Halt outsourcing plans at the University of Nottingham

Please sign and circulate this petition to oppose the outsourcing of IT services at the University of Nottingham (UoN)

We call on the University of Nottingham to:

• rethink its proposal for a new IT operating model
• halt any outsourcing plans of IT services
• invest instead in IS staff training and upskilling as necessary.

Background

On 8 October, the University of Nottingham council supported UEB’s recommendation to outsource foundational IT services to an external company. ‘Foundational IT services’ are likely to include service desk, campus IT support (in person desk side support, AV support, student support), Windows and Linux administrators, data centre operations, HPC and network teams. The definition of what is ‘in scope’ might change over the next 12 months, but we estimate that about 125, or 50%, of information service (IS) staff will be confronted with redundancy or transfer to external contractors. The remaining IS staff will be restructured to fit the new model.

In light of the recent experience with Project Transform and the outsourcing of Campus Solutions to Infosys, we have no reason to believe that this new wave of outsourcing will be managed any better or is even necessary. The ongoing problems with Campus Solutions should be resolved first before even considering any further changes to the systems that feed into it. IS staff are still heavily involved in patching up the failures of Infosys, further outsourcing might well bring the institution to a halt.

University of Nottingham UCU

Halt outsourcing plans at the University of Nottingham

Please sign and circulate this petition to oppose the outsourcing of IT services at the University of Nottingham (UoN)

We call on the University of Nottingham to:

• rethink its proposal for a new IT operating model
• halt any outsourcing plans of IT services
• invest instead in IS staff training and upskilling as necessary.

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1,528 signatures

Signed:

1,528	Darren Moon	London School of Economics and Political Science
1,527	J BOREHAM	local government
1,526	Alan McShane	Blackburn College Branch	In solidarity with you!
1,525	Kieran McConaghy	University of St Andrews	Solidarity
1,524	Ellie Mallison	Nottingham
1,523	Christine Bexton	Graduate School
1,522	Peter Olayiwola	Nottingham
1,521	Mahdi Alhendal	United Kingdom	Everything for the university’s team
1,520	Jo Leonardi-Bee	University of Nottingham / Clinical Sciences building	It is important that we keep our IT services in-house as this is the only way that local knowledge can be gained and used to promptly address issues
1,519	Timothy Card	University of Nottingham
1,518	Laila Tata	University of Nottingham/ Clinical Sciences Building	Having known 3 good skilled workers leave the university largely due to previous change in contracts related to project transform I think outsourcing is damaging to morale, security, and devaluing of employees who have worked here for a long time. Cost savings cycle back to losses via loss of skills, continuity and what is really needed is strong internal leadership with a long term view
1,517	John Britton	Nottingham university
1,516	Manpreet Bains	Uni of Nottingham
1,515	Tricia McKeever	Univerisity of Nottingham
1,514	Fiona Pearce	Nottinghamshire
1,513	Alex Barker	University of Nottingham	I agree with the comments about campus solutions, it was a mess when it was introduced and appears to still have issues now.
1,512	Emma Wilson	City Hospital	I am an academic and you expect me to be responsible and accountable for the experience students get on my course and through my teaching. It is already quite difficult to get IT support because they are so overworked but at least they know what they are doing when they do come. How is outsourcing to a company who have no “care” and knowledge going to benefit the student experience in anyway ?
1,511	Chidera Nweze	University of Nottingham
1,510	Vanessa Tasara	University Of Nottingham
1,509	Pawel Rogowski	University of Nottingham
1,508	Grant Howard	University of Nottingham
1,507	Charlotte Clark	UoN
1,506	Kateryna Zhyvitska	University of Nottingham
1,505	Andrew Hallam	Nottinghamshire	keep our IT in house
1,504	Adam Clark	University of Nottingham
1,503	Cornelia de Moot	UoN
1,502	Vanessa Tsong	University of Nottingham
1,501	Adam Lalani	University of Nottingham
1,500	Sonu Pun	University of Nottingham
1,499	Asha Khunti	University of Nottingham
1,498	Hamish Heilbron	Uni of Nottingham	IT services are clearly underfunded and have been consistently disappointing during my time at the University. My face to face interactions with smart bars and other IS have been positive every time, so I can only suppose the wider issues with IT infrastructure are with resource allocation.
1,497	George Burns	University of Nottingham
1,496	David Turner	University of Nottingham
1,495	Simrah Khan	The university of Nottingham
1,494	Adam Clay	University of Nottingham
1,493	Penny Nichols	University of Nottingham
1,492	Jill Owens	KMC
1,491	Kate Ash-Irisarri	University of Nottingham
1,490	Heather Page	University of Nottingham
1,489	George Sullivan	University of Nottingham	Just another method to undermine the universities hard working staff, despicable.
1,488	Teresa Flowers	Nottinghamshire
1,487	John Snowdon	Newcastle University	Every instance we've seen of outsourcing has ended in disaster. Why throw away decades of accumulated institutional knowledge from your staff and their collective sense of ownership to an external provider who is purely driven by financial gain? It is utter madness.
1,486	Ian Clark	Newcastle University
1,485	Sue Waterston
1,484	Chris Moore	University of Nottingham, SOLS
1,483	Fei Sang	University Of Nottingham	We do need IT-support to resolve all the IT problems, like firewall issue, IP issue, in a efficient way.
1,482	Nadine Holmes	University of Nottingham
1,481	victoria wright	University of Nottingham	We run complex data acquisition and analysis platforms and regularly need the skills and technical expertise of the data centre and IT support staff, who regularly go above and beyond to help us get the most out of our systems.
1,480	Dave Churchley	Newcastle
1,479	Daniel Giddins	University Of Nottingham
1,478	James Pattison	University of Nottingham
1,477	Lisa Warwick	University of Nottingham
1,476	Elena Genova	Nottinghamshire
1,475	Nick Stevenson	Nottinghamshire
1,474	Molly Boiling	University of Nottingham
1,473	Rachel Stevenson	University of Nottingham	I am a mature student at this university and have found the admin and student services to be below expected standards, forcing me multiple times to risk my job due to changing lectures, often at the last minute. They are also unhelpful and do not support those who are working whilst studying. There is no assistance for those who commute and useful info is hidden - to outsource would make this wors
1,472	Mat Rawsthorne	University of Nottingham	IS staff are skilled professionals, not identical replaceable units like photocopiers!
