Introduction: Supporting the

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IT Community at MIT

Many MIT community members already put in extraordinary amounts of time and energy to help their fellow community members use information technology effectively. These efforts range from the quite informal (the helpful tip passed from one employee to the person at the next computer) to the planned and "high-profile" (the concerted efforts of dozens of people to install hundreds of "network drops" and set up computers for whole departments). All of these "support providers" are powered by a strong desire: to help community members use computers and related technology effectively in getting their jobs done.

What had been missing was The IT Partners program provides a common context in which all these support providers ("local experts," "developers," "departmental support gurus," , and even the "once-in-a-while helpers") can pool their knowledge, increase their skills, and leverage the vast resources available at MIT for supporting information technology .The IT Partners program is designed to address this need, by providing support for the support providers themselves, so that they can learn more, help others work better, and find their own activities more rewardingcapabilities.

The IT Partners Mission

The IT Partners program provides strategic coordination, extensive support, and ongoing training opportunities for self-selecting MIT community members who provide local computing IT expertise (whether formal or informal) for MIT faculty, staff, and students. The program promotes information sharing , coordinates problem resolutionacross departments, labs, and centers (DLCs), and with IS&T, and allows for the effective leveraging of community resources through coordinated, cooperative, and voluntary efforts.

What does IT Partners do

• Host lunch-time events and an annual conference to share information and network with fellow IT support providers across campus
• Provide opportunities to share projects and initiatives in DLCs with a wider audience so we can learn from each other
• Facilitating collaborative problem-solving, training, and information-sharing among DLCs and with IS&T

Who are IT Partners

IT Partners are MIT community members who share a commitment to servesupport:

• the goals of the Institute
• the IT technology needs of some subset of the MIT community, small or large (coworkers in an office, a course, a whole department, etc.)
• the mission of the IT Partners program

While IT Partners can come from any level of the Institute and bring unique IT skills, all IT Partners share a common goal: to enhance their own skills and knowledge to better enable them to help other community members use information technology.

IT Partners Planning Team

The IT Partners program is run by a volunteer committee comprised of members representing DLCs as well as IS&T staff members.

If you have ideas, suggestions, or want to help, contact the Planning Team (see members).