participants will learn what Git is used for, why they would want to use it, and how to use it for basic use cases including collaborating with others on software development.

Presented by: David Parter
Room: Nicholas Hall (2080)
Time: 1:40-2:00 PM
Description:
Automating tasks to be done on every commit increases the quality of your project by executing the same tasks on every commit. No steps are ever skipped. By using the CI hooks in GitLab to run unit tests and general code quality and security tests, the overall quality of the project improves, without painful work after development is done. We will describe our configuration, the tools we use, and show some examples of the what the tools found.
Sonarqube is a tool for “continuous code quality” for more than 25 programming languages, and is one of the main tools that we use.
The audience will be shown how to automate and use free tools to make your process and project better.

Presented by: Matt Blasinski & Amanda Thornton
Room: Plenary Room (1310)
Time: 2:15-3:00 PM
Description:
Do you ever feel that despite your hard work, knowledge, and experience you aren’t adequate for the work you do? Like everything is a house of cards ready to fall and the clock is ticking before you’re exposed as a fraud? The good news is – you’re not alone! The better news is – it’s probably just impostor syndrome! Impostor syndrome is the feeling you’re not qualified even though you are. It affects the majority of people who work in technology, yet it often goes unnoticed or unresolved. In this simple down-to-earth session, we’ll talk about what impostor syndrome is, identifying it, and what you can do about it so that you can feel confident that you’ll be able to contribute and achieve success for your hard work and valuable skills!
This a simple, friendly overview about impostor syndrome, not an in-depth technical discussion. It is given by a technology professional so that other technology professionals can understand and benefit from it. The talk uses the “5 Ws” to guide a discussion about impostor syndrome. We’ll talk about WHAT it is, giving examples of WHO, WHEN, and WHERE it occurs. We’ll discuss WHY it’s a problem. Finally, and most importantly, we’ll look at HOW to address it. The talk should help people get past worrying that their skills are inadequate or they aren’t capable and help inspire people to be confident and successful at their work.

Presented by: Tom Jordan
Room: Morgridge Auditorium (1100)
Time: 2:15-2:35 PM
Description:
It’s been a whirlwind year for the University in rolling out Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) to employees via the NetID Login web single sign-on (WebSSO) service. This discussion will talk about what’s next for the MFA project, and how MFA can be leveraged for non-web systems.
Audience members should leave with an understanding of the MFA project’s next steps and directions, and what IT stakeholders can do to leverage MFA in additional systems and applications.

Presented by: Maria Dahman
Room: 1185
Time: 2:15-2:35 PM
Description:
Tips on how to use (and not abuse) survey results, as well as tips for writing a good survey.
Surveys can be a useful tool if they are written well, used in an appropriate context, and seen as a part of a larger tool-set.

Presented by: Julie Zachman
Room: 1295
Time: 2:15-3:00 PM
Description:
Suppose you have been maintaining a legacy app that has accumulated a decade’s worth of data for an internal customer. Let’s say the customer’s needs are evolving and they see that one or two critical requirements are missing from the app that was written ten years ago using only rudimentary libraries. Now let’s say the customer decides to look for, and eventually implement, a third party app that meets all their needs but will never ever be as tailored to their specific situation as the old app was. What are the problems, pitfalls, and pathways you can expect to encounter?
This is a lessons learned talk. After hearing about the issues I’d like us to brainstorm on mitigations that could be undertaken before, during and after migration.

Presented by: Patrick Meade
Room: Nicholas Hall (2080)
Time: 2:15-2:35 PM
Description:
Docker is a very popular container technology. This talk will cover the basics on Docker; what it is, why you would want to use it, and how to use it for simple use cases.
Key takeaways for the talk are the core basics of Docker. At the end of the talk people should know how/why to use Docker to simplify or solve some IT problems.

Presented by: Tomomi Imamura & Todd Neidinger
Room: Morgridge Auditorium (1100)
Time: 2:40-3:00 PM
Description:
This presentation talks about the DoIT Data Center’s successful vulnerability reduction using the Qualys Cloud Agent and its integration with the Cherwell CMDB using the Qualys API. In 2018, DoIT technologists deployed the Qualys Cloud Agent to the 900+ servers at the DoIT Data Center, and the agents started continuously gathering vulnerability information along with OS information, open ports, installed software, and other items. We integrated the Qualys API data feed with the Cherwell CMDB where the imported data are cross-referenced with existing server owners and application information. Remediation efforts started taking place as we started sharing the Qualys data using the Cherwell dashboard. The “Urgent” severity level vulnerabilities have been reduced by 70% since the deployment.
The audience will learn about the Qualys Cloud Agent, which is available for campus departments to use (no cost), the challenges and best practices of the agent deployment, and API integration with the CMDB.