EDUCAUSE 2014 Top Ten IT Issues

EDUCAUSE 2014 Top Ten IT Issues

Today’s Agenda

• Introduction to EDUCAUSE• IT Issues History &

Methodology• 2014 Top Ten IT Issues• Selected Issues Reviewed

In-Depth

• Introduction to EDUCAUSE

Introduction to EDUCAUSE

Transforming higher education throughthe use of information technology

About EDUCAUSE

• Mission: To advance higher education through information technology

• Audience: Higher education IT, including those interested in using IT

• Focus: Strategy, issues, management, best practices • Organization: 501(c)3; membership organization

About EDUCAUSE

• Membership: 2,400 colleges, universities, and organizations (40+ countries)

• Size: – $18M (without grants)– 90 employees – 60,000 active members

• Outreach:– 22 face-to-face events/year– 10+ online events/year

About EDUCAUSE

EDUCAUSE helps people who lead, manage, and use technology to make better decisions about

– Enterprise systems– Strategic leadership– Teaching and learning– Cybersecurity

Visit us at www.educause.edu.

• Top Ten IT Issues History & Methodology

14 Years of the IT Issues Top Ten List

Top Ten List Methodology Changes

• 2000-2011– Web survey of EDUCAUSE primary representatives– Survey responses about 30%

• 2012-2013– Concerned about staleness– IT Issues Panel formed and charged with choosing the panel

• 2014– IT Issues Panelists wanted validation of issues– Member survey chose and prioritized the final Top Ten list

• 2014 Top Ten IT Issues

2014 Top Ten IT Issues

2014 Top Ten IT Issues

1. Improving student outcomes through an institutional approach that strategically leverages technology

2. Establish a partnership between IT and institutional leadership to develop a collective understanding of what IT can deliver

3. Assisting faculty with the instructional integration of information technology 4. Developing an IT staffing and organizational model to accommodate the changing IT

environment and facilitate openness and agility 5. Using analytics to help drive critical institutional outcomes 6. Changing IT funding models to sustain core service, support innovation and facilitate growth 7. Addressing access demand and the wireless and device explosion 8. Sourcing technologies and services at scale to reduce costs (via cloud, greater centralization of

IT, cross institutional collaborations, and so forth) ‐9. Determining the role of online learning and developing a strategy for that role 10. Implementing risk management and information security practices to protect institutional IT

resources/data and respond to regulatory compliance mandates (tie)10. Developing an enterprise IT architecture that can respond to changing conditions and new

opportunities (tie)

Sourcing technologies & services at scale to reduce costs (via cloud, greater centralization of institutional IT services & system, cross-institution collaborations, etc.

Sourcing Technologies & Services at Scale

In the Cloud Today

Institutions with at least one core information system in the cloud

51%

Three or more in the cloud

13%

All core information systems in the cloud

8%

2014 Cloud Technology Priorities

Source: Higher Education’s Top-10 Strategic Technologies for 2014, Susan Grajek, ECAR, February 2014

IT Is Dependent on Institutional Practices

Financial practices are effective at over 50% of institutions financial management budget planning

Leadership practices are effective at fewer than 50% of institutions strategic planning alignment among leadership IT governance

Management practices are effective at fewer than 25% of institutions continuous improvement data driven-decision making business process optimization

Source: Assessing Your Fiscal Bandwidth: Current Practices for Measuring IT Costs in Higher Education, Eden Dahlstrom, ECAR, May 2013

Sourcing Technologies & Services at Scale to Reduce Costs--ADVICE

• Participate in the EDUCAUSE Core Data Service to benchmark and establish baseline measures

• Consider business process reengineering (BPR)• Capture BPR savings to support strategic objectives• Understand the TCO of systems and processes in terms

that can be compared with cloud offerings• Ensure the understanding and support of institutional

leaders• Understand the strategic importance of institutional

information systems

Changing IT funding models to sustain core service, support innovation, and facilitate growth

Funding IT Strategically

IT Expenditures by Institutional Mission

Adminis-trative53%

Teaching and Learning

39%

Research4%

Other3%

Source: EDUCAUSE Core Data Survey, 2013

IT Expenditures by Activity


Current IT Financial Management Capabilities

Can calculate the ROI or NPV of IT

projects20%

Can calculate the TCO of IT

services18%

Source: Assessing Your Fiscal Bandwidth: Current Practices for Measuring IT Costs in Higher Education, Eden Dahlstrom, ECAR, May 2013

