Wiki source for ITPriorities
====IT Responsibilities and Priorities====
IT's core responsibilities lie in the areas of Operations, [[ManagingDataAcquisition Data Acquisition]] and [[ManagingInformationDelivery Information Delivery]]. An overview of operations may be found [[ITOperationsOverview here]]. The following guidelines are provided by Management and are not intended to be comprehensive. The National Director will typically communicate the organization's priorities to the IT Department, but occasionally some will come from Richard as a representative of our Board.
>>{{{toc}}}>>
[[ITManagement IT Management Responsibilities]]
===Assignments and Reporting===
Mostly, issues and feature requests are communicated to the IT department via email and Mantis. Individual assignments and day-to-day work are typically at the discretion of the IT Director. The current division of duties is listed [[ContactingIT here]].
Written weekly reports are due each Monday, and must include the following information:
- Key tasks completed in the previous week.
- Status report on projects in progress and projected time until completion.
- Objectives for new week.
- Problems/Concerns.
===Seasonal Needs===
Summer- VoteEasy imports and other PCT needs, remote intern tech support, limited project time.
Fall- Servers around election time, prep for election, no project time in Congressional election years.
Mid-November-April- Project time
===Projects===
==Current Scheduled Projects ==
1) JustFacts Website update.
1) VoteEasy maintain and update.
1) Research Tools update and maintain.
1) Automation- Further Research and Exploration.
1) Postgres Database updates, possible transport to RDS on AWS.
1) Update and maintain API.
1) Improve Organizational [[CategoryTechnicalSkills technical knowledge and skills]] and hiring as needed.
See [[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1D9ohqYY9coOMnRlb0kcc-DMTzCSokTGqhMIoVPiZduE/edit#gid=161949342 IT Timeline 2021-2022]] for more info.
===Standard Priorities===
==Highest Priority: Critical Operations and Reputation Management==
1. Ensure that our external services are at least functional and accessible to the public and not misrepresenting data or Vote Smart. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Maintaining our current website, apps, and [[APIandDataRequests API]].
- Monitoring and tracking usage.
- Setting up and maintaining our servers.
- Providing prompt, courteous responses to users with feedback and questions, with particular attention to external partners, API users, and [[https://justfacts.votesmart.org/about/board/ Vote Smart Board Members]].
2. Perform necessary work to ensure critical internal operations can continue in other departments, or else provide a workaround. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Maintaining internal applications, including Admin, Django Admin, PVSWiki, and Pyqual.
- Database administration.
- Systems and network administration: providing domain/file sharing/print/mail/[[BackupsandRestores backup]] services in both Windows and Linux. Configuring and maintaining hardware and software. User account administration.
- Providing tech support.
- Making recommendations for hiring IT staff as needed.
- Making recommendations for contracting with IT vendors for IT services as needed.
3. Support the collection, integration, and updating of key bulk data into our services, performing ETL operations, or else providing a workaround. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Incorporating data from external data sources: Location-to-district mapping from Aristotle DMDS and USPS census data; Factchecking data from Politifact and FactCheck.org; Campaign Finance data from the Center for Responsive Politics and National Institute for Money in State Politics; Votes data from senate.gov and thomas.gov.
- Importing VoteEasy research and citations.
- Exporting data for use in the VSDM, if needed.
4. Updating fundraising strategies and appeals on our website, and other critical changes requested by members of the Vote Smart Board.
See also: [[InfrastructurePriorities]]
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CategoryITInfo
IT's core responsibilities lie in the areas of Operations, [[ManagingDataAcquisition Data Acquisition]] and [[ManagingInformationDelivery Information Delivery]]. An overview of operations may be found [[ITOperationsOverview here]]. The following guidelines are provided by Management and are not intended to be comprehensive. The National Director will typically communicate the organization's priorities to the IT Department, but occasionally some will come from Richard as a representative of our Board.
>>{{{toc}}}>>
[[ITManagement IT Management Responsibilities]]
===Assignments and Reporting===
Mostly, issues and feature requests are communicated to the IT department via email and Mantis. Individual assignments and day-to-day work are typically at the discretion of the IT Director. The current division of duties is listed [[ContactingIT here]].
Written weekly reports are due each Monday, and must include the following information:
- Key tasks completed in the previous week.
- Status report on projects in progress and projected time until completion.
- Objectives for new week.
- Problems/Concerns.
===Seasonal Needs===
Summer- VoteEasy imports and other PCT needs, remote intern tech support, limited project time.
Fall- Servers around election time, prep for election, no project time in Congressional election years.
Mid-November-April- Project time
===Projects===
==Current Scheduled Projects ==
1) JustFacts Website update.
1) VoteEasy maintain and update.
1) Research Tools update and maintain.
1) Automation- Further Research and Exploration.
1) Postgres Database updates, possible transport to RDS on AWS.
1) Update and maintain API.
1) Improve Organizational [[CategoryTechnicalSkills technical knowledge and skills]] and hiring as needed.
See [[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1D9ohqYY9coOMnRlb0kcc-DMTzCSokTGqhMIoVPiZduE/edit#gid=161949342 IT Timeline 2021-2022]] for more info.
===Standard Priorities===
==Highest Priority: Critical Operations and Reputation Management==
1. Ensure that our external services are at least functional and accessible to the public and not misrepresenting data or Vote Smart. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Maintaining our current website, apps, and [[APIandDataRequests API]].
- Monitoring and tracking usage.
- Setting up and maintaining our servers.
- Providing prompt, courteous responses to users with feedback and questions, with particular attention to external partners, API users, and [[https://justfacts.votesmart.org/about/board/ Vote Smart Board Members]].
2. Perform necessary work to ensure critical internal operations can continue in other departments, or else provide a workaround. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Maintaining internal applications, including Admin, Django Admin, PVSWiki, and Pyqual.
- Database administration.
- Systems and network administration: providing domain/file sharing/print/mail/[[BackupsandRestores backup]] services in both Windows and Linux. Configuring and maintaining hardware and software. User account administration.
- Providing tech support.
- Making recommendations for hiring IT staff as needed.
- Making recommendations for contracting with IT vendors for IT services as needed.
3. Support the collection, integration, and updating of key bulk data into our services, performing ETL operations, or else providing a workaround. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Incorporating data from external data sources: Location-to-district mapping from Aristotle DMDS and USPS census data; Factchecking data from Politifact and FactCheck.org; Campaign Finance data from the Center for Responsive Politics and National Institute for Money in State Politics; Votes data from senate.gov and thomas.gov.
- Importing VoteEasy research and citations.
- Exporting data for use in the VSDM, if needed.
4. Updating fundraising strategies and appeals on our website, and other critical changes requested by members of the Vote Smart Board.
See also: [[InfrastructurePriorities]]
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CategoryITInfo
