NCRIS Activities 2: Common Services and Operations User Support Nectar Research Software Projects Workshop June 2014

Some (near) discussion points What happens when you have:  500, 1000, 10,000 users? What does good user support mean for you? What does good user support mean for your end-users? Who provides user support for your VL/ RT?  The community, development team, operation team?  State-based infrastructure providers, institutional eResearch Unit, Library, IT Department? Are there any mechanisms that could enhance user support for your application? Are there common user support services and operations that could be shared amongst VL’s and RT’s? Enhancement of Tier 0/1 material Help desk infrastructure ( ticket/ incident platforms, telephone support) Community support forums/ centralised knowledge bases Greater integration with current support mechanisms Existing user support mechanisms at Massive and NCI

AeRO IT User Support Project Objectives 1. Save everyone time collecting research service information 2. Improve user support practices with templates and protocols 3. Improve service usability and researcher Tier 0 Self-Support 4. Support new research-led services from RDSI and NeCTAR usersupport.aero.edu.au

The AeRO IT User Support Project – What we have learned Three major groups that develop, deliver or provide support for eResearch capability. eResearch applications and services (Vl/ RT’s) Infrastructure Operators (NeCTAR/ RDSI Nodes) Institutional service desks, libraries and eResearch units usersupport.aero.edu.au

Tier VL’s/ RT’s eResearch Applications and Services Institutions Infrastructure Operators End-User/ Researcher Developing a connected support community End user centric approach Service detail/ catalogue User uptake and support Better relationships Uptake, good experience and satisfaction Incidents/ Tickets Increased uptime/ communication Incidents/ Tickets Service Levels/ Assurance

Developing an eResearch user support maturity model usersupport.aero.edu.au Applications and Services  Virtual Laboratories  Research Tools  Public website  eResearch application or service overview  Contact us page  Tier 0 support material (e.g. knowledge base, faqs)  Terminology to suit the audience Renewal – 6 monthly  verification of links  verification of contact details In addition to Provision of researcher facing overview of application / service/ engagment/ ethics and grant application resource material Training material Incident and ticket management framework Provision of institutional users metrics UI/ UX review of service and documented change Renewal – 6 monthly  verification of links  update of content pages  metrics for institutions plus  Published Operational/Service level agreements  Notification of new users to institutional support services  Additional criteria as the framework evolves Renewal – 6 monthly  verification of links  update of content pages  metrics for institutions Institutions  IT support desk/help desk  Library support  eResearch Unit support  Ability to participate in AeRO Tick and onboard self selected services  Names and contact details of service manager, incident manager, library eResearch manager, eResearch unit Renewal – 6 monthly  verification of links  verification of contact details plus  Integration of self-selected AeRO tick services catalogue services /  use of metrics provided by AeRO applications & services Renewal – 6 monthly  verification of links  update of content pages plus  Report number of research projects using AeRO Tick applications & services /infrastructure services  Report AeRO Tick applications and services that are provided enhanced local user support. Renewal – 6 monthly  verification of links  update of content pages  publish reporting metrics Infrastructure Providers  Compute Nodes  RDSI Storage Nodes  Networking  Principles agreement  Participation in Ticket Exchange  Provision of service catalogue  Name and contact details of service manager  Incident management escalation protocol Renewal – 6 monthly  verification of links  verification of content  verification of contact details  verification of service catalogue plus  Implementation of a service management framework  Published uptime metrics  End-user facing service have AeRO Tick Renewal – 6 monthly  verification of links  update of content pages  published metrics plus  Published Operational / Service Level Agreement Renewal – 6 monthly  verification of links  update of content pages

eResearch Applications and Services  Service catalogue/ knowledge base  Good user support practices and continual improvement (Tier 0 & 1)  Identified service contacts  UI/ UX review of services  Institutional uptake metrics  Ticket and incident management frameworks  6 monthly review of services

Infrastructure Operators Developing incident management and ticket exchange hub. Institutional service desks, libraries and eResearch units Service catalogue consumption Awareness of research use of VL’s/ RT’s and Ability to provide tailored user support if warranted

User support for VL’s/ RT’s What are/ is there any problems you are facing/ anticipate facing in user support? Now? In one year?

User support for VL’s/ RT’s Are there common user support services and operations that could be shared amongst VL’s and RT’s? Enhancement of Tier 0/1 material Maturity model – assistance? Help desk infrastructure ( ticket/ incident platforms, telephone support) Shared ticket and incident management system (Reference Implementation)? A national manned help-desk number? Integration with Infrastructure Operators platform? Community support forums/ centralised knowledge bases Greater integration with current support mechanisms. Engagement with institutions/ other operators? Service Catalogue with shared knowledge base Tier 0/ 1 platform? Outreach and engagement material development? Grant and ethics material development?

User support for VL’s/ RT’s Are there any mechanisms that could enhance user support for your application?