1,471	L Woods	University of Nottingham
1,470	David Young	University of Nottingham	IT staff deserve fair working conditions & job security. Efforts to push through the outsourcing of IT services at UoN show that nothing has been learned from the series of technical issues in flagship software projects which have plagued the university in recent years. This effort appears to be a blatant effort to outsource problems caused by broader managerial failings and lack of foresight.
1,469	Daniel Fisher	Nottingham Trent
1,468	George Swann	University of Nottingham
1,467	Peter Haysom	University of Nottingham
1,466	Tracey Potts	University of Nottingham	After the fiasco of Campus Solutions this university needs to start investing in its people
1,465	Louis Cotgrove	UoN CLAS	All the recent studies show that outsourcing IT reduces quality of service and will negatively impact student experience. Project transform is toxic
1,464	Ben Gormley	Independent	I worked at Notts when Project Transform first established. The first director was 'moved on' so was off to bad start. The general consensus was that it was introduced to reduce costs/staff. We coined the term 'Project Chop Chop' in view of this. The concern is Project Transform will sell its services to other Universities to help then brutalise staff numbers also.
1,463	Kathryn Medien	University of Cambridge
1,462	Sara Jabbari	University of Birmingham
1,461	David Bell	Loughborough University	Having studied and worked at the University of Nottingham from 2004-2013 I was regularly indebted to the excellent IT team. I've seen the damage outsourcing has done to services, reputation, staffing and costs elsewhere and urge Nottingham not to go ahead with these damaging proposals.
1,460	Stephanie Coen	UoN Geography
1,459	Julie Montague	Nottinghamshire
1,458	Josh Franks	E.ON UK
1,457	Simon Breden	University of Nottingham	Enough.
1,456	Gianlluca Simi	Canopy Insight
1,455	J Mitch	WFP Library	Removing employment from the local economy is a poor decision, doubly poor when there is no improvement to services to the customers ie the students
1,454	Valentina Anania	University of Nottingham	Outsourcing is a guarantee for service quality to plummet and it's ridiculous this option was even suggested. I'm not going to mention the ethical issues the move would raise because I am woefully aware of how little the University would care about that.
1,453	Joaquin Montalva	University of Nottingham	Solidarity with IS staff!
1,452	Odin Kroeger	University of Vienna
1,451	Fatima Lopez	University of Nottingham
1,450	Simon Ellis
1,449	Fabian Maier	Nottingham university
1,448	Gabriella Cioce	UK	Solidarity
1,447	Joe Kearsey	University of Nottingham
1,446	Harriet Perkins	The University of Nottingham	Outsource hardware not people
1,445	Tracy Leavesley	University of Nottingham
1,444	Errolinda Ward	University of Nottingham School of Life Sciences
1,443	Caroline Lloyd	University of Nottingham
1,442	Jackie Kettlewell	University of Nottingham Libraries	Utter madness!
1,441	Maxine Fowler	University of Nottingham
1,440	Chris Carter	University of Nottingham
1,439	Gemma Bosson	University of Nottingham	Our current IT team provide an extremely valuable service to both staff and students, they are vital to maintaining daily operations, this move would unnecessarily threaten both staff morale, operational effectiveness and student experience.
1,438	Wendy Solis
1,437	Hilary Martin	Medical School	I feel our IT team's institutional knowledge is vital to enhance the service they provide and also have GDPR concerns re our personal data, research data, security of our intellectual property and sensitivities of collaborative research and conflict of interest with other institutions.
1,436	Marie Elaine Taylor	Notts	Former student Vital to keep IT SERVICES
1,435	David Valentine-Hagart	University of Nottingham
1,434	Andrew Renault	SoLS	The big problem is that outsourced companies work to the letter of their contracts whilst in house staff work to provide the results the institution needs. This is seen over and over again with InfoSys which works to contract, and where it fails to deliver does the calculation as to whether the financial penalty is cheaper than fixing the problem.
1,433	Robert Markus	Nottingham	In house IT support is vital, and getting to know IT people and working together on problems improves well being too, having someone you know and trust is very important. Creates bonds, both personally and professionally. Importantly the IT team helping us already knows the history of our systems, therefore we get specific quick help when needed.
1,432	Marie Pardon	Life sciences	Outsourcing has been disastrous, we had very good IT services in house, with excellent systems for timetabling and finances designed in house (e.g. IMAT), which have been replaced by very ineffective ones.
1,431	Seema Bagia	School of Life Sciences (SLIM)
1,430	Nicholas Blockley	University of Nottingham	These are critical systems that the University needs to take direct and full responsibility for.
1,429	Richard Barker
1,428	Ying Zhang	CBS
1,427	Martin Schuermann	University of Nottingham
1,426	Siobhan Loughna	SoLS
1,425	Luisa Martinez-Pomares	SoLS, QMC D40
1,424	Yvonne Mbaki	University of Nottingham
1,423	Federico Dajas-Bailador	Life Sciences
1,422	Deb Briggs	School of life sciences
1,421	Tim Self	UoN
1,420	Alex Rathbone	University of Nottingham
1,419	Uwe Vinkemeier	QMC, School of Life Sciences
1,418	Elizabet Rosethorne	University of Nottingham
1,417	Monika Owen	Not Applicable	Outsourcing IT doesn't seem to have been successful so far so why continuing with it. The in house IT support is invaluable to resolve problems in the offices and the laboratories.
1,416	Rita Tewari	University of Nottingham	Outsourcing does not improve performance, delivery or productivity. Only people will leave. There should be respect for people who work.
1,415	Sally Cordon	University of Nottingham	IT support needs to be human, with real people able to visit your office or laboratory to help you to resolve the problem. Current IT help is one of the few remaining gems in the crown of Nottingham University - don't discard it.
1,414	Maria Arruda	University of Nottingham
1,413	Matt Carlile	University of Nottingham
1,412	Tracy Farr	SoLS
1,411	Michael Garle	University of Nottingham	Out sourcing of IT would be a retrograde step. Most other industries (having outsourced over past 20 years) are now brining IT back in-house, both for cyber security reasons and efficiency in addressing IT problems as they arise.
