Information Technology
Alignment, Strategy &
Governance, and Efficiency
CSG Winter 2011
Why is Alignment so Important?
Why is Alignment so Important?
FY10 Expenditures
Integrated Technology Services Continuum
Principles
Principles
•Mission Specific or Strategic
•Institutional Vision & Mission
Importance to Local Unit
Alignment
•Unique
Accountable •Institutional Mission Criticality
•Strategic Leadership Opportunity
•High Touch, High Interaction
to Both
+•Interoperability
Single
•Little Cross-Unit Use
- Redundancy
+ Unit Focus Nimble
•Common Need - Unresponsive
Enterprise
•Emerging,
Immature Technologies
•Institutional Economy-of-Scale Value
•Innovation
- Costly
+ Effective
Good
+ Efficient
- Little
•Technology Maturity
Value
•Institutional RiskAccountability
- Lacking
+ Responsive
Examples:
+ Common
•Computer
Desktop Support
Standardization
Best
Support
- Inflexible
Examples:
•Web Development & Content
Practices
Management
•Academic Application Development &Transparency
Support
•Research Application Development &
Support
Distributed
Integrated Services
Continuum
Core
Role of Governance
IT Planning Governance Groups:
•
•
•
•
Serve as the voice of our customers
Provide input on services and service levels.
Provide priority and sequencing advice.
Help lead and socialize directions and
solutions.
Role of Governance
IT Planning Governance Groups:
• Senate Committee Information Technology (Faculty)
• Deans and Chancellors (Academic Leadership)
• Academic Technology Advisory Committee
(Associate/Assistant Deans)
• Collegiate & Coordinate Campus IT Directors
(Distributed IT Leaders – Academic Units)
• Enterprise Planning Group (Distributed IT Leaders –
Administrative Units)
• University-Wide Technology-Specific work groups
(Techies)
Role of Consultation
ATAC
EPG
ITLA
Senate
Committee
IT Strategic Planning Goal
"Identify and invest in technology projects
that are transformative and provide
competitive advantage, while
maintaining the critical technology
infrastructure necessary to support the
institution."
IT Strategic Planning
• Rolling 6-Year Plan
• Rolling 2-Year Plan
• Quarterly Work-Plans
IT Strategic Planning
Process Goals and Principles
Process Goals:
• Manage an IT investment portfolio consistent with the
institution’s goals and aligned to its strategies.
• Provide University Leaders with the right information
to make major IT investments.
• Invest the right resources at the right time.
• Manage a well coordinated long-term technology plan
that is financially sustainable.
Project Selection Criteria
•
•
•
•
Project Type
Project Value
Project Readiness
Project Financing
Project Selection Criteria
• Two Types:
– Strategic (Academic, Research &
Service Unit Projects)
– Infrastructure (Maintaining the Base)
Project Selection Criteria
Strategic Projects (Examples):
• Constituent Relationship
Management (CRM)
• Faculty Activity Reporting and
Expertise
• Business Intelligence / Academic
Analytics
• U of M Google Apps
• Strategic Sourcing (Purchasing)
• Research Cyberinfrastructure
• Grad School Student Planner
Infrastructure Projects (Examples):
• Data Center Modernization Program
• Server Virtualization &
Consolidation
• Wireless Upgrade
• Identity Management
• ERP Upgrade (also continued
compliance and maintenance)
Project Selection Criteria
• Projects in a fiscal year slot meet the following
criteria:
– Definition - we know what needs to be done.
– Functional Ownership - a champion who has business
decision responsibilities.
– Business Case - an understanding of demand, business
need, and investment return.
– Finance Plan - a refined understanding of total costs and an
associated plausible plan for funding them.
Project Selection Criteria
• Projects in planning and development meet the
following criteria:
– Definition - although not fully understood, a group is actively
‘working’ on defining the requirements for this idea/need and
developing the business case.
– Functional Ownership - there is a good sense of who would
champion this effort and have non-technical decision
responsibilities.
– Finance Plan - Preliminary sense of cost may be known - but
is unrefined. Funding is not known.
Project Selection
Criteria
Value
• Strategic Match: The extent to which the initiative aligns with
the Institution's strategies/objectives.
• Impact on Institutional Measures of Success: The extent to
which the initiative affects the Institution's performance
measures.
• Competitive Impact and Advantage: The extent to which the
initiative creates understood comparative advantage.
• Interdisciplinary Synergy / Leveragability: The extent to
which the initiative can be used as a relationship building
catalyst or can be leveraged across organizational boundaries.
• Demand or Need for Project / Program / Initiative: The
consequences of not executing the initiative now.
• Financial Impact, Efficiency, Revenue, Cost, Productivity:
The initiative's expected quantifiable outcome.
Project Selection
Criteria
Risk
• Organizational Readiness: The extent to which the technical
and the functional organizations are poised to deliver and use
the system.
• Technical Readiness: The extent to which the technology
meets the functional need.
• Architecture Fit: The extent to which the initiative's technology
can be connected to - and is interoperable with - existing
components and/or systems.
• Definition: The extent to which the initiative's deliverables are
described and understood. Element of confidence in the planned
approach and its likeliness to change.
• Infrastructure Leveragability: The extent to which the initiative
takes advantage of systems and services that exist today - or
are already in place.
Project Selection
(1)
Improvement
Categories
(4a) Per
impacted
group
(3) Start-up &
over 5 years
VOI
(4b) University
overall
(2) Cost
Categories
(5) Net impact
(6) Benchmarks
Benchmark / Comparable Information: Over time / Parts to the whole / Peers / Industry Standards
Discussion Questions
• Are our CIOs positioned to lead the
discussions around these ideas?
• Are CIOs empowered to lead these
institutional IT activities?
• What can CIOs do to affect a
strategically aligned IT management
function?