TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
DATE:
President’s Advisory Council
Rick Bunt
Chief Information Officer and Associate Vice-President,
Information and Communications Technology
External Review of Information Technology Services (ITS)
April 6, 2011
The external review of ITS was carried out in the summer of 2010 as the first administrative unit review under the new Framework for Assessment . A 3-person review team spent 3 days on our campus in June meeting with members of the campus community. They produced a first-class report with recommendations for both ITS and university IT more broadly. The report has been read with interest across campus and has been discussed widely: within ITS, with the President’s Executive Committee, with the Campus Advisory Board for Institutional Systems, with the Academic Support and Planning and
Priorities Committees of Council and in the broader campus community.
Since ITS reports to my office it is my responsibility to respond to those recommendations relating to ITS organization, responsibilities, services and operations. The Provost is responding to the recommendations relating to the role of the CIO in campus-wide IT.
The review team had many good things to say about current operations and much good advice to offer.
They were “impressed with the many and significant accomplishments of ITS” but noted that “there is much more to be done.” Twenty-seven recommendations were presented in total. Roughly one-third of them relate to the CIO role and two-thirds to ITS, and there is some overlap. For organizational clarity I’ve summarized the key recommendations relating to ITS and grouped them in categories.
Services:
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Core Services:
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− Identify a core set of IT services that are to be provided to all faculty and staff. These should not be subject to fees but rather should be funded centrally through ITS.
− Develop a plan and implement full enterprise calendaring and associated services for all employees of the UofS. Baseline services should not be subject to charge-backs, but end-users should also have the option to pay for enhanced services.
A Shared Services Model:
− Develop a shared service model that contains the elements of price transparency, service culture, good business process, standardization, continuous improvement and responsiveness.
− Look for opportunities to partner with other institutions or firms in provisioning Software as a
Service (SaaS) as an alternative to operating all systems locally.
− Determine a process to recognize innovative solutions that solve problems at a local level and systematically promote them to university-level shared services.
Administration Building, Room E247
Phone: (306) 966-8408 Fax: (306) 975-1026

Organizational Efficiencies:
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Consolidate the university’s enterprise systems technical staff resources within ITS.
• Define a more comprehensive program for software site licensing that ensures end-users have access to the productivity tools they need at a cost that is reasonable for the institution to bear.
• Consider implementing an institution-wide desktop renewal program, where workstations or laptops are replaced on a regular cycle. This program should be centrally funded and managed through ITS.
Metrics:
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Implement a set of standard performance metrics and measures that include the operational,
• customer service and strategic performance aspects of IT.
Integrate the performance measurement into the IT governance structure, project and portfolio management, IT funding, enterprise systems, service culture and IT security.
Communications:
• Develop a formal communication plan to ensure that the appropriate internal and external constituents are receiving the information and are compelled to act on the information.
New Positions:
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Security Officer:
− Create a senior level role of Information Security Officer (or other appropriate title as seen fit) with full-time responsibility for IT security at the UofS. This should be a direct report to the
CIO.
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− Charge the ISO with developing an IT security framework for the campus, in concert with other campus IT units and key stakeholders.
Service Manager:
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In concert with an IT service management framework, define the role of Service Manager within ITS and pilot its use with a cohesive set of stakeholders. The business owners of enterprise systems might be a good group to work with in this pilot.
− Refine the Service Manager role based on experiences with the pilot, and gradually add these roles to other stakeholder groups as a continuing complement to best practices followed in the
IT service management framework.
There were few surprises in the recommendations, but that doesn’t mean they will be easy to implement.
Shifts in institutional culture and practice will be necessary to address a number of these recommendations and, as the reviewers note, new resources will be required to address others. I asked the ITS Director, Ed
Pokraka, to develop a work plan with timelines and assigned responsibilities, focusing on those recommendations that will provide the greatest benefit, and he has done so. The execution of this plan has been accorded high priority as preparations are made for the third planning cycle. This has my full and enthusiastic support.
Sincerely
___________________________
Rick Bunt
Chief Information Officer and Associate Vice-President
Information and Communications Technology