1,410	Bernadette Hepworth	Health and medicine/SOLS/Teaching	Please do not outsource IT services to and external company
1,409	Dominik Siwek	School of Life Sciences	We need qualified University IT Technicians who know how the School runs and what the issues are. When an outside company is appointed then we will have as many problems as we have with printing services which are unreliable.
1,408	Alexander Tarr	Life sciences
1,407	Rob Till	School of LifeSciences
1,406	Fran Ebling	School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham	It is academic staff who bear the brunt of student dissatisfaction with the recent failings in outsourced IT; UoN senior management miss this point. In house IT systems eg Touchstone, Rogo can be customised to delivery exactly what we need, and seem to have far less problems than outsourced software and systems. Outsourcing is perceived as cheaper, but offers a poor service-what is more important?
1,405	Alex Truman	Nottingham University
1,404	Boyan Bonev	University of Nottingham	Centralising IT has ralready disconnected applications from supprt and IT support has deterriorated in comarison to local IT teams. This is largely due to centralised management and operations subordinate to centralised criteria, not to end user-optimised delivery of service. Ouotsourcing will lead to a disaster with skeletal support for very basic functionality. And, this is beastly to staff.
1,403	Angus Brown	University of Nottingham	Given the current fiasco with Campus Solutions provided by Infosys it would be foolish to rely on this company to provide IT services.
1,402	David Onion	School of Life Scienes, University of Nottingham, Nottingham
1,401	Francis Gilbert	University of Nottingham	Outsourcing just makes short-term gains for long-term problems. The cheapest long-term way to good IT is to staff and resource our own IT section.
1,400	Kevin Morgan	Life Sciences
1,399	Ian Ward	Derbyshire
1,398	Margaret Pratten	Life Sciences
1,397	Alan Huett	Life Sciences	It is unclear to me that the primary reason given for considering outsourcing that "IT moves too quickly to keep up" is true, insofar as it relates to the functioning of the University. It seems to me that most of the business of the University can and is accomplished with fairly standard tools from large vendors e.g. Microsoft 365, Agresso etc.
1,396	Tamsin Majerus	University of Nottingham	Continued and increased outsourcing contradicts UoN's 2020 People Strategy commitment to put our People first: e.g. Attract, identify, develop and RETAIN high performing talent across all areas
1,395	Paul Dyer	Life Sciences	Very poor experience with Campus Solutions and Admissions Software provided by Infosys - both are inferior to previous software available.
1,394	sebastien Serres	Derbyshire
1,393	Alistair Hume	University of Nottingham Life Sciences
1,392	Karl Wooldridge	UK
1,391	Steve Briddon	University of Nottingham
1,390	Simon Dawson	University of Nottingham	I would have thought it self-evident that Infosys aren't fit for purpose re. Campus Solutions etc in the two years since they formed a 'strategic partnership', but for some reason, it makes sense to go further along this route? Absurd. Staff and properly fund an internal IT department please.
1,389	Helen Cunliffe	University of Nottingham
1,388	Michael Beale	Nottingham	My wife, along with her colleges, is under threat from plans to potentially outsource her role. As someone who strongly believes in higher education and all the positive things it brings society as a whole I feel that she is being badly let down by this possible direction the University is taking. And the argument for it is short-termist and weak.
1,387	Luke Maiden	University of Nottingham	Outsourcing is a clear sign of disrespect and disregard from managers who have lost their humanity.
1,386	daniella taiwo	university of nottinham
1,385	Emma Astle	University of Nottingham
1,384	Hongwei Bao	The University of Nottingham	I highly appreciate the excellent work and continuous staff and students supoort provided by the university IT team.
1,383	Louise Ahern
1,382	Jenny Mackay	University of Nottingham
1,381	Oliver Franiel	UoN alumnus	In virtually all organisations for which I've worked over the years, IT outsourcing only sounded good on paper. In the end, paying less for better service really is too good to be true.
1,380	Claire Henson
1,379	Heidi Marshall	Medical School
1,378	Zarina Teli	Cripps Dental Centre, University of Nottingham
1,377	Chloe Towlerton	University of Nottingham
1,376	Victoria Whelan	University of Nottingham	Close the gender pay gap
1,375	James Matai	University of Nottingham	Listen to your employees already! They are the background of this institution.
1,374	Holly Rush	Nottingham
1,373	Chris Brotherton	Emeritus Professor Herriot-Watt University, University of Ulster, Senior Lecturer, Nottingham Univ.	IT supports all strategic functions of our Universities. It is vital that management at all levels maintains firm control of its operations at all times.
1,372	Jonathan Albericci
1,371	Meryl Aldridge	University of Nottingham (retired)	Outsourcing is never an improvement. Are staff overpaid? I think not. So where is the contractor's profit going to come from?
1,370	Toni Read	External Relations	Considering the massive negative impact the project transform etc has had on the health and well being of university employees, i am shocked that this outsourcing is even being considered.
1,369	Rosie Thompson	University of Nottingham	I do not agree with the outsourcing and believe the university should invest in training IS staff.
1,368	Tamzin Grayson-Gaunt	University of Nottingham
1,367	Tilde Resare	university of nottingham
1,366	Roger Bartlett	Emeritus UCL; former Special Professor, University of Nottingham	This outsourcing appears inappropriate in most respects.
1,365	H Foss	University of Nottingham
1,364	FEIRAN WANG	University of Nottingham
1,363	Danny Lawrence	retired member of the academic and former member of Council	Please reconsider this policy. Outsourcing such services frequently leads to practical problems that are difficult if not impossible to resolve but, in addition, in this instance,the loss of goodwill amongst University staff in general is something the University cannot afford. Once lost it will never be recovered.
1,362	sylvia trtench	retired University of Nottingham
1,361	Jonathan Silvey	Nottingham	As husband of a UoN member of the admin staff, I have had to listen for years to tales of how Campus Solutions has failed again and again. I note how many comments are in favour of the in-house IT staff.
1,360	Donna Palmer	University of Nottingham	this is a crucial university service provided to staff and students
1,359	alastair stuart	University of Nottingham
1,358	Daisy Stringfellow	University of Nottingham
1,357	Luisa Zanchi	University of Leeds	UoLeeds also down the same path... and it’s a nightmare. We have already lost all our best IT people. Stop IT outsourcing in the whole university sector.
