tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71159345181351349252024-03-05T10:14:40.297-08:00Mark's Management PostMark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.comBlogger84125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-22891313058367776752018-08-16T16:16:00.001-07:002018-08-16T16:16:25.147-07:00IT Isn't Binary<br />
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<span style="line-height: 125%;">John Lennon
once said, “Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.” In other words, what we
perceive as reality is only part of the whole story. Sometimes in IT we focus
on what we think is a problem with boundaries, when most problems are
borderless if we let our creative side loose. For example, IT folks are often
faced with decisions that appear to be opposites. Our analytical nature leads
us to believe we must make a binary choice - to choose one and suffer the
consequences of not satisfying the other. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 125%;">But life isn’t
that simple. I really think John was urging us to be creative and look for imaginative
alternatives. That’s good advice for IT staff who are regularly expected to
solve concurrent demands that are pulling in completely opposite directions.
Here’s some examples of the dilemmas we regularly face:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<ul>
<li>IT
is expected to be increasingly agile while delivering services anywhere,
anytime, anyplace. But that gets expensive and we are increasingly operating in
a cost conscious environment. Delivering more for less money is creatively
possible, but not easy.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>IT
must accept any device in an open and collegial environment, while
simultaneously ensuring meticulous security infrastructures that guard the
university’s most valuable intellectual assets. We’re expected to be open and
welcoming while being locked-down and infinitely secure. That’s a non-trivial challenge.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Procuring
a single version of the truth for all data analytics is a de facto standard
expectation of IT, even when different clients derive the same analysis from
different data sources. I’ve seen each faculty with their own GPA algorithm and
their own GPA data sources – how do you get consensus when the data and the
logic are completely different? World peace might be easier.<span style="font-family: Symbol; line-height: 125%; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>IT
is expected to be an innovator and enabler. We are expected to digitize the
university process model. Yet where does the IT department report to? Is its
leadership ranked at the level that will enable IT to effectively digitalize an
institution? A universal digitization strategy is unlikely to have the needed
impact if IT is at the wrong reporting level. Expectations need to be backed
with organizational credibility.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Inclusion
and collaboration are the mantras of our legislative culture. Our governments
demand we lower IT costs by working together through shared service
initiatives. Yet even within our own institutional boundaries, CIOs do not
directly manage all the IT staff. Independent local IT departments are a way of
life in higher education. Corralling these folks into a shared service within
the university cannot be mandated, yet our governments expect, and in some
cases demand, multiple institutions work seamlessly together through shared
services. Easy to ask, hard to do.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Our
core IT mandate has always been schizophrenic. Keep the lights on and ensure
maximum up time of production services, while at the same time, innovating,
assimilating new technologies, and implementing new projects. These demands are
diametrically opposed requiring different IT cultures, processes, and
attitudes. A delicate balancing act for IT.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Is
privacy just a legal issue anymore? Academic leadership is demanding ethical
considerations that go beyond the letter of the law to protect personal
information – they are waving the moral flag in the privacy battle. But administrative
leadership wants us to be more efficient and less expensive. So they are
demanding we push the constraints of the legislation in the other directions
such as jostling against privacy rules to enable faster adoption of cloud
services. That puts IT between a rock and a hard place.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>We
know a major IT security breach is going to happen, we just don’t know when. Moreover,
the consequences of an attack are becoming increasingly dangerous. What happens
when a future attack permanently deletes all records of degrees being granted
from your institution and you could no longer prove someone earned a degree
from your university? We know we need to provide more security, and the tighter
your security is, the less flexible your service can be. Preventive tightening
of security is met with rousing cries of resistance from across campus because
there is no hard evidence that more security is necessary until a major
incident happens. Should IT be good cop or bad cop?</li>
</ul>
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Balancing
divergent viewpoints is essential in any activity. Finding compromise and
middle ground is how organizations survive. But any organization with multiple
constituents will create conflicting expectations and a service group like IT
can easily be caught in the middle. This isn’t a technology problem. This is
all about the whole organization making choices, not just the IT department.
These cannot be consensus-driven choices because many of the directions listed
above are mutually exclusive. If IT chooses one path, cheerleaders on the other
path will be hurt.</div>
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But should we
always resolve these conflicts? I think the answer is no. We need to accept
that these diametrically opposed challenges are a reality of life in IT. The
mistake is thinking we must make a choice. We live in an IT world where what
appear to be opposites can actually be complementary and even fruitful paradoxes.
