Dr. Michael Barker

Michael Barker, director of university computing services at FSU, last month left Tallahassee to be the chief technology officer at the University of North Carolina, a promotion that comes with the additional title assistant vice chancellor.

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But Barker's decision to leave FSU was based in part on FSU's deteriorating budget.

"Everybody is having economic difficulties, but in the state of Florida there isn't an emphasis on education and funding the kinds of things we're after," Barker said during a telephone interview last week.

"The situation is such that there are going to be some really, really difficult choices for the provost and others to face that would potentially change the context and the environment for the university," Barker added.

St. Laurent's departure is compounded by the fact that he supports a half-dozen other staff members at FSU, including graduate students and researchers, some of who are likely to follow him to Cape Cod.

"Even after exiting buildings their laptops will work virtually anywhere on campus," said Mike Barker, FSU's director of User Services, "or will require no more than a very brief stroll from the handful of places without wireless coverage."
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"Going wireless will enable flexibility and creativity in the ways courses are taught and assignments are completed, while making many daily tasks more convenient and potentially more collaborative," said Barker.

"When Parature assured us they could deploy their solution in a matter of weeks, we assumed they were providing us with a marketing pitch to gain our business," said Mike Barker, Director of User Services of FSU."Parature delivered on their promise, and had us up and running in three weeks."

Parature's quick deployment, combined with its intuitive user interface, has resulted in immediate improved productivity."The quick deployment has allowed us to see instantaneous results.Even with a member short in our support staff this year, we have been able to service more calls and increase our productivity by 20%," said Barker.

Mike BarkerDirector of User ServicesFlorida State University

Observing the success of the ERP Department, we knew their scalable solution could provide the same service to the other departments we support," stated Dr. Michael Barker, Director of User Services at FSU.

Implementing a system wide approach has allowed the different FSU departments to share critical data and track end user behaviors. "By creating a centralized solution, our departments have saved time by eliminating cross-departmental redundancies. The results have led to an increase in productivity and overall user satisfaction levels," mentioned Barker.

Delivered as a hosted model, Parature provides quick implementation and lower operating costs when compared to traditional installed solutions. "Had we continued with our previous installed solution, we would have been responsible for installing the software on each computer and hiring an administrator to maintain each department's separate database. With Parature's solution, all we did was request additional seats and in a matter of weeks our other departments were up and running," stated Barker.

In addition to providing support to their campus community, Parature's wide range of integrated features is serving as an internal employee communication tool. "Employees can now visit our support portal to obtain information regarding payroll, leave requests, travel expenses and other internal processes," concluded Barker.

This client lead advisory board consists of top technology leaders, such as Dr. Michael Barker of Florida State University, Hugh Reynolds of Havok, Ling Richardson of Webroot and Kevin Smith of SEVEN.
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"From the results we've seen from using Parature, customer support optimization has certainly become a critical aspect of our operations," said Dr. Michael Barker of Florida State University. "I am thrilled to collaborate with Parature in taking their support technology in a direction that real companies want and can use."

Dr. Barker is the Director of User Services at Florida State University (FSU), and is responsible for managing FSU's information technology efforts. Prior to becoming the Director of User Services, Dr. Barker was Assistant to the Associate Vice President of Program Development and Faculty Support and Assistant to the Dean of Graduate Studies at FSU.

Parature announces Product Advisory Board, which consists of top technology leaders: Dr. Michael Barker of Florida State University, Hugh Reynolds of Havok, Ling Richardson of Webroot Software Inc. and Kevin Smith of SEVEN.

Observing the success of the ERP Department, we knew their scalable solution could provide the same service to the other departments we support," stated Dr. Michael Barker, Director of User Services at FSU.

Implementing a system wide approach has allowed the different FSU departments to share critical data and track end user behaviors."By creating a centralized solution, our departments have saved time by eliminating cross-departmental redundancies.The results have led to an increase in productivity and overall user satisfaction levels," mentioned Barker.
...
With Parature's solution, all we did was request additional seats and in a matter of weeks our other departments were up and running," stated Barker.

In addition to providing support to their campus community, Parature's wide range of integrated features is serving as an internal employee communication tool."Employees can now visit our support portal to obtain information regarding payroll, leave requests, travel expenses and other internal processes," concluded Barker.

This client lead advisory board consists of top technology leaders, such as Dr. Michael Barker of Florida State University, Hugh Reynolds of Havok, Ling Richardson of Webroot and Kevin Smith of SEVEN.
...
"From the results we've seen from using Parature, customer support optimization has certainly become a critical aspect of our operations," said Dr. Michael Barker of Florida State University."I am thrilled to collaborate with Parature in taking their support technology in a direction that real companies want and can use.">

Dr. Barker is the Director of User Services at Florida State University (FSU), and is responsible for managing FSU's information technology efforts.Prior to becoming the Director of User Services, Dr. Barker was Assistant to the Associate Vice President of Program Development and Faculty Support and Assistant to the Dean of Graduate Studies at FSU.

Director of University Computing Services Mike Barker said spam increases seem to be the trend among universities nationwide.

"It's a continually evolving thing, trying to outsmart the spammers," he said.

"It does require baby-sitting," he added.

FSU recently changed its policy, requiring a username and password to access student "directory information" online.Barker said this decision had nothing to do with spam problems.
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Some speculate that "bots" from spammers control other computers with fast Internet connections, Barker said.

FSU is connected to the UF-monitored Florida LambdaRail, a statewide fiber-optic network linking 10 state universities to the Internet and each others' research databases.

One university's computing issues, including slowdown due to excess spam, can affect the others, but Barker said he isn't concerned because of FSU's firewalls.

Despite any potential slowdown, the network is ideal because it offers a low-cost option for FSU, which, he said, "moves data at an unprecedented rate."