1,356	Errol Morris	Lakeside Art Centre Nottingham
1,355	Marta Aloi	Nottinghamshire	As member of Staff of Nottingham University, I cannot emphasise enough how injust and counter-productive this plan is.
1,354	Laura Sun	University of Nottingham	Has the University not learnt lesson from Campus Solutions outsourcing?
1,353	Amena Saber	University of Nottingham	I stand with University Staff.
1,352	Roy Howard
1,351	Karen Stevenson	KMC	Although I am in a different union I whole heartedly agree with you.
1,350	Sarah Green	Nottingham
1,349	Ian Lowndes	University of Nottingham
1,348	Jie Ke	Chemistry	I get excellent IT supports from our university's IT team because they know the requirements of our reseach projects need. I am not sure the external team will provide the same level of service we have.
1,347	Yu Qiong Chin	University of Nottingham
1,346	Sophie Namey	UoN
1,345	James Condliffe	University of Nottingham	I think outsourcing is another step undermining the workforce who’s single contribution is most fundamental to a university.
1,344	Cesar Rodriguez	Nottinghamshire	I support the UCU strike.
1,343	Gabriele Gaspard
1,342	Jensen Gibbs	UoN - Student Services
1,341	Jonathan Shaw	UoN	Having been part of PT, then arbitrarily outsourced to Infosys, I rejoined the University in 2018, only to learn of these latest proposals. It beggars belief that the University is willing to risk its reputation once more even before the dust of PT has settled. Suffice to say I am not keen to repeat this experience, nor see anyone else put through such a demeaning process.
1,340	James Pilley	University of Nottingham
1,339	Helen Rodgers	University of Nottingham
1,338	Matteo Icardi	University of Nottingham
1,337	Max Thorpe	University of Nottingham
1,336	Behzad Talle	University of Nottingham
1,335	Yufeng Li
1,334	Emma Taylor	University of Nottingham
1,333	Jonathan F
1,332	Keith Burgess	Nottingham
1,331	Esmeralda Bon
1,330	Emily Janes	University of Nottingham	Stop ignoring the views of staff and unions. The more you do the more impact it has, not only on their lives, but also the lives of us students.
1,329	Naomi Lockwood	University of Nottingham
1,328	Olivia Shaw	University of Nottingham	As a student, I feel that the university is consistently letting down its students.
1,327	Sarah Smart	UoN, Campaign Office	I want to keep our in house IT support, not see it outsourced.
1,326	Krishnan Ganesh	Department of Physics and Astronomy
1,325	Hannah Constantin	University of Nottingham
1,324	Annabel Browne
1,323	valerie owens	Nottingham University Chaplaincy	The IT staff in SB offer an invaluable and excellent service that is irreplaceable. Their prompt, efficient and helpful service enables staff to work efficiently, and removes the stress of ongoing IT problems. I am hugely grateful to their service over many years and cannot imagine what it would be like to lose this great team of highly dedicated and experienced people.
1,322	Nigel Mongan
1,321	andrew` wilde	University of Manchester	This needs to be stopped at all universities
1,320	Richard Misell-jones	University of Manchester	Stop this madness we at Manchester are also going through this, and it's not to save money that is the usual excuse...
1,319	Pete Carlton	CELE, University of Nottingham	Please rethink this proposal. The in-house IT team are doing an excellent job. Why fix it if it ain't broke?
1,318	Chris Rumsey	Nottingham Clinical Trials Unit, UoN	Is the University shooting itself in the foot? Will any alternative outsourced provision actually come close in replicating what is currently provided by UoN IS. At the Nottingham Clinical Trials Unit we are heavily reliant on the support that UoN IS provides. This includes but also goes way beyond basic support for PCs and end users - business specific critical software and server platforms.
1,317	laura wilson	University of Nottingham
1,316	Nicky Baker	University of Nottingham, School of Medicine
1,315	Claire Jennings	University Park
1,314	Monica Persson	University of Nottingham	The services provided by IT are excellent
1,313	Rich Thorne	Student Services, University of Nottingham	Whether or not outsourcing is a good idea in general, please hold off making any large-scale IT changes until the results of the last large-scale IT changes are working properly...
1,312	Karen Lawler	Nottingham University
1,311	Margaret Hull	Nottingham University UPC	Out sourcing the IT, you be will loosing control over quality and services to both staff and Students. Putting money savings before quality and service, never works in a specialist area. Ends up costing far more to the University in the long run in reputation and then having to plough more money in to reach the level of quality and service required for staff and Students.
1,310	Andy Thomson	University of Nottingham	Have always expected better from a university and have been consistently disappointed. This will result in higher costs for a poorer service.
1,309	Nick Cox	University Of Nottingham
1,308	Corinne Leighton	Nottinghamshire	This is a real kick in the teeth for our hardworking IS colleagues and will add even more instability to an already difficult working situation for all here at UoN
1,307	Clive Dixon	Nottingham University	If the service you get from the private IT companies in your home is anything to go by,I cant see the benefit of outsourcing.Plus,the disruption to procedures will not be worth it.
1,306	ANGELA SHONE	UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM
1,305	Susan Sutherland	Student Services, UP Central, Portland Building	The current staff do an excellent job and are invaluable. I've seen outsourcing at other companies and the results have been poor at best
1,304	Gaynor Robinson	University of Nottingham
1,303	Jessica Cormack	University of Nottingham
1,302	Tracy Adair	University of Nottingham
1,301	Yvonne Constable	Student Services Portland Building	We need to keep "in house" staff not sit waiting to speak to an unknown on a phone
1,300	Rachel Fox	University of Nottingham
1,299	Alice Lill	University of Nottingham
1,298	Aaron Lewis	University of Nottingham
1,297	James Hetherington	University of Nottingham	The latest in a series of poorly informed, questionably motivated, decisions and one which is very likely to be an ongoing disaster for the University. There needs to be accountability.
1,296	Alexia Karantana	University of Nottingham	The team provide a service that required local expertise, know how and boots on the ground and could not be succesfully outsourced.
1,295	Wendy Sutcliffe	University of Nottingham
1,294	Natalia Tsiva	University of Nottingham, Libraries
1,293	Liz Doney	University of Nottingham	I object to the outsourcing of core services
1,292	Estelle Derclaye	Univ. Nottingham	I've always have had a wonderful service by our IT staff for the 13 years I have worked here, why should we change? If Prof Arrowsmith, a world expert on public procurement belirves outsourcing will make things worse, I'd be extremely concerned and careful. We will no longer have internal/full control over the outsourced services. Does UoN want even less staff and student satisfaction?