For example, as a CIO I’ve been managing production operations alongside new
projects for my entire career. New projects can be improved by applying lessons
learned from moving previous projects into production. Production services
continuously improve as new projects force technology innovations into our core
infrastructure. Despite the fact that they compete for resources, if managed in
a mindful and balanced fashion they can both learn from each other. Projects
become more disciplined; operations become more creative.</div>
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If reality
leaves a lot to the imagination, then successful IT is a blend of apparently
polar opposites that can only be resolved with inspiration born from our
imaginations. With this advice at least I know I’ll never be bored. Thanks
John.</div>
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<br />Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-30447783186971166272017-02-25T17:20:00.000-08:002017-02-25T17:20:12.277-08:00Hiding in Splendid Isolation<br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She was hard to understand at first. Over the phone I heard sobbing, a stream of tangled words, and sirens. After she calmed down, she told me all about the accident. I tried my best to get the details and assure her that we could take care of her and her car. This was my first taste of being on a help desk at an insurance company. I was taking a real call from a real customer, and I was expected to solve real insurance business issues. The CEO wanted everyone to have some exposure to the front-lines of the business, and as an IT guy this was a visceral real world experience. This simple exercise taught me a lot about the insurance business very quickly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />During the development of Windows NT Microsoft used the expression “eat your own dog food”. Once the operating system was sufficiently developed, all the NT designers and coders were expected to use it on their own development machine. What better way to expose real bugs than by making you use your own tools? If you work for Ford, you should drive a Ford and you will get first hand experience with the products you make and service.<br /> <br />Several years ago I worked for the President of a credit card bank whose office was right in front of noisiest place in the whole company – the call centre. I never knew what volume level to expect from the neighboring cavern of helpful voices, and after a number of meetings in his office I asked him why he chose to have office so close to such apparent chaos. His answer was clear and simple, “I have a direct ear to the business, and I know exactly when something happens. I know when business is good and when it’s bad just by gauging the volume of chatter.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />That philosophy has followed me over the years, and begs the question of why do CIOs and senior IT leaders seem to quarantine themselves from their customers? Hiding in splendid isolation behind barriers of technology they don’t experience their own services, nor do they vicariously live as one of their customers. It’s too easy for CIO’s and senior IT leaders to focus on operating technology without ever having to use the tools their departments build and maintain. Excuses include, “I’m too busy”, “that’s for my staff to worry about”, or the worst, “I’m not a customer, so why would I use our products?”<br /> <br />If you’re a CIO or senior leader you can’t afford to be too busy to learn about your customers. Get out of your office and spend time with real customers and ask them about their experiences with your systems. No staff in the world are responsible for your learning – you need to be personally engaged with your customers to really know and understand the purpose of your job. Finally, I would argue that there is always a way to use your products. The best CIOs and senior IT leaders I know in higher education have worked towards degrees, performed research projects, or taught courses at their institution at some point in their career.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />At Simon Fraser University we were experiencing significant problems with technology in a particularly large classroom. After talking to the prof I was invited to come and listen directly to the students’ concerns. I spent a few minutes explaining the core problem and addressed any questions related to the issue. They were appreciative of the conversation and since we had some time left over I opened up the discussion to any other comments they had about our systems. Suddenly I felt like I had opened up a floodgate – from registration issues to booking advisors they had a seemingly infinite number of concerns. That day I became the student and it may have been the most valuable classroom learning experience I’ve ever had.<br /><br />For some CIOs, spending time with their customers may seem like an inefficient use of their time. They may feel any issues or concerns could be dealt with via email or Twitter. But without real world exposure to your customers’ dreams and aspirations, you run the risk of losing touch with the core value proposition of IT. So get out from behind your desk and your devices, talk to your customers, and eat your own dog food.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~</span><br />
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Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-63617814122940054552017-02-08T16:45:00.003-08:002017-02-08T16:45:50.419-08:00IT Projects are Innovation Investments Sometimes as a CIO I feel like Bill Murray’s character Phil in the movie Groundhog Day. Every few years I seem to wake up and do the same project all over again. But the good news is that I am seeing the project with a different perspective each time, and hopefully learning more each time.<br /><br />For example, over 20 years ago I ran an email and calendaring system replacement project. We moved an entire insurance company from a mainframe email system to a bright and shiny new client/server email and calendaring system. Everybody believed it was an IT project. The shift from the big clunky green screen terminals to PCs with a graphical user interface was a big technology shock for the whole company. We all viewed the project as a massive technology change, so of course we simply labelled the project as an IT project. The business case to justify the change focused almost entirely on the how the new technology would improve the efficiency of the company.<br /><br />Fast forward a decade and as a CIO I upgraded a large research university to new email system. This time the change had a somewhat different focus. Although the change brought a vastly new technology into use, the project also had to focus on how to change a culture with firmly rooted processes in existing systems. The calendaring component of email was such an integral component of everyone’s workflow that socializing the innovation became just as important as the technology. Our business case emphasized the need to help people through the dramatic process changes invoked by the new technology.<br /><br />Another decade later and I’m the CIO at an even larger institution and I find myself championing the move towards a new email system. But this time the business case is intensely different. We are not debating the merits of particular technologies because that’s a well understood activity. Nor are we concerned with how to socialize the new innovation because that’s also a well worn path. The debate now focuses on the strategic impact of the project on our organization. Today we are concerned about ethical issues arising from where our data should reside. <br /><br />This evolutionary path requires a different kind of business case that addresses much more fundamental questions. <br /><ul>
<li>Is it safer to keep data on your own premises where you can keep a watchful eye on it? </li>
<li>Can a behemoth IT services company afford to provide better security than your local IT department? </li>
<li>Are the people who are going to use a new system comfortable with their data residing in a potentially foreign jurisdiction? </li>
<li>Will the users of a new system be fully cognizant of what could happen to their personal information in world where data flows are borderless? </li>
</ul>
