Team Spotlight: IT
What does the Information Technology (IT) Team do?
The Information Technology Department is responsible for maintaining and supporting all technology needs for the UGA Foundation and Division of Development and Alumni Relations. This includes the Foundation’s financial (ONESolution/FAME) systems, fundraising (GAIL) system, hosting for all DAR associated websites, providing file share capabilities, assisting with vendor provided solutions like Reeher, phones, copiers, printers, scanners, TVs, each of your individual devices. maintaining security, compliance, access rights, maintenance, purchasing, some reporting, audio/video needs, and anything else that gets put on the table from a technology standpoint. The team supports the hardware and technology infrastructure for providing all these services and works in coordination with UGA’s Enterprise Information Technology Services (EITS) group for networking and any UGA wide technology initiative.
Team photo, quarantine edition.
Things we'd like you to know:
The IT team currently manages around 80tb worth of data on our production enterprise storage; to put that into understandable terms that equates to about 6,000,000,000 pages of paper (1.2 million cases of copy paper), or 16,000,000 songs, or 20,000 movies. And everything has to be backed up, scanned for security issues, critical data copied to offiste locations, etc.
Two years ago over 95% of our time was focused on specific items/tasks requested by one of you or meeting requirements of outside entities, which left no time for general technology exploring or positioning us to meet evolving needs; in a sense we were simply reactionary to requests. We’ve begun introducing internal automation, better endpoint management tools, shifting responsibilities internally, and standardizing technology solutions with the goal of offering a more strategic approach to meeting needs and introducing technology. We’re not there yet, but we’re making some great progress.
The team loathes paper access forms, probably more than any of you, and part of our strategic plan is to transition away from them.
There is never a slow time of the year for the team.
The majority of us are true pranksters at heart, but keep things reserved outside of our team.
We love to see each of you succeed individually, because that means we’re succeeding as well.
Meet the Team
Jeff Garmon – Director of Information Technology
“I love things that go fast, especially cars and motorcycles, and to date the fastest I’ve been able to achieve in a car is around 160mph.”
Glenn Allen – Associate Director of Technology Support
“I don’t always have a fun fact but when I do I am usually drinking a Dos Equis.”
Juan Machado – Associate Director of Infrastructure and Security
“I turned 16 years old at the end of my first undergraduate semester.”
Brantley Hobbs – Database Administrator Principle
“I lived in Spain for four years. I highly recommend visiting Gibraltar!”
Benjamin Baugh – Systems Administrator Specialist
“I build giant monster costumes.”
Corben Eastman – Systems Administrator Specialist
“I was born and raised in Wyoming and before working for UGA I helped found a tech company.”
Robert Zimmermann – Information Technology Manager
“I share the same name as Bob Dylan and although I do not go gentle into that good night, I did write a song that was placed in a feature film.”
David Letostak – Data Specialist Manager
“I studied Architectural Design at Athens Tech and sat for the State Architecture License Board. On the side, I run a small fine furniture/cabinet making business out of a workshop that I designed and built myself.”
Michael Morrow – Information Technology Security Analyst Specialist
“I love it when people boo. I have worked 31 years as a high school referee for football, basketball and occasionally in fast-pitch softball.”
Marcus Jennings – Information Technology Client Support Specialist
“My wife and I first met as members of the wedding party of our two best friends who were getting married. Our first photo was us walking down the aisle together.”