1,291	Kath Starr	University of Nottingham
1,290	Leanne Cartwright	Nottinghamshire	Our team relies heavily on the support we receive from the our IT colleagues (Service desk staff and Campus support (IT West) I would be unable to run the Central Registration event without the support I receive each year from these teams. The assistance we require could not be provided by an outsourced IT provision.
1,289	Chris Norman	University of Nottingham	I cannot see any benefit to this idea other than saving cash, which makes it a dreadful idea. We will lose valuable service quality and insight from colleagues for no good reason.
1,288	Alex MacKenzie	University of Nottingham
1,287	Kimberley Simms	University of Nottingham
1,286	Rhiannon Harries	University of Nottingham, UK
1,285	Faye Martin	University of Nottingham
1,284	Rachel Haines	Nottingham Clinical Trials Unit, School of Medicine
1,283	Esther Burden-Teh	University of Nottingham	The UON IT service is excellent - knowledgable, fast and friendly. Outsourcing puts this at risk! We risk losing committed and valuable staff, and are likely to end up with a poorer service.
1,282	Jayne Newham	University of Nottingham	The UoN IT services are excellent. I have worked here for 22 years and every issue I have had has aways been resolved in a timely and professional manner. As with most IT issues the user requires a fast response, which in my opinion has always been the case with the UoN. I worry that by outsourcing we will lose this excellent service we currently have.
1,281	Joanne Burkitt	University of Nottingham
1,280	wendy Daunt	University of Nottingham
1,279	Ritika Sharma	NUH
1,278	Jane Evison	University of Nottingham
1,277	Beth Norton	University of Nottingham	Does past experience tell us nothing? Outsourcing does not work. Value our IT Service please. Keep our IT Services in house.
1,276	Mickey Lewis	University of Nottingham
1,275	Martha Jones	University of Nottingham	I'm completely against any plans to outsource IT services at the University of Nottingham. This will add to existing problems caused by Project Transform and Campus Solutions, which haven't been resolved.
1,274	Kate Garland	University of Nottingham	I object to the outsourcing of core services
1,273	Sebastian Moody	Nottingham Clinical Trials Unit	Keep it within the Uni!
1,272	Kirsty Sprange	University of Nottingham
1,271	Lindsay Armstrong-Buisseret	University of Nottingham	I've worked in industry and seen the effects of IT services being outsourced, it was a complete and utter disaster that ended up costing way more than keeping it in-house. Don't make everyone's life a misery by outsourcing this essential service, it will end up with everyone being frustrated and wasting hours of staff time.
1,270	Charlotte Gidman	University of Nottingham
1,269	Ann Lavin	Business School	Why outsource? Shouldn't we be developing the in-house IT department which in my experience has been excellent!. IT should be kept in-house!
1,268	Mara Ozolins	University of Nottingham	Outsourcing is likely to cost more in the long run, with poorer service because of lack of internal knowledge
1,267	Trish Hepburn	University of Nottingham
1,266	carrie chalmers	University of Nottingham	Having worked in various corporate institutions the UoN IT helpdesk is the best I've experienced. They are incredibly knowledgeable, professional and friendly. Why try to 'fix' an issue thats not broken. Not to mention all the jobs at risk and insecurities that the IT staff must be feeling right now....
1,265	James Newson	UoM	Good luck resisting
1,264	David Cartwright	University of Manchester
1,263	David Arimoro	University of Nottingham
1,262	Moira Jenkins	N/A	People with these skills need to be nurtured and valued. They deserve security in their working lives.
1,261	John Smithee	Peterborough, Fenland, & King's Lynn Unite Community Branch Member
1,260	Liz Silver	NTU Studetn Support Services	I work in a university and know how important IT support is to both staff and studetns. I also know how important it is for that IT support to be an integral part of the organisation needing the support. The work is best done by internal staff who work for the university and who understand how things work at the university and are part of it's workforce.
1,259	Marcus Dare	University of Nottingham	I think that this is truly awful news for our hard working IT colleagues. And i highly doubt that any external company will be able to maintain the same quality of service or care as much as our current IT department.
1,258	Sean Ince	University of Nottingham
1,257	Margaret Whittingham	Uuniversity of Nottingham Dermatology
1,256	Barbara Maston	University of Nottingham
1,255	Gary Clarke	University of Nottingham	I don't want colleagues to be TUPE'd over to a private company & end up on worse terms & conditions. Keep this service in-house.
1,254	Laura Jarvis	UoN
1,253	Jillian Rickly	NUBS
1,252	Josh Malik	Loughborough University
1,251	Sarah Woodcock	University of Nottinghsm
1,250	Trish Limb
1,249	Cristina De Matteis	University of Nottingham
1,248	Elizabeth Rawding	School of Medicine UoN	The IT team do a great job both on the phone and on the ground. Everyone in UoN relies heavily on the service they provide. This year we have seen the disaster with Campus, MyNottingham & timetabling leading to student disatisfaction and lots of apology emails from senior managers. Outsourcing IT will magnify these problems. Didn't UoN learn anything from Project Transform?
1,247	Marisela Mendoza	nottinghamshire
1,246	Alex Musselwhite	University of Nottingham
1,245	Helen Nicholls	University of Nottingham
1,244	Lucy Sackville
1,243	Stephanie Barnard-Khan	Nottingham	\stop outsourcing! It is horribly inefficient and a nightmare to work with on the ground.
1,242	Richard Pearson	Nottingham
1,241	Roger Bayston	Academic Orthopaedics University of Nottingham	We depend on IT services provided by people who know the systems, know our needs, and know the university. Vast collective experience of outsourcing of IT (and other services) shows clearly that it is a serious mistake and eventually has to be reversed, with considerable expense and loss of staff morale (and IT expertise as they will have left).
1,240	Laura Prescott	University of Nottingham
1,239	Paul Leighton	University of Nottingham
1,238	Sonia Gran	University of Nottingham
1,237	Sarah Vickers	UoN
1,236	Douglas Grindlay	Notts	A big mistake!