<br />These are not technology questions. <br /><br />The fundamental nature of how organizations view IT projects has transformed. Culturally, organizations are so familiar with technology change that it is not nearly as dramatic as it once was. The traditional technology components have faded so far into the background that we can no longer use the traditional IT model. When even a simple email upgrade becomes a strategic decision, we need to think differently about all IT projects. Organizations must view IT projects as innovation investments where their business cases provide answers to far more strategic demands.<br /><br />Much like Bill Murray’s Phil from Groundhog Day, I’m getting better every time I wake up with the same project. On the morning I wake up and the radio is finally playing a different song, I’m sure we will be replacing email with global telepathic interconnectivity … and that will be a fun project.<br /><br /> <br /><br /> Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-11322843818457240702017-02-01T21:41:00.000-08:002017-02-01T21:41:02.657-08:00SFU and the EDUCAUSE 2017 Top 10 Issues<br />Every year EDUCAUSE publishes the top 10 issues in higher education IT. I look forward to reading the list each year because it is an excellent gauge of how we fare compared to the industry at large. The top 10 helps us understand the key trends in IT for our industry, guides our planning about where we may need to invest, and provides us with confirmation about where we are already allocating resources.<br /><br />Here is this year’s list:<br /><br /><ol>
<li>Information Security: Developing a holistic, agile approach to reduce institutional exposure to information security threats</li>
<li>Student Success and Completion: Effectively applying data and predictive analytics to improve student success and completion</li>
<li>Data-Informed Decision Making: Ensuring that business intelligence, reporting, and analytics are relevant, convenient, and used by administrators, faculty, and students</li>
<li>Strategic Leadership: Repositioning or reinforcing the role of IT leadership as a strategic partner with institutional leadership</li>
<li>Sustainable Funding: Developing IT funding models that sustain core services, support innovation, and facilitate growth</li>
<li>Data Management and Governance: Improving the management of institutional data through data standards, integration, protection, and governance</li>
<li>Higher Education Affordability: Prioritizing IT investments and resources in the context of increasing demand and limited resources</li>
<li>Sustainable Staffing: Ensuring adequate staffing capacity and staff retention as budgets shrink or remain flat and as external competition grows</li>
<li>Next-Gen Enterprise IT: Developing and implementing enterprise IT applications, architectures, and sourcing strategies to achieve agility, scalability, cost-effectiveness, and effective analytics</li>
<li>Digital Transformation of Learning: Collaborating with faculty and academic leadership to apply technology to teaching and learning in ways that reflect innovations in pedagogy and the institutional mission</li>
</ol>
<br />From Simon Fraser University’s information systems perspective, I have some observations about how these top 10 issues relate to several of our key initiatives. <br /><br /><ul>
<li>The #1 issue is Information Security. Given the serious breaches at the University of Calgary and Carleton University within the past few months, it is clear that Canadian universities are not alone in our concerns about security. Our efforts at SFU in this area are being led by the cross-functional, cross-departmental Security Council. They have introduced a number of changes and will continue to improve our security posture. </li>
<li>Three of the top 10 issues are data related. Using data and predictive analytics to improve student success (#2), focusing on using data management and business intelligence tools to improve decision-making (#3), and improving data management (#6). All three of these issues are being addressed by our Enterprise Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence project. The scope of this project includes the development of a comprehensive data model and data warehouse to support our analytics requirements, the implementation of tools to leverage the integrated data, and the development of the appropriate data governance and data access policies to ensure the success of the new systems.</li>
<li>The concept of providing strategic IT leadership (#4) to the institution is the foundation of our Vision for One I.S. Full realization and implementation of this vision is currently under development through our information systems strategic planning exercise.</li>
<li>The creation of the new IT Fund in the 2017-2018 fiscal year is essential to the development of an IT funding model that will enhance innovation and facilitate growth (#5). Similarly, this new fund will help us with ensuring adequate funding for the staffing of projects needed to proactively respond to expanding demands for information systems across the campus (#8).</li>
<li>Optimizing IT to ensure our stakeholders get the most value for their investment (#7) is being discussed across SFU. We are currently in the process of creating a new model for prioritizing demands for administrative systems resources. The Administrative Systems Priority Setting Committees have been restructured and these new committees will launch soon. In conjunction with this change we are introducing a project scorecard and prioritization model that will create a more systemic, consistent, and transparent approach to ranking information systems investments and allocating our resources.</li>
<li>Our new an Enterprise Architect position is expected help us define our current information systems architecture and map out the path to the future next generation enterprise IT model (#9). This is a visionary role requiring close integration of data, process, and technology.</li>
<li>Our Educational Systems Stewardship Committee (ESSC) regularly discusses the many and varied issues related to the digital transformation of learning (#10). These are complex discussions blending pedagogical and technological challenges together. </li>
</ul>
<br />Clearly we have a lot of work to do, but the good news is that SFU information systems initiatives are addressing key higher education industry trends. We are allocating our resources and investing our funds in the right places, and I’m excited about our future. <br />Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-90542146185381585822016-12-06T11:40:00.001-08:002016-12-06T11:40:31.627-08:00Connecting Silos in the Canadian Digital Infrastructure<div>
<i>Note: this article is cross-posted on the Simon Fraser University site</i></div>
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I was recently travelling across Canada by car driving past grain elevators and wide open spaces, giving me time and space to reflect on a number of ideas. The prairies typically give a driver lots of time to ponder a wide variety of themes, but one in idea in particular was how we as a nation work together remarkably well on national digital infrastructure, despite the vast seemingly empty plains.<br /><br />For example, after almost two years as President of CUCCIO (Canadian University Council of CIOs) I have had the opportunity to observe the how the organization interacts with rest of the Canadian digital ecosystem. Late last year Universities Canada published “Canadian Universities and the Digital Future.” In that document they posed the question, “What do Canadian universities need to become digital leaders?” Their answer to the question consisted of a five actions based on their digital technologies survey from the fall 2015:<br /><ol>
<li>The sharing of best practices and evidence-based technology investments.</li>
<li>The development of national strategies and greater coordination among all levels of government, service providers, and universities. </li>
<li>Improved collaboration both within and between institutions.</li>
<li>Improved capacity for institutional change management. </li>
<li>More sustainable and flexible funding models and resources. </li>
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What is particularly interesting is how the CUCCIO organization is already delivering solutions in each of these five action areas and directly assisting Canadian Universities to become digital leaders. I would like to address each action separately.</div>
<br /><i>1. The sharing of best practices and evidence-based technology investments.</i><br /><br />This first recommended action is CUCCIO’s founding raison d’etre. This type of sharing is why we felt compelled to created CUCCIO in the first place. As Chief Information Officers responsible for our institutions’ digital infrastructures, we derive enormous value from both participating and contributing to CUCCIO. Every CUCCIO meeting is an occasion for the IT leaders of universities across Canada to share digital best practices and technological learning experiences, while also taking the rare opportunity to pause and reflect on the future. CUCCIO meetings create the unique atmosphere and environment necessary for the all leaders of university digital infrastructures to freely share experiences, ideas, successes, and failures in a mutually supportive, non-judgemental, and unconstrained environment.<br /><br /><i>2. The development of national strategies and greater coordination among all levels of government, service providers, and universities. </i><div>
