Business Intelligence (BI)  & Financial Information Services (FIS), formerly (BADG).

We work inclusively with our business partners to capitalize on their knowledge to achieve services that are efficient for all departments, including accountability for stakeholder audits. Additionally, we work as a supportive team that leverages shared learning to produce visually consistent applications that lower our client's learning curve. Our primary development practice has as policy goals to:

• Identify and define the lean business process
• Assess any related current practices or source data which may be incorporated into the solution
• Assess the reliability and quality of existing source data 
• Create database schemas that are secure, documented and efficient
• Review database schema from a strategic perspective for data synergies
• Evaluate options via a combination of prototyping and iterative reviews to rapidly surface the stakeholder design requirements
• Utilize version control, web application templates, a standard framework and libraries to accelerate application development
• Leverage standard design patterns to maximize maintainability, reliability and application robustness
• Ensure user interfaces meet UC San Diego Health Sciences branding guidelines
• Incorporate stakeholder feedback to create approvals that follow appropriate authorization hierarchies
• Extensive documentation including embedding source code comments to facilitate maintenance and succession
• Ensuring these software solutions remain running and are available at all times when needed.
• Publish a developer's guide and a user's guide for each application.

Our members consist of software developers who use leading technologies to conceive and create business solutions necessary for our customers. Our engineering and development environment consists of the following deployed technologies, primarily running under Windows and/or RHEL Linux.

• Developer Tools: Eclipse, Maven, Aqua Data Studio, SSMS, Git/GitLab, SSIS, Scriptella, NiFi, Pentaho
  
• Databases: SQL Server, MySQL, Microsoft Access
• Operating Systems: Windows Server, RHEL
  
• Web Services: Apache, Tomcat, JBoss / Wild Fly, IIS
• Development Technologies: Java, J2EE, JBPM, jQuery, Hibernate, DeltaSpike, Mybatis, Springboot
  
• Web Technologies: JSP, JSF, PrimeFaces, HTML, CSS, AJAX, JavaScript, XML, Web Services
• Client-Server Technologies: REST, SOAP
  
• Reporting Technologies: iText, Cognos Analytics 
  
• E-Mail Services: Outlook, Mailman
  
• Monitoring: Zabbix, Prometheus, Grafana, Graylog
  
• Software Utilities: Microsoft Office, Xenu, PUTTY, Cygwin, Docker, Portainer
  
• Scripting: Python, Bash, Perl, PHP, PowerShell, YAML
  
• SaaS: ServiceNow 
  
  
  

• Why am I unable to connect to an application that I have used before?
  • The most frequent reason this happens is that employee's change their name, change their department, or change jobs.
    • Name change: If you changed your name, perhaps to or from a married name, you may need to notify us of this change. While our applications use official campus records your access may need to be restored in the application.
    • Department change: Applications limit a users ability to view or modify content to current department employees. When you change departments, if your access in the application hasn't been approved for the new department you won't be able to use the application.  
    • Jobs change: Job titles have specific duties and privileges associated with them. When you change jobs, the permissions you had in your previous job do not automatically transfer with you. In fact, you may have a whole new set of permissions with your new job that need to be set up.
• The application is taking a long time to run. How do I know if there is a problem with the application?
  • Our servers may experience heavy usage ahead of deadlines, such as NIH grant deadlines, pay period deadlines and budget reporting deadlines.
  • An application is more likely to be influenced by other applications at the end of the week, at the end of the month, or near an important deadline date.
  • Is it a network issue?   Try closing all of your web browsers, then reopen one web browser and run one of the free speed tests (Google speed test) to find one.  If it takes a while to open a browser window the issue may be your local computer.
  • Is it your computer?  While you are having the problem, try opening Excel, Word or any number of other applications on your computer.  If those open quickly, the issue may be the application. 
  • Most of our applications are testing to respond in seconds or minute, although large reports may take longer.
  • If an application that normally responds in seconds takes longer than 5 minutes, or an application that normally responds in minutes takes more than 15 or 30 minutes, it is likely that your computer, the network, or the application has a problem. If your computer works fine for everything else, then you can rule that one out. If you can get to Google and searches execute quickly, then you can rule out the network as the source of the problem.
• What should I do when the application isn't working as it should?
  • Try checking the results of your work. If you can confirm that the results are not as expected, meaning you get the same incorrect result while performing the same action more than once, then you should report the issue.
  • Make sure you understand the business process and check with the approving official to make sure they have not changed the way they conduct the process.

When should a user request application support?

• If the nature of your question relates to the business process, then you should contact a person knowledgeable about that business process.
• If the nature of your question relates to any of the following, then you should contact FIS:
  • You know you need to use an application, but you do not know where or how to access the application.
  • You encounter an error when you try to log into the application or during the use of the application.
  • You are not getting the result you previously received from the application.

• What information should a user provide when requesting support?
  • Your name and department,
  • The name of the application,
  • The web address (URL) you use to access the application,
  • A description of what business process you are trying to complete, and
  • The exact wording of the first line of the error message, if any, and what action you were performing when you got the error when applicable.

Request a New Application or a Change to an Application

• Request Application Form (Word document which requires email submission) or:
  

The Business Intelligence (BI) and Financial Information Services Group (FIS, formerly BADG) partnership works with the Administration and Finance unit of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences and the Dean's Office School of Medicine. Our charge is to provide business and financial analysis, develop business solutions and enable the individuals to manage their business operations more effectively.  Our primary goal is to provide support implementing the critical initiatives required to achieve the organizational vision of  UCSD Health Sciences.  We develop and deliver solutions to meet our customers' business needs in an environment that encourages productivity and employee growth ( both professional and personal ).   All of our long-term strategies and short-term actions will be built around a set of core values that are shared by each team member. 

Core Values

• Establish a culture of team cooperation and collaborative spirit
• Develop honest relationships through open communication
• Embrace and drive change through continuous improvement
• Achieve goals through the application of knowledge, shared learning and creativity
• Pursue growth and learning through succession planning and professional development
• Embrace the UC San Diego Principles of Community