1,235	Doug Little	University of Nottingham
1,234	Stefnee Lindberg	University of Nottingham (yes, it still has campuses in Nottingham, UK-- for now!)	How is it that outsourcing at Manchester is being touted as a success story? Outsourcing went so well there that a group of academics got together and wrote this book called "What a waste: Outsourcing and how it goes wrong" https://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9780719099533/
1,233	Laura Dovey
1,232	Dan Duthie	UoN, City Hospital	One has to question UEB's ability to manage the University of Nottingham, given it's recent track record.
1,231	Kim Thomas	University of Nottingham
1,230	Nicola Grime	Jubilee Campus
1,229	Michael Pearce	UON	The University should conduct a poll of academic staff and students as to whether they actually want this change
1,228	John Holford	School of Education, University of Nottingham	This is an extraordinary - and promises to be an extraordinarily damaging - decision. It shows appalling disregard for colleagues. And (especially in the light of the disastrous experience with Project Transform), I have no confidence that it will enhance support for academic activities of any kind.
1,227	Rachel Newnham	University of Nottingham
1,226	Linda Pycroft	University of Nottingham, Dermatology	I do not feel that outsourcing our excellent IT services would be in the best interests of our students or staff.
1,225	Shirley Connolly	University of Nottingham	I don't believe outsourcing is the solution and I don't think it will be managed well if it does go ahead.
1,224	Tamsyn Smith	University of Nottingham	The University should learn from previous mistakes!
1,223	Matthew Nilan	University of Nottingham
1,222	Rachel Holmes
1,221	Selina Janagal
1,220	Vince Baxter	UoN Education	I feel we should use the skills we already have to maintain IT
1,219	Kay Walters	University of Nottingham
1,218	Mia Bellusova	University of Nottingham
1,217	Janet Wilmot	University of Nottingham, School of Education
1,216	Jennifer Caddick
1,215	Tova Ostlund	Nottingham
1,214	Emma Halford-Busby	University of Nottingham
1,213	Lucy Baker	UoN
1,212	Hannah Meir	University of Nottingham
1,211	Lucy Noyes	University of nottingham
1,210	Alice Nott	University of Nottingham	Outsourcing has not improved the experience of students but hindered it with timetables being created by people who do not understand the needs of students
1,209	Alice Haslam	University of Nottingham
1,208	Heidi Winklhofer	NUBS	To enhance student experience and increase research output, we need our IS staff more than ever. Let's not see them as cost and instead treat them as a core asset.
1,207	Cherie Edwards	Student Services Jubilee
1,206	Samantha Shinn	University of Nottingham
1,205	Jessica Zemanek	University of Nottingham	Don't do it. We rely heavily on the IT team on site, they are quick to understand issues, respond and resolve them! Not a good idea.
1,204	Christine Fletcher	University of Nottingham
1,203	Lorraine Loveridge	University of Nottingham
1,202	Ken Starkey	Nottingham University Business School	It is crucial to educate university management in what are foundational services needed to support our educational mission.
1,201	Margaret McPhee	University of Nottingham
1,200	Carol Hill	University of Nottingham	Campus is proof that we need knowlege with regards to our IT support
1,199	Alison Williams	University of Nottingham Greenfield Medical Library
1,198	Rita Gohil	Division of Psychiatry and Applied Psychology	Not a good idea to outsource as it would mean loss of jobs for IT staff and we already have experienced IT staff with expertise in this area. It would be a money saving exercise that will eventually fall apart if carried out.
1,197	Angela Summerfield	Division of Psychiatry & Applied Psychology	I feel this decision needs revisiting at the very least. We have excellent foot soldiers with vast knowledge in the IT teams based here at the University. It would be a shame to destroy that with another high level decision that seems prone to backfire again.
1,196	Miriam Stanyon	Institute of Mental Health
1,195	Catriona Hind	Nottingham University
1,194	Louise Pettifer	Nottingham University
1,193	Emma Woodward	University of Nottingham
1,192	Mark van Rossum	U Nottingham
1,191	Anshuman Chutani	Nottingham University Business School
1,190	Sarb Hoskinson	Loughbrough	I have seen too many organisations outsource technology and infrastructure projects and seeing staff that has been dedicated leave or made redundant. Then needing this staff to come back and fix a bigger problem than when they left. Leadership needs to listen to staff and develop them and build a string team to then maintain what was implemented- in returning bringing down the Opex costs.
1,189	Jennifer Gordon	Surrey
1,188	Thea Lawrence	Nottinghamshire
1,187	Mari Hughes	University of Nottingham
1,186	Sue Bingham	UoN
1,185	Asya Alanazi	Theology and Religious Studies
1,184	Sue Tempest	NUBS
1,183	Rebecca Batty	University of Nottingham
1,182	Karen Maltby	Nottingham University Business School	In my experience within 2 years companies have always reverted back to inhouse, I have never known outsourcing to work.
1,181	Susan Anderson	Nottingham
1,180	Jinmin Wang	University of Nottingham
1,179	Julia Merrill	University of Nottingham
1,178	Sylvia Perkins	Student Services, Business School North, Jubilee Campus.
1,177	Philip Van Krimpen	Univeristy of Nottingham	Outsourcing is an outdated concept, proven to be ineffective in both the private and public sector. No real attempt has been made to invest in the areas which are being outsourced, both in terms of training and infrastructure. The answer to this is not to simply throw it over the wall and hope another organisation can handle it.
1,176	Yi Ming Lai	University of Nottingham
1,175	Sue Grimwood	Greenfield Medical Library	I do not feel this would be in the best interests of students or staff.
1,174	Sarah Turner
1,173	Beth Coyle	University of Nottingham
1,172	Wilcoxson Gerrard	University of Nottingham
1,171	Sadie Robinson
1,170	Lisa Doughty	University of Nottingham
1,169	Sarah Speirs	University of Nottingham
1,168	Boeles Boeles Rowland	KU Leuven, Belgium
1,167	William Woods	Beeston
1,166	Dave Parkin	University of Nottingham	Of course, outsourcing IT will be damaging to the University in both degraded service and expense forcing it though. But the people making this decision will jump ship before it starts sinking and of course their CV will call it all a great success
1,165	Mark Shotter	Confetti/NTU
1,164	Gina Rogers	Business School, Jubilee Campus	IT is a vital part of every department,school for staff, students, teaching and to enable us all to work professionally.