Changing IT Funding Models To Sustain Core Service, Support Innovation, And Facilitate Growth--ADVICE

• Benchmark IT finances by participating in the EDUCAUSE Core Data Service

• Ensure the institutional leadership is committed to changing • Create and maintain a service catalog• Estimate the TCO (total cost of ownership) for each service• Develop a plan to drive down the costs of commodity

services • Identify services that can be sunset • Integrate these foundation approaches into institutional IT

governance

Using analytics to help drive criticalinstitutional outcomes

Using Analytics to Support the Institution

Analytics Maturity Index

Source: ECAR Analytics Maturity Index, 2012. http://www.educause.edu/ecar/research-publications/ecar-analytics-maturity-index-higher-education

Analytics Technology Priorities For 2014

✓✓

✓

Source: Higher Education’s Top-10 Strategic Technologies for 2014, Susan Grajek, ECAR, February 2014

Using Analytics To Help Drive Critical Institutional Outcomes--ADVICE

• Begin with strategic priorities rather than data or tools• Develop an analytics architecture• Complete the ECAR Analytics Maturity Index for Higher

Education • Ensure analytics outputs are built into ongoing processes• Determine who needs to be trained in analytics • Review the EDUCAUSE Top-Ten Strategic Technologies for

2014

TOP TEN IT ISSUES OF 2014

Establishing a partnership between IT leadership & institutionalleadership to develop a collective understanding of what information technology can deliver

Institutional Partnerships

Institutions That Have…

CIO on the president’s or chancellor’s

cabinet

51%

Alignment among

institutional leadership

44%

Effective IT

governance

32%

Source: Today’s Higher Education IT Workforce, Jacqueline Bichsel, ECAR, January 2014

Percent of IT Budget Spent on Research Mission

CFO VP Administration Provost President1%

5%6%

2%

9%

11%

5%

CIO doesn't sit on Cabinet CIO sits on Cabinet


The Ability Gap for CIOs

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%98% 97% 96% 95%

85% 82% 78%85%

% saying Important % Proficient


CIOs

Non-C

IO m

anage

rs

Non-m

anag

ers

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%98%

91%

86%85%

78%

72%

% saying Important % Proficient

CIOs

Non-CIO

man

agers

Non-m

anag

ers

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

95%

84%

77%

85%

75%

70%

% saying Important% Proficient

The Ability Gap for the IT Workforce


Ability to manage other relationships within my institution

Understanding non-IT business processes and operations

CIOs’ Participation in Institutional Decision-making


35%

62%65%

26%

10%13%

Often/Almost always Rarely/Almost never

Obstacles to CIOs’ Effectiveness


Institutional leadership’s lack of

interest in (or understanding of) IT

38%

Lack of clear, consistent goals

for IT overall26%

Lack of cooperation among colleagues

outside IT24%

(Biggest obstacle was insufficient resources, cited by 1 in 2 CIOs)

Establishing a Partnership Between IT Leadership and Institutional Leadership--ADVICE

• Identify the institution’s champions for effective use of information technology

• Help educate institutional leaders about the contributions and costs of technology to help them right-size their expectations

• Ensure the IT staff who are interacting most with institutional leaders understand and support the IT organization’s approaches and priorities

• Help institutional leaders ensure that IT leaders are included in the strategic planning process and ongoing institutional governance

TOP TEN IT ISSUES OF 2014

BOTTOM LINE:Don’t assume institutional leaders know how information technology can help them achieve their priorities. Meet them more than halfway by understanding their lines of business and priorities.

Establishing a partnership between IT leadership & institutionalleadership to develop a collective understanding of what information technology can deliver

Questions?

• Learn more about the 2014 Top Ten IT Issues at:• http://

www.educause.edu/research-and-publications/research/top-10-it-issues

http://www.educause.edu/research-and-publications/research/top-10-it-issues



Thank you!

• Joanna Lyn Grama, JD• EDUCAUSE• Director of DRA Operations, IT GRC and Cybersecurity Programs • [email protected]

Documents

EDUCAUSE 2014 Top Ten IT Issues