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As President I have seen CUCCIO interact with an astounding array of government and national IT organizations. We work closely with Compute Canada on national computing initiatives, including the wildly successful 2016 CANHEIT & HPCS co-hosted conference. The Executive Directors of CAUBO and CANHEIT work together regularly on a wide variety of higher education administration activities. The Leadership Council for Digital Infrastructure was created in 2012 at a forum initiated and facilitated by CUCCIO. Leaders from CUCCIO meet regularly with leaders of parallel international organizations through CHEITA (Community of Higher Education International Technology Associations). CUCCIO contributes on a constant basis with CANARIE through their CIO Advisory Council. Research Data Canada works closely with CUCCIO for support and several CUCCIO members are directly involved. Finally, CUCCIO is our national voice with the largest technology vendors including Microsoft, Amazon, D2L, Gartner, and the Educational Advisory Board. With almost 60 universities participating in CUCCIO, there is no other organization in the higher education sphere in Canada that is so broadly and deeply connected.<br /><br /><i>3. Improved collaboration both within and between institutions.</i></div>
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Fundamental to the success of CUCCIO is its ability to mobilize IT resources from across Canada to solve particularly critical national digital infrastructure issues. The CUCCIO Security Special Interest Group (SIG) is instrumental in sharing best practices around national IT security issues, and coming together to communicate immediately about emerging security threats to the community. Project management tools and techniques are shared nationally through the CUCCIO Project Management SIG and the recently created Client Services SIG will help improve customer experiences throughout our digital infrastructure. Via ad hoc conference calls to deal with emerging issues, the CUCCIO Executive Director brings together the right mix of people with digital infrastructure skills to help resolve impending issues such as reacting to protection of privacy challenges or rampant ransomware attacks. Finally, CANHEIT, the annual sharing of higher education digital technology ideas, experiences, and changes is facilitated and seed funded by CUCCIO. <br /><br /><i>4. Improved capacity for institutional change management. </i></div>
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I would argue that you cannot “manage” change, but you can socialize change in a mindful and conscientious manner. This realistic approach to change requires help and support. It requires sources of experience and lessons learned. It requires an open community of like minded change leaders who are open to sharing their learning moments and scars. Access to nearly 60 university digital leaders via CUCCIO is like a security blanket for change. Technological change is an inevitability, and no matter what changes, there are very few times I am doing it alone. I always have someone else in the CUCCIO community that is travelling a similar path. I can always learn from their experiences, and glean vital help and advice from them. <br /><br /><i>5. More sustainable and flexible funding models and resources. </i></div>
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Funding is always a contentious issue, particularly if the arguments are devoid of data. But CUCCIO has been leading a national benchmarking initiative for several years. The data from this work is invaluable in understanding the digital infrastructure investment in each university. This body of knowledge has been constructed using appropriate factors that account for digital infrastructure environments that vary by several dimensions across Canada. Quite successfully, the CUCCIO benchmarking helps us all understand what are comparable and appropriate costs throughout the national infrastructure. This understanding forms the basis for justifying any proposed funding models and allocating appropriate resources. Fact based benchmarking also helps the entire community improve our negotiating stance with vendors, leading to contracts where our national digital infrastructure can have greater control over key issues such as data management and privacy.<br /><br /><br />Clearly CUCCIO is central to helping Canadian universities become digital leaders. I strongly urge everyone involved with CUCCIO and everyone who works with CUCCIO to spread the message about the strategic significance of the organization in the Canadian digital ecosystem. Much like isolated grain elevators on the prairies in a deep winter storm, without CUCCIO, the higher education digital infrastructure in Canada would simply be a sparse set of silos devoid of connectivity and community.<br /><br /> <br />~<br /></div>
Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-91648333171623216702016-07-12T15:57:00.000-07:002016-07-12T15:57:21.241-07:00<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Higher Education IT
Trends: 2016<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Note: this is cross-posted at the Simon Fraser University site.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As part of my duties as President of CUCCIO I am expected to
give the President’s report to the Annual General Meeting. At the June meeting
my talk included some observations about trends and changes in higher education
IT I have seen in the past year. Several folks have asked me to share these ideas
so I wrote this blog post as a summary of the speech.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Cloud
computing isn’t a big deal<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cloud computing is simply a fact
of life and we are dealing with it. Every organization has its own approaches
and strategies that suit the uniqueness of their institutions and legislative
domains. From Dalhousie University’s fascinating cloud first strategy to SFU’s
cloud consumer <i>and</i> provider strategy,
every university is dealing with it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Security
is compelling and demanding and ubiquitous<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The recent ransomware attack at
the UofC has raised the profile of IT security in a jarring and shocking
manner. Not only was the university forced to pay an embarrassing ransom, but
more importantly, all their IT systems were shut down for 10 full days which
has an immeasurable fiscal impact. Universities can no longer hide behind the
veil of academic freedom to continue to justify a network security blanket that
resembles cheesecloth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>IT
isn’t a cost, it’s an investment<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Conversations with President’s,
Provosts, VPs of Finance, and Research VPs are reflecting a new perspective of
IT. In the past the conversation about IT was typically all about the cost. Now
the conversation is changing; we are talking about how to extract value from
the investment in IT. These are investments helping the university achieve
educational, academic, research, and community objectives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Social
media is no longer special, it’s just media<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are now talking about a
digital experience, not just a learning experience for our students. We are
creating digital strategies that engage our stakeholders and integrate new
media changes into everything happening on campus. From a media perspective, traditional
IT is like a millstone around the neck of media innovation. “Social” media is
no longer unique – it is the media.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>5.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Benchmarking
is community building<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A number of universities across
Canada participate in a benchmarking initiative. This sharing of IT data exposes
our strengths and weaknesses in a measurable manner. The act of sharing such
sensitive data requires an unusual level of community trust. Emerging from this
trust is a stronger community of shared interests. If I see a similar school
with interesting metrics I can simply pick up the phone and to ask what they
are doing and how they are doing it. The ability to compare and contact is
priceless, and it builds a stronger and healthier higher education IT
community.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>6.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>IT
used to provide technology with a service component; now IT provides service
with a technology component. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our clients don’t want technology;
they want the service delivered by the technology. The entire emphasis of our
information systems organizations has clearly shifted from technology to
services. We are becoming client-centric and the shift to out-sourcing (cloud
computing) is accelerating that change. In a more cloud oriented world, we do
increasingly less with baseline technology and we become integrators of a
basket of services from a wide variety of providers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>7.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>There