1,163	Emma Thomson
1,162	Duncan McGuinness
1,161	Hannah Ryan
1,160	Craig Thomson	Self employed	Outsourcing costs more money, training offers better return of investment and control over issues
1,159	Lisa Lockhart
1,158	Rachel Williams	West Bridgford	My previous employer outsourced IT. Quality of service decreased. So much so, they have now brought it back in house. University would be wise to skip the outsourcing step, and instead focus on improving the in house service. For context, previous employer was multinational company with approx 7000 employees.
1,157	Else Panayi	Greater London	Stop outsourcing. Else
1,156	Jo Brewis	The Open University
1,155	Mark Daintree	Nottingham University Business School	Outsourcing is only likely to increase costs, support complexity and service delivery time whilst reducing flexibility and support levels
1,154	Eva Parker	School of Education, University of Nottingham
1,153	Tina Caunt
1,152	Muhammad Rafique	County (optional)NUBS
1,151	George Parr	Unversity of Nottingham, Civil Engineering (Retired)	The dominant priority of a provider of outsourced services would be its own success, not the U of N's.
1,150	Fiona Moore	University of Nottingham
1,149	Michael Thomson	University of Nottingham
1,148	Dave Bicker	Sutton Bonington Campus	Is this wise? Service users think not. Will it go ahead? On past performance it will, expensively & ineffectually.
1,147	Marie Kowalski	Jubilee Student Services
1,146	Alison Pilnick	University of Nottingham
1,145	Teresa Frudd	University of Nottingham
1,144	Carole Winson	Nottingham University Business School	Our current IT staff do an excellent job, we want to keep them!
1,143	Shelly Rigby	University of Nottingham	Not a good time to be outsourcing the IT dept
1,142	Bertrand Perrat	UoN, Business School, N/LAB, Jubilee Campus
1,141	Insa Hartung
1,140	Alyson McLintock	NUBS
1,139	Jackie Andrews	University of Nottingham
1,138	Olga Tkachuk	University of Nottingham Business School
1,137	Philip Bellamy	University of Nottingham	Outsourcing this service seems totally unnecessary
1,136	Rani Thanacoody	Jubilee Campus BSN
1,135	Niamh O'Sullivan	NUBS
1,134	Claire Palmer	University of Nottingham
1,133	Alison Sinclair	University of Nottingham Business School	The University's new and old management is not learning. IT outsourcing is a way to avoid having to deal with the problems the institution started with Project Transform. It's Project Transform 2. Can management please support, not hinder the adoption of the new student record systems. Drastic changes to staffing do not demonstrate leadership, but they erode trust at a frightening speed.
1,132	Joanne Bagshaw	University of Nottingham, King's Meadow Campus
1,131	David Gray	Sutton Bonington Campus	Quality of IT provision at SB is good; outsourcing is unlikely to provide the level of support required to do our job efficiently.
1,130	Simona Spedale	The University of Nottingham - NUBS
1,129	Tessa Moore	UoN	Outsourcing hasn't worked with Campus. Why would it work with IT?
1,128	Joanne Hadley	NUBS,Jubilee Campus, BS North	Campus foundational IT support is too valuable to lose.
1,127	Frederique Bouilheres	NUBS
1,126	Ja ryong Kim	University of Nottingham
1,125	Camilla Palmer	the University of Nottingham	I support this cause.
1,124	Mark Bentley	University of Nottingham
1,123	Tracey Bettinson	University of Nottingham
1,122	Sophie Mills	University of Nottingham/Business School	Outsourcing core IT services would be a huge mistake, as IT support should be integrated within the business. I believe investment into IS staff training would be a much more favourable option.
1,121	Sarah Holt	University of Nottingham, Department of Theology and Religious Studies	The individuals whom I have encountered on The IT team are exceptionally competent and committed, compared to any I have met in other places. I find it hard to believe there can be a better calibre of employee elsewhere. To make half redundant and to outsource work cannot be for the good of clients within the uni like me (a postgrad student) or them. I heartily endorse this petition.
1,120	Kathleen Visser	University of Nottingham
1,119	Anja Rohde	University of Nottingham, Department of Archaeology and Classics
1,118	Svetlana Clark	Modern languages	Can anyone give a single example of outsourcing success?!?
1,117	Mark Anderson	History/Humanities/University of Nottingham
1,116	Lydia Farina	University of Nottingham
1,115	Soma Mukherjee	Research & Innovation, University of Nottingham
1,114	Alex Bryne	University of Nottingham
1,113	Arijit Mukherjee	Nottingham University Business School
1,112	Hamish Forbes	School of Humanities/Dept of Classics and Archaeology
1,111	Heather Davison	School of Chemistry, UoN
1,110	Miki Kurose	Nottinghamshire	outsourcing
1,109	Naomi Harvey	Nottingham University Vet School	Outsourcing IT is a very bad idea. Please don’t.
1,108	Ting Chang	University of Nottingham	The in-house IT team has provided invaluable help to me and solved many problems. There is no reason to get rid of them.
1,107	Lewis Borck	University of Missouri	Please do not continue with plans to outsource university services to a private, for profit, company.
1,106	Minjia Chen	Business school
1,105	Craig Shepherd	University of Nottingham
1,104	Nigel Denoronha	University of Nottingham	The in house IT service has dealt well with my personal and teaching requirements. I am extremely concerned that outsourcing the service would significantly reduce the quality and flexibility of the service. In my previous role as an IT auditor I have personally seen the damage of such approaches in a number of large organisations.
1,103	Melanie Bhend	University of Nottingham
1,102	Clare Simcock
1,101	David Morris	NUBS
1,100	Kulwant Pawar	University of Nottingham	they provide valuable and timely support
1,099	Simona Mateut	Business School
1,098	Sally Hibbert
1,097	Alexia Yates
1,096	David Achtzehn	UoN, Business School
1,095	Laura Odila Schroeder	University of Nottingham	Outsourcing will not make things cheaper. We need strong in-house IT support on campus AND at every single department. People who care about the institution and can train grad-students working alongside them are important!
1,094	Gongtao Zhang	University of Nottingham
1,093	Aditya Jain	Nottingham University Business School	Please think of the long term, this is not going to save the university any money, only cause more issues and as a result cost more in the future.
