Introduction: Supporting the Support Providers

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 a common context in which all these support providers ("local experts", "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 rewarding.

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 expertise (whether formal or informal) for MIT faculty, staff, and students. The program promotes information sharing, coordinates problem resolution, and allows for the effective leveraging of community resources through coordinated, cooperative, and voluntary efforts.

Who are IT Partners

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

• the goals of the Institute
• the IT 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 Departments, Labs and Centers as well as Information Services & Technology staff members. The Planning Team is always looking for ideas, suggestions, and assistance.