Information Technology Plan
University of Alberta2012-2017
Jonathan SchaefferVice Provost and
Associate Vice President
Thank you!
Schedule
8:00 8:30 Breakfast
8:30 9:15 Jonathan Schaeffer
9:15 10:15 Breakout Session (1)
10:15 10:30 Break
10:30 11:30 Breakout Session (2)
11:30 12:00 Discussion
Innovation in IT: Opportunities
• Hardware: faster speeds, more capacity, less expensive, greater scalability, virtualization…
• Physical network: increasing bandwidth, richer content, cloud computing…
• Wireless network: mobility giving rise to access any time, any where, any thing…
• Applications: social media, collaboration, content sharing…
Innovation in IT: Concerns
• Keeping pace with innovation: new technologies introduced seemingly daily
• Staying relevant to today’s student: students are early adopters
• Security: systems more complex and require more attention
• Privacy: more restrictions on usage of data• Auditors: requiring more professionalism
in the way we run our IT• Resistance to change
Universities Under Pressure
Barbara Horgan: “Armed with a plan that lists goals and priorities, a financial strategy that allows for life cycle planning, a reliable and robust IT infrastructure, adequate support services, and incentives for faculty to experiment with IT in their classes, institutions of higher learning will be well-positioned to use IT strategically... Ultimately, the goal is to educate students and faculty to be able to function effectively with technology in the 21st century.”
Don Tapscott: “Universities are finally losing their monopoly on higher learning. There is fundamental challenge to the foundational modus operandi of the University — the model of pedagogy. Specifically, there is a widening gap between the model of learning offered by many big universities and the natural way that young people who have grown up digital best learn.”
Universities Need to Evolve
Increasingly under pressure to changeIT innovation created much of the pressure:
E-learningSocial mediaElectronic textbooksCloud computingMobilitySharing beyond university boundaries
How do we stack up on these (and other) issues?
Crossroads
• Doing what we’ve done in the past is not good enough
• We can’t do more with less
• Need to do less with less
• This may require:• Getting rid of things we should not be doing• Changing the skills set of our IT personnel
Look Into the Future: 2020
Will we have locked-down desktop machines?
Will we have wired telephones?Will every student be carrying a powerful
computing device (phone, tablet, laptop)?Will most instructional content be online?Will we be in the business of providing
support for… Networking? Service desk? Learning management systems? Desktops?
Interchange 2007-2010
First IT plan for the University of Alberta30 recommendations
Most affect IT “under the covers”Few directly affect the user communities
Operational, not strategicNeed a new plan that develops a vision
(strategic) while conscious of the consequences (operational)
Reality
Today we are (generally) reactive to problems (fixing), slow to change, and resistant to change (all levels, all things)
Tomorrow we must be (within reason) proactive (anticipating), nimble, and embrace change
Case study: GoogleLitmus test for major change on campusBecome proactive and nimble by
piggybacking on an industry leader
IT Plan Characteristics
Visionary and excitingSupports the Academic PlanReflects financial realityObjectives must be achievableAdvances research, teaching,
administrationStudents are integral to the solution
Possible Principles
Improve student engagementInvest in mobilitySimplify campus ITBecome more proactive and less
reactiveResponsive to audit concerns
By 2017, we can be the top Canadian University in IT
Status
Beginning the consultation process
Building community support
Plan starts wending its way through governance in January 2012
Becomes effective July 2012
Planning Cannot Be Static
Pace of changeThe plan must be a living documentIt has to evolve as technology and
internal/external pressures change
Some of the possible IT plan recommendations are already under wayI could not wait; things needed to be done
nowNo obligation to continue with current
directions
Starting Point
The following ideas are the start of the discussionMany more in the documentation
Everything is up for reviewNeed your ideas!
What is missing?What is doable?What should be left alone?
Be visionary: our opportunity to transform!
1. Auditor
Control framework (COBIT/ITIL)Disaster recoveryIT policies and proceduresIT governanceIT security???
Mandatory?
2. Consolidation
Centralization where it makes sense
Reducing the number of data centers
Reducing diversity through standardization
Reducing the number of shadow systems
Collaboration beyond institutional boundaries
???
3. Transformation
Web strategy: new media, modern interfaces, consistency, excitement
Mobility: apps, content, infrastructureGreen computing: socially responsibleCloud computing: new opportunities
for cost-effective delivery of servicesOpen data: support initiatives like Bear
Scat (past) and Bearbook (present)???
Other Ideas?
E-textbooksData archivingElectronic Documents & Records ManagementVirtualizationHarnessing student creativityPeopleSoft functionalityPortalsMoving towards the paperless office
Takeaway Message
United we grow
Divided we status quo
Breakout (1)
What things should we be doing starting today to position ourselves
as an IT leader by 2017?
What are we doing today that we shouldn’t be doing in 2017?
Breakout (2)
Pretend that money is not an issue.
What should be the five priorities in the 2012-2017 IT plan that will enable us to provide by 2017 an outstanding IT environment for
students, staff and faculty?