is no such thing as IT strategy<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 54.0pt;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">IT departments expend a lot of
energy developing technology strategies. Nobody cares. Much to IT’s chagrin,
they are discovering that IT staff are the only folks in the institution
reading the strategy. Today, real IT strategy is part and parcel of the fabric
of the university strategy. The best IT strategies are the ones embedded into
the university strategic plan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we wrap up the current academic year and entering into
the summer months, we have the opportunity to reflect on these trends and think
about how we should respond to them effectively. I look forward to a new
academic year with more changes and a new series of ever-changing IT trends. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">..</span></o:p></div>
Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-74948293499004672942015-10-18T16:59:00.000-07:002015-10-19T06:34:29.169-07:00Why Does IT Cost So Much?<h3>
</h3>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Note: I originally published this article in <a href="http://www.kelmanonline.com/httpdocs/files/CAUBO/universitymanagerfall2015/files/1.html">University Manager Magazine Fall 2015 issue</a></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.kelmanonline.com/httpdocs/files/CAUBO/universitymanagerfall2015/files/1.html</span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span>
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<h3>
Introduction</h3>
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Across Canada and around the world, senior university leaders are watching their IT budgets continue to grow. In an era of greater cost scrutiny, this expanding demand from IT seems counterintuitive and senior university leaders are increasingly questioning why. The simple answer is that IT costs are growing because universities are using IT more broadly and more systemically in everything they do. Yet that answer does not fully capture the big picture. There are many forces driving up costs and we need to understand what we can control and what we cannot.<br />
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<h3>
A Brief History of IT Cost, Complexity, and Importance</h3>
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The diagram below outlines the changing role and characteristics of IT university organizations as they have evolved over the past few decades. Every year we discover new and useful applications of information technology in the university. Every year we add new technologies to the portfolio of systems we are required to support. Constant technological innovation means constant increases in technology utilization, penetration, and dependency in all aspects of university research, administration, teaching, and learning. As the importance of IT grows on our campuses, so does its complexity and cost.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuE1PvhGoAa0_Y0QE5zD7vckdnsjBNiDvjJ20R7N_GzOQazHMIfYq9511mbLuhdJx68VEBKUyyCNrpuCkNBNhdAU9yLhn1dLrq3M-CSBGbrg_9qA_NIi4SIhj8mYajMDbDlMDowOVuEEkL/s1600/History.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuE1PvhGoAa0_Y0QE5zD7vckdnsjBNiDvjJ20R7N_GzOQazHMIfYq9511mbLuhdJx68VEBKUyyCNrpuCkNBNhdAU9yLhn1dLrq3M-CSBGbrg_9qA_NIi4SIhj8mYajMDbDlMDowOVuEEkL/s640/History.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Today we have a reached a point where IT is ubiquitous. Every participant in the university experience uses information technology. From board members accessing key documents on iPads, to researchers collecting data from underwater observatories, to students rating their professors online, we all utilize some aspect of IT every day.</div>
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In this environment, many of the cost drivers are no longer in our control. With internal and external forces driving change we face a vast array of controllable and uncontrollable cost drivers.</div>
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Uncontrollable Drivers of Cost Growth</h3>
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The uncontrollable drivers of IT cost growth are all around us. We live in an environment of constant technological innovation and a university is not an island of splendid isolation. Key areas of uncontrolled drivers of growth in IT expenses are:</div>
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<i>Breadth of Demand</i></h4>
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Information systems are used by everyone on campus. Everything we do is impacted by IT. Every process on campus - from traditional financial transaction processing to more modern applications such as plagiarism detection - has an inherent IT component. In everything we do, we demand more and more information technology to get things done at the university.</div>
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<i>Depth of Demand</i></h4>
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The average person brings 1½ IT devices on campus with them every day; often a laptop, an iPad, and a smartphone. Not only are we using more systems, but we are using more devices to access those systems. IT must keep the response time fast while seamlessly supporting all points of access.</div>
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<i>Increasing Compliance Demands</i></h4>
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We are experiencing increased demand for information systems to support legislative compliance in areas such as privacy, copyright protection, and freedom of information. Today, a lawyer is often consulted before a new system is even considered. The legal and compliance implications of any system are adding a new layer of cost and complexity to everything we do in IT.</div>
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<i>Increasing Security Demands</i></h4>
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The IT world has become an increasingly dangerous place. Hacking has transcended simple acts of theft into high-stakes criminal cyber-attacks. We used to build firewalls, then we reinforced the firewalls. But that’s not enough anymore. The attacks are coming from inside and outside our boundaries. New security protection requires artificial intelligence tools to detect attacks inside the perimeter. These new layers of security are vastly more complex and expensive. </div>
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<i>Any Device</i></h4>
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Increasing demand to support whatever technology the client desires is expensive. We used to set some base standards for personal computer access to our network. Our clients no longer tolerate that approach. Now we have to install infrastructure and software to support every device imaginable: Apple PCs, Windows PCs, Linux PCs, Apple tablets, Android tablets, Windows tablets, Blackberries, and more. </div>
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<i>Any Time</i></h4>
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IT department budgets were established at a time when information systems were accessed during regular business hours. Today, accessibility to systems is expected 24-hours-per-day, 7- days-per-week. Not only is availability demanded, but round-the-clock staff support is required. This broadening of system and support availability requires more money to implement and sustain. </div>
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<i>Any Place</i></h4>
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Similar to the Any Time cost driver, IT departmental budgets were established to support systems within the physical boundaries of campus. Those days are gone. Distributed learning, distance education, and multiple campuses across the globe now require access to all of our systems from anywhere. Building technical infrastructure to support the networking demand of this new world increases IT capital and operating costs.</div>
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<i>Quality of Software</i></h4>
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I taught a first year undergraduate business course recently. When the students discovered I was the CIO they told me “Your systems suck.” They were right. Compared to the cool apps they commonly use (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) our systems fail in comparison. Satisfying these growing quality expectations is expensive.</div>
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<i>New Teaching and Learning Technology</i></h4>
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We are seeing new innovations in teaching and learning technology generate increasingly large video and image databases. For example, flipped classrooms require new technology to record and store vast volumes of video data. In-class student response systems demand instantaneous responses, requiring greater wireless capacity. Students come to our universities expecting the best classroom experience possible. The cost to renovate and upgrade our classrooms to new and rapidly changing technology accelerates the growth of IT and its commensurate expenses.</div>
