EENets User Surveys

1
EENets User Surveys

• Maria Ristkok
• Estonian Educational and Research Network (EENet)
• TERENA TF-PR meeting 17-18 March, 2005

2
Overview

• Why user surveys? Benefits for NRENs and their
  users
• User surveys since 2000. Aims, expectations,
  target group, methodology
• How last surveys were carried out
• Summary of the outcomes
• What has been done with the results
• Some tips

3
User Surveys what for?

• Identifying and keeping track on the needs of
  users
• Informing about the new services
• Users opinion matters (changes, additional
  services)
• Fields of usage of Internet connectivity

4
User Surveys 2000-2002

• 2000 411 questionnaires sent out on paper (11
  q-s 65 resp), contentment 58, 9240 comp-s with
  Int.connection, 66035 people using EENets
  network, 7 users per computer
• 2001 555 questionnaires (16 5 quest-s, 65
  resp), contentment 53, 170 000 people, 9
  users/computer
• 2002 535 q-s (18 q-s, 59 resp), cont.53, 208
  000 people, 10 users/computer

5
User Surveys 2003-2005

• 2003 455 q-s (19 q-s, 53 resp), cont 59, 202
  000 people, 9 users/computer
• 2004 781 q-s (17 q-s, 58 resp), cont 52, 210
  000 people, 7.6 users/computer (6.9 using EENets
  network)
• 2005 874 q-s (72 responded!), 95 respondents
  used web-based interface for filling the
  questionnaire

6
Aims

• Find out the number of computers their users in
  the academic network (since 2000 only permanent
  connection, since 2004 also users of commercial
  permanent connection)
• Examine the contentment with different services,
  find out needed changes
• Get information about how well the users know the
  existence of different services (thereby also
  promoting the services which are less known)

7
Aims

• For what purposes Internet connection is used
• Level of internal networks, how many org-s have
  system administrators do employees of the org-s
  need any Internet training
• Wishes for speed of the connection (for prognosis
  of the network) by types of org-s
• Knowledge about the ISP of the connection,
  contentment (commercial market research)
• Additional needs, proposals

8
Target Group. Methodology

• Targeted population institutions (research,
  educational, cultural) using one or several
  services in the Estonian academic network
• Used methodology quantitative method, surveys
  with closed and open questions for collecting the
  cross-sectional data. Tradition of annual user
  surveys since 2000 (5 years) gives the
  possibility to make also a survey of longitudinal
  data

9
Last User Surveys

• 781 (2004) and 874 (2005) questionnaires posted.
• Time to respond 10 days
• Possibility to respond electronically by a unique
  web-based address or send the filled
  questionnaire by ordinary mail or fax (last web
  update counted)
• Answers collected in 30 days. Responding activity
  58 in 2004, 72(!) in 2005 (answers submitted a
  month later were not counted)

10
Last User Surveys

• Questions were made by department of services
  heads of dep-s
• A paper with contact data was added every
  questionnaire for checking the database of
  customers (3 of the contact e-mails were not
  working, database was updated). The same person
  was expected to fill in the form.
• 4 people were involved in the process of US
  programmer, secretary for typing the faxed
  answers to the relevant web-based addresses, 1
  for checking contact data (contractor), 1 for
  analyzing the data (head of the customer services
  department)

11
Last User Surveys

• Time spent for organizing all in all a full
  month of an employee
• Money spent on User Survey 250 EUR or less
  (paper, envelopes, stamping), salary not
  included.
• First input takes some time, later the summary
  (analysis of the outcome) is made by following
  the summary of previous years.
• Summaries of all the User Surveys are available
  at EENets website

12
Some results

• Permanent connections
• About 210 000 end-users using EENet's permanent
  connectivity in 2003
• 65 (2004) satisfied with their present Internet
  connectivity via academic network (6 more than
  in US 2003). The main reason for discontentment
  is slow connection.
• 433 users per org. using permanent connectivity
  in academic network (2004)

13
Satisfaction with Current Permanent Connection
14
Usage of Internet connectivity

• e-mail correspondence
• getting information needed for studies and work
• using bank services
• reading the news
• compiling teaching and training material
• publishing information about the institution
  itself and other

15
Additional services/changes asked for

• More bandwidth
• Guaranteed bandwidth during the videoconference
• Grid
• Information about all connectivity breaks (incl.
  very short ones)
• Central server for archive of video lectures
• Backup services via backbone

16

• WiFi services in academic network
• VoIP
• LANtoLAN
• support for making a homepage of smaller
  institutions
• possibility to administer e-mailboxes in EENet's
  server (create, delete)
• courses (for system administrators on security,
  data communication etc)

17

• More HOWTO-s in Estonian
• Consultations about security, warnings about
  security holes etc
• Different databases (e.g. About art schools,
  music schools, software for teachers etc)
• Etc...

18
What has been done with the results

• Full report on the Internet
• Translation into English is prepared and
  published later
• All the organizations which asked specific
  information or complained about specific
  technical problems were contacted, informed,
  helped out
• Mailing list of security incidents
• Different server for teachers for their teaching
  materials (popular environment of a commercial
  ISP was not satisfying the needs)

19
Tips for Getting High Response Rate

• deadline 10 days
• send a reminder after a week by e-mail
• send letter (on paper) to those who have not
  reacted
• 1st e-mail gave ¼ of responses, 2nd e-mail gave
  the other ¼ of responses, the rest were sent
  after receiving the letter on paper

20
Tips for Technical Process

• script made a unique hash for every customer
• next script sent an e-mail to the contact
  persons
• to those who submitted the form the script
  sent an additional e-mail to check the contact
  data
• those who did not react on el.notices received
  the questionnaire, letter and paper with present
  contact data by ordinary mail
• q-s were different (q.was compiled from
  different service moduls)

21
Links

• http//www.eenet.ee/englishEENet/usersurvey2003.ht
  ml
• http//www.eenet.ee/englishEENet/webstr.html

22
Thank you!

• Maria Ristkok
• maria_at_eenet.ee