Dec 6, 2018

Changes in Discovery Commons' Application Team

By

Sam Chan

We’ve implemented some exciting changes at Discovery Commons. In our effort to constantly improve and ensure we’re aligned with the best practices in technology management, we are restructuring our Applications Team into the Service Delivery Team.

Service delivery represents our ability to deliver the right services, at the right quality and at a competitive cost to enable the Faculty of Medicine to achieve its academic mission. To that end, the Applications Team is being split into two portfolios, with each portfolio being managed by a Portfolio Manager.

  1. Assessment, Curriculum, and Evaluation services – responsible for all applications supporting assessment, curriculum, and evaluation services. Court van Beek is the Portfolio Manager for these services.
  1. Administrative services – responsible for managing all applications supporting administrative services within the Faculty. Katherine McConnell is the Portfolio Manager for these services.

Portfolio Managers combine their in depth knowledge and experience with the services in their portfolio with technology and industry trends to maximize the value of the technology applications within their Portfolio. They are the key contact that works closely with the clients, technical staff, and/or vendors (when required) to implement and maintain successful Portfolios that align with the strategic goals of the Faculty.

The Portfolio Managers are supported by the Associate Director, Service Delivery, whose role is to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of the Service Delivery Team’s internal processes for implementing and supporting Portfolio services. The Associate Director, Service Delivery manages the Service Delivery Team, which is composed of portfolio managers, business systems analysts, developers and application support specialists. Philip Chung is the Associate Director, Service Delivery.

The former role of Associate Director, Applications role is being replaced by the two Portfolio Managers and Associate Director, Service Delivery. All three individuals in these new positions are long standing members of Discovery Commons with great knowledge and experience of the Faculty’s operations, and successful track records in delivering value.

This new structure provides a greater ability to focus on each of the service Portfolios, while offering the Faculty a strategic sustainable approach to managing its applications. I hope you’ll join me in congratulating Court, Katherine, and Philip in their new roles!

 

Sam Chan

Director, Information Technology