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<i>Exponential Research Data Volume Growth</i></h4>
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Research data demands are driven by several changes in the nature of research computing. For example, research using vast arrays of sensor networks leads to huge growth in pure data volume. Not only do we have to store the data, but we have to transmit it over our networks and back it up in our archive systems. This massive growth in data demand is outpacing Moore’s Law and driving up costs.</div>
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The full force of these drivers is affected by factors outside the university. The best we can do in these areas is to strive to manage their impact on our bottom line and on our clients’ expectations.</div>
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Controllable Drivers of Cost Growth</h3>
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There are several cost drivers within our control. The way universities manage IT is the real culprit. The controllable drivers of IT cost growth are insidiously hidden behind seemingly unassailable campus myths. Some key areas of cost drivers that are in our control include:</div>
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<i>Distributed IT</i></h4>
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The growth of independent, isolated, and silo IT departments that are separate from central IT lead to duplication of efforts, ineffective standards, conflicting technologies, and highly risky security incidents. At many universities, IT expenditures for non-central IT are often higher than central IT. These non-central IT expenditures have none of the rigour and control typically applied to central IT funding. </div>
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<i>Redundant Systems</i></h4>
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Distributed IT responsibilities leads to the implementation of independent IT systems without a coordinated plan, creating overlapping and redundant systems. Disproportionate cost increases are needed to fund the inefficiencies. </div>
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<i>Data Integration</i></h4>
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Data created by distributed IT departments and disparate systems cannot be integrated effectively. With multiple sources of data, there is duplication and redundancy in each of these systems. Resolution of data conflicts among multiple systems or multiple IT departments is expensive.</div>
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Independent IT support, overlapping systems, and duplicated data issues arise from a genuine need to be responsive to unique and highly specialized local needs. But without disciplined management, the costs and risks are excessive. Controlling these cost drivers is a non-trivial management responsibility that lies within IT, academic, and administrative leaders. Lack of control is acceptable only if the associated risks and costs are formally understood and accepted.</div>
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IT Is an Investment</h3>
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Traditional IT departments spend almost 75% of their budgets on operational support work such as help desk, data centre management, and maintaining applications software. Only 25% of the budget is left for system enhancements and new projects which leaves little room for innovation and creativity in the application of IT and a grim future for IT at our universities.</div>
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As a result of budget challenges, universities need to shift their perspective on IT funding. Instead of viewing it as a necessary evil to keep everything up and running, expectations of IT need to change. We need to view IT as an investment in the future. IT is an institutional investment opportunity to improve productivity, capacity, quality, and performance of all aspects of the academy. Chief Information Officers (CIOs) must be challenged to move from the traditional 75% maintenance and 25% projects model to a new order. Universities need to invest in growth by setting an expectation that IT will spend 25% on maintenance and 75% on investments.</div>
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An investment focus requires the university to create prioritization criteria for IT investments, then ensure all institutional IT spending is assessed against the criteria. The IT organization becomes a creative partner with every university department in applying the prioritization mechanism to identify and implement revenue opportunities, quality improvements, cost efficiencies, and risk mitigations.</div>
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The diagram below illustrates the shifting emphasis:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5jPlBkJDn_vjInnkBXaTv_rw1VJXu9fXb5l1FFQzBc2p2Ll0HNXk0hSc5afD6p2ZMO2zSz4phH-G9lQH6OHmOwSRQVf7m9d4I8Nk887Yl-hI64dwWhRsaB_pAwRDb9dN69ziFEg8RWDQC/s1600/Investment.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5jPlBkJDn_vjInnkBXaTv_rw1VJXu9fXb5l1FFQzBc2p2Ll0HNXk0hSc5afD6p2ZMO2zSz4phH-G9lQH6OHmOwSRQVf7m9d4I8Nk887Yl-hI64dwWhRsaB_pAwRDb9dN69ziFEg8RWDQC/s640/Investment.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Finding the Real Costs</h3>
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Measuring the real and full IT cost in a higher education environment is complex because IT funding comes from a variety of sources. With a multiplicity of sources comes challenges in measuring the real spend. Where do all the hidden costs lie? Challenge the budget status quo: if all IT funds are not managed by the central IT department, understand why. </div>
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Getting an accurate picture of who does IT work can be hidden behind the heroic generalist. With distributed IT staff we see generalists who do everything from HR work, to financial transactions, to IT support. Counting those resource costs as part of the overall IT spend is difficult. Particularly when centralizing management of work.</div>
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Other costs are masked by unnecessary duplication. Many technologies are actively converging and some university organizations have not adapted. For example, audio-visual technology and IT are converging into a unified technological ecosystem, yet in many institutions they remain managed by distinct and disparate departments.</div>
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Shifting to Investments</h3>
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Moving to an investment model means changing the university’s IT portfolio. What do we stop doing? Consider spending less time doing IT commodity work like administering email systems and moving the resources up the food chain. Can we centralize all email on campus to a single email system with one set of administrators? Can we outsource this work to a provincial shared service provider or outsource it to the cloud? After all, teaching, learning, and research are not dependent on our email administrative skills. </div>
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Those administrative resources are best re-purposed to leverage technology in areas such as pedagogy or high performance research computing. Examine every commodity IT activity as an opportunity to move to a new service provision model. But they must be products and services we understand well – never outsource something you cannot manage. </div>
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When IT is no longer viewed as a cost, but as an investment, each project is an individual value proposition with a positive return on investment (ROI). IT projects are no longer bottom line expenses – they are opportunities to create products or services where the benefits exceed the risks and expenses.</div>
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Maximizing the Value of Your IT Spending</h3>
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Moving to an investment-driven IT organization means thinking differently about the complete cost structure. There are several emerging best practices in managing IT expenses. </div>
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The most effective best practice in IT cost containment is moving to a common infrastructure. A common information systems platform for the entire institution means making the diplomatically difficult decision to centralize the management and control of all information systems. One IT department equals one procurement process for all of IT and a single source of the truth for all data. </div>
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Another best practice is developing shared provincial services for higher education IT. Much like provincial regional networking organizations like ORION or Cybera provide low cost shared bandwidth across the province, shared services in areas such as Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP), data centre management, and IT procurement can lower costs for all higher education institutions. BCNET is the Canadian leader in this approach. CANARIE is also pioneering services above the network that can be shared nationally.</div>
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The cost-saving best practice receiving the most attention in the press is cloud computing. Essentially an outsourcing economic model, cloud computing delivers significant costs savings in some commodity IT services. Any cloud decision requires a careful business case that assesses the quantitative and qualitative benefits against the long-term risks and hidden costs. When properly assessed and closely managed, cloud computing lowers IT operating costs.</div>
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IT contracts tend to be written once and then ignored. But there can be gold lurking in the contract details. What software was purchased years ago in a bundle that is no longer being used? ERP contracts are rife with these gems. Has staff, student, or faculty headcount declined? Many licensing contract fees vary by the number of enterprise users, and vendors do not always feel obliged to notify customers when billing could decrease.</div>
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What can the university stop doing? Develop metrics such as tracking usage rates of technology over time. Then calculate the ratio of the number of users of each technology to the operating cost of that technology. Use these numbers to justify shutting down or outsourcing technologies that are not providing an appropriate ROI.</div>
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Apply these best practices across the full portfolio of IT products and services and use the savings to re-invest in the projects the institution needs to move its strategic vision forward. The table below highlights these top five best practices:</div>
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Summary</h3>
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Why does IT costs so much? First, the outside world continues to demand more IT services from universities. Second, universities are diplomatically delicate in their treatment of controllable IT costs. What we do about these cost drivers depends on how we manage expectations from the outside and how we apply leadership, strategy, and discipline to information systems management within the institution.</div>
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The new world of IT is inexorably growing in depth and breadth across all campuses. Our dependency on IT grows more every day, leading to an inevitable growth in cost. The role of IT has increased over the years, leading to a commensurate increase in expense.</div>
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Managing costs in an environment where external drivers dominate the landscape is difficult. There are internal factors the university can control, but the most effective strategy is to set new expectations. The CIO must focus on a vision for the future and shift the budget model to support the new world of ubiquitous IT. </div>
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Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-18685821656921293872014-09-07T17:30:00.001-07:002014-09-07T17:30:33.639-07:00What is a CIO?<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">I needed to develop a clear definition of my job as CIO to a new boss recently. Initially my plan was to do a quick check of the internet, look for a good definition and pass it on. Wow - was I disappointed! </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">After having been a CIO for over a decade, I could not find a decent description of the job. I realized I had to put the effort into writing what I thought was a realistic description of role. So here it is:</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The role of a CIO is to create, implement, and sustain an information systems vision for the organization. Implementation of the vision requires integration of the people, processes, data, and technologies from across the organization needed to deliver information systems. Success is measured by realizing the benefits and controlling the risks of information systems throughout the organization by managing value, volume, and quality.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">To accomplish this role, the CIO needs to be allocated certain non-negotiable responsibilities including:</span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Strategy and planning for the future of information systems in the organization,</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stewardship (governance) of information systems decision-making processes,</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Investment portfolio management of information systems projects, </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Organization structure required to support information systems,</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ethics and principles needed to create acceptable information systems standards,</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Leadership of ICT directly, and other IT units indirectly,</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Information systems policies, principles, and procedures,</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Quality of operational systems, and</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Adapting the organization to the inevitability of process and technology induced change.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">No discussion of the CIO's role is complete without outlining the scope of the role. In any organization the CIO mandate includes all information systems at the organization, not just the central information systems department. The CIO creates the information systems context needed to deliver the clients’ content, which encompasses all aspects of all information systems used in any dimension of the organization.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">To deliver on the role and scope that I have defined, a CIO's mandate must include certain core functions:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Develop and sustain all information systems supporting the organization's core mission,</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Implement any new system software, continuously improve production application systems, and provide organization-wide data stewardship to enable the business needs of the university,</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Design and manage an enterprise architecture mapping all the technologies, applications, and data for present and future systems at the organization,</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Create, enhance, and support the technical infrastructure of the organization,</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ensure the privacy, security, and legislative compliance of information assets are diligently and proactively protected,</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Implement project management tools and skills to ensure consistent delivery of information systems investments (projects) on time, in scope, and within budget, and</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Continuously improve operational processes needed to support and run information systems.</span></li>
</ul>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hopefully this short description helps anyone else trying to do the same search I attempted. </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">~</span><br />
<br />Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-91977992733010057292013-04-30T19:55:00.003-07:002013-04-30T19:55:23.396-07:00How Do You Manage a CIO?<br />
I was listening to a pair of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) discuss the unusual problems they faced on a daily basis and how these difficult issues limited their future career options. From their perspective, they could not satisfy the myriad conflicting client demands on their limited IT resource pool without forcing them to always be the bad guy/girl in someone's eyes.<br />
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What I found most interesting about this and other conversations with CIOs was not the complexity of the job. Everyone knows it's a tough one. The shiny gem of truth was that the CIO job is not the end game plan for most people in the role. In retrospect, I realize I have yet to meet a CIO who sees their current job as the top rung in their ladder of career aspirations. Which makes managing a CIO an interesting challenge. If you were a CIO's boss, how would you manage her or him?<br />
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Standard HR doctrines aside, there are some unique aspects to the role and the CIO's future ambitions may influence their current behaviour. For example, IT organizations deliver tools to improve the business. Sometimes they build them from scratch, often they integrate vendor products, and sometimes they simply manage the vendor contract. But where does the CIO see her or his personal future? Building from scratch means a larger internal department; some CIOs find that approach appealing because it can translate into more power and influence inside their organizations.<br />
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Other CIOs see their next role in the vendor world. Maybe they want to go work for that exciting world-wide software company that makes your ERP system. Or perhaps they are pining for the new wave excitement of Google. Either way, the business choices they make in their current role may be tainted by their aspirations for a future role. IT procurement decisions may be biased towards the vendor organization where the CIO sees their next job.<br />
<br />
The CIO who wants to stay within the organization but move to a line-of-business role may have other biases. They might be focusing an inordinate and inappropriate amount of time and effort on a user department to the detriment of other departments. Unbalanced emphasis of IT support to a favoured line-of-business can easily lead the strategic IT mission astray.<br />
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So imagine yourself as the CIO's boss. How do create filters to detect these biases and behaviours? You can't win an argument about the technical aspects of a decision, because that's the CIO's realm of subject matter expertise. But you can test for bias before you hire any CIO. As part of the selection process, ask CIO candidates pointed questions about their future ambitions. Ascertain their goals beyond the CIO job. Do they see themselves eventually joining a vendor or moving to an IT client role? How long does the candidate see himself or herself remaining as a CIO?<br />
<br />
Another solution lies in building a stewardship (governance) model for IT. An effective stewardship model ensures the IT decision-making lies in the hands of the business and the CIO's role is to facilitate the process. Biases are easy to spot when the business wants to go one way and the CIO is going elsewhere. If business leaders prioritize projects, CIO preferences must be justified by facts or they will fail.<br />
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You can't be sure the stewardship model eliminates all biases. But a robust benefits realization process is another key checkpoint. Have you built a project management process that ensures benefits are tracked and measured against promises made in the original business case? Benefits realization forces the CIO to ensure project commitments match results. If not, there is a failure appreciation moment - an opportunity to learn from mistakes. Is the strategic mission of the organization aligned with the CIO’s personal mission?<br />
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The best way to ensure a CIO’s heart and mind are in line with the organizational vision is ask the CIO to craft an IT strategy through collaboration and consensus with business partners. Don’t let IT write the strategy in splendid isolation. Set clear expectations requiring broad-based contributions. Assess the CIO’s ability to work together with all IT stakeholders. Once the plan is published, measure the IT department's performance against the strategic business goals - not the technology goals.<br />
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CIOs may always complain about how hard their job is. But I think the person with the much harder job is the CIO's boss. Their challenge is to give him/her a hope for the future. What is the personal end game plan for the CIO and does it match the organization’s needs? Successful CIOs need a glimmer of career opportunity leading to the next step of the ladder within your organization. Groom the CIO to become the VP of Administration, or COO, or CEO. Without internal opportunity, the CIO will create their future elsewhere.<br />
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Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-35172777835256748262013-04-01T07:13:00.001-07:002013-04-01T07:13:45.757-07:00Any IT Organization Structure Is EphemeralIn the process of introducing a new organization change a few years ago. One of my staff took me aside and said she understood why I had to make the changes, but she didn't really like the affect it had on her. I told her not to worry, because no IT organization structure is permanent. If she didn't like our current organization, I asked her to be patient and wait for the new one. I was already thinking about the next organization change before I had completed the latest one.<br />
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Organization structure exists to solve a problem. Once that problem is solved, it is probably time to change the organization again because there are new problems and new opportunities. The shelf life of any major effective IT organization structure is two years. Anything beyond a couple of years means IT has stagnated. External changes in the form of new technologies, or internal changes driven by new problems have arisen and the IT organization structure has to change to survive.<br />
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Think about implementing an ERP system. The sheer scope of the project typically consumes the full attention of everyone in the IT organization. The wise CIO creates an organization structure dedicated to ensuring the success of the project. The ERP becomes priority #1 by virtue of the size and impact of the implementation.<br />
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But once the ERP is implemented, the IT organization's attention has to shift. Expectations of IT change from the implementation of one big project to a plethora of follow-on projects. The organization's emphasis shifts from the management of a big bang strategic project to the management of a portfolio of tactical projects. To succeed with the new emphasis, the perceptive CIO creates a new organization structure.<br />
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This constant change approach can be difficult for some external groups to understand. For example, HR never likes organization changes. Not because it means more work for them, but because it means turmoil in the institution. Their job is to promote stability and constant IT change does not fit the typical HR model. Across the organization, most departments are not compelled to change nearly as rapidly as the IT department. External and internal change vectors are less common in departments like accounting or procurement.<br />
<br />
But the fundamental rules of IT change constantly. Working in IT is like working in an accounting world where the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) change every year. If GAAP changed every couple of years in the real world, then the accounting department would have to re-organize much more often. That is what makes IT organization changes so special. Our rules change almost daily. We can't afford to wait. The world of technology passes us by if we don't have the right people focusing on the right things. We get stale, old, and unwanted pretty quickly if we aren't structured to take advantage of the latest and greatest technologies.<br />
<br />
Value generation from new systems-based processes or market-grabbing technology-driven innovation can only come from nimble IT organizations. Agility in IT comes from a simple willingness to change everything, especially the organization structure. Organizations get value from information systems organization that can turn on a dime.<br />
<br />
The external IT environment has already changed from the time you started reading this article. Have you thought about what that means to your IT department's structure? If you aren't already thinking about your next IT organization change you should be thinking about your next job ... maybe in accounting?<br />
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~<br />
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<br />Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-28057885542449561032012-12-06T08:59:00.001-08:002012-12-06T08:59:40.571-08:00The Decline and Fall of Traditional ITIT (Information Technology) as we know it came to a fork in the road several years ago. The traditional IT department used to deliver technology with a service component. Now we provide service with a technology component.<br />
<br />
What does this really mean? Let me provide several examples of the transition from information technology to information services:<br />
<ul>
<li>The IT department used to deliver technology projects. Now the department delivers project management services. These services include IT functionality, but not exclusively.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>IT departments used to build a complex infrastructure of networks and servers and workstations. Now the department delivers an enterprise architecture articulating how everything fits together.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Staff members in IT were the back office geeks. Now the department trumpets service-