1,092	Elaine Jammali	Business School	I currently call upon the IT team on a daily basis. All are helpful, all are friendly, all are knowledgeable and are happy to help. Outsourcing this service would be inconvenient, bordering on useless. Who, from an external environment could possibly have the local knowledge essential to the smooth running of the service.What a daft idea
1,091	Sarah Wilson	University of Nottingham
1,090	Simon Bishop	Nottingham	Outsourcing very frequently leads to unintended consequences and additional costs (financial and non-financial), not considered in the initial proposition. Large public sector organisations within our region have recently reversed outsourcing contracts at considerable cost following years of difficulties.
1,089	Laurie Cohen	Nottingham University
1,088	Lara Bianchi	NUBS
1,087	Gertjan Lucas	Nottingham Unversity Business School
1,086	Aristeidis Dadoukis
1,085	Amanda Power	University of Oxford
1,084	Tom Coogan	Nottingham Unversity Business School
1,083	Tommaso Faccio	University of Nottingham
1,082	Teresa Corcoran	University of Nottingham	I think internal staff are better placed to support the University - other proposals which have aparently led to cost savings (like project transform) seem to still be having long lasting impact of staff members who are trying to fill the gaps left by the new structure for the sake of the University reputation - outside of their job remit and in addition to their day to day roles
1,081	Thanaset Chevapatrakul	University of Nottingham
1,080	Simon Parker	Nottingham University Business School
1,079	Robert Pasley	University of Nottingham	This will just make things worse after a rather botched implementation recently
1,078	Jeannie Holstein	University of Nottingham
1,077	Marek Korczynski	University of Nottingham
1,076	Ian Forrest	University of Oxford	This move will degrade university staff conditions, and worsen the service for teaching and research.
1,075	Sian Webb	University of Nottingham
1,074	Amanda Colclough	University of Nottingham
1,073	Georgia Walker	School of Education	Such a helpful team; always on hand to offer assistance and support where necessary.
1,072	Brian Logan	University of Nottingham
1,071	Nicholas Thom	University of Nottingham	On top of the Campus Solutions fiasco, this plan (if true) would only add to the madness. When will leaders learn to consult those who actually know things instead of believing figures quoted by administrators?
1,070	Mark Gallagher	University of Nottingham
1,069	Jean-Xavier Ridon	University of Nottingham
1,068	Amy Hurst	University of Nottingham
1,067	Emma Swain	School of Education
1,066	Phil Andrews	Ex University of Nottingham
1,065	Gareth Gee	University of Nottingham	Outsourcing university services is always a bad idea. Outsourcing IT services is a terrible, stupid idea.
1,064	Gary Hunt	University of Nottingham
1,063	Sarah Burton	University of Nottingham
1,062	Tobias Bast	University of Nottingham
1,061	Matthew Kinloch	Dumbarton Oaks Research Library (Harvard University)/Austrian Academy of Sciences (Vienna)
1,060	David Matless	School of Geography
1,059	Robin Vandome	University of Nottingham
1,058	Ruth Dilly	Queen's University Belfast
1,057	Ewan Dinwiddie
1,056	Helen Barrow
1,055	Heather Kirk	Nottinghamshire
1,054	Dan Simpkins	Nottingham	Been there before with outsourcing in the past (to India - was a dissaster), fear if it goes ahead we'll lose a lot of excellent skilled ppl
1,053	Imogen Worrall	University of Nottingham
1,052	Bindi Brook	University of Nottingham
1,051	Adam Sharman	University of Nottingham
1,050	Chris Gratton	University of Nottingham
1,049	Mike Byrne	University of Nottingham (now retired)
1,048	Maurice Hendrix	University of Nottingham
1,047	MIRIAM MORGAN	Nottingham College	Not acceptable to privatise in this way
1,046	Nick Mount	University of Nottingham
1,045	Scott Weightman
1,044	S Huggett	UoN
1,043	Beatrice Wallbank	University of Nottingham, PhD student	The IT service in the university is excellent and friendly and there is no excuse for this outsourcing move. Evidence is building daily that outsourcing at Nottingham is harming its students, staff and the university as a whole.
1,042	Megan Doole	University of Nottingham
1,041	Claire Taylor	Dept of History	A terrible idea. When has out-sourcing ever worked in a huge and complex organisation. I'm thinking NHS cleaners/porters, prisons, detention centres. Even outsourcing photocopying hasn't worked here! The IT services seems to be getting the blame for the Campus Solutions debarcle.
1,040	Nina Charami	University of Nottingham
1,039	Louise Mullany	University of Nottingham
1,038	James D	University of Nottingham	Universities are defined by the information contained and transmitted via their IT infrastructure more than most institutions. It is reckless to abrogate responsibility for such infrastructure. The experiment has been run with Campus solutions and the learning is readily apparent. Current IT support is excellent and responsive. External contracts that reward time not performance.are a disaster
1,037	Ian Taylor	University of Nottingham
1,036	Ute Hirsekorn		Outrageous! Support services that the institution has outsourced in the last 20 years are not working effectively, e.g. cleaning services, occupational health. Campus Solution NOT working, Xerox machines work very badly, not maintained enough. Services broken! IT outsourcing, we might as well close down! All on the cheap! What an appalling way of treating current valuable staff!
1,035	David Osborne	Department of Classics and Archaeology	Academic users depend heavily on a well-supported IT service. Outsourcing this function to an external company which has no emotional investment in the University can only result in a degradation in service. Outsourcing has been tried and rejected in other universities so why does Nottingham in its hubris think it knows best and not learn from the lessons of others?
1,034	Jordi Garrell	UoN
1,033	June McCombie	University of Nottingham
1,032	Antony Reed	University of Nottingham
1,031	Heike Schaumberg	University of Reading UCU Committee
1,030	Emily Reason	Humanities	I have spent the last 17 years working in the NHS and have seen a lot of outsourcing and centralisation. The fact is that off-site people simply don't care about the organisation the same way as those who live and work with it day to day. They don't have the same sense of pride and belonging as "our own" people, and standards never fail to suffer as a result.
1,029	Catrin Fear	PhD student, university of Nottingham	The current outsourced it at the university has been appalling, leaving both staff and students worse off. The university needs to make decisions that benefits them, not the institution financially. I know students that had mental breakdowns over worrying that the system stopped them receiving money and attending lectures, for which they pay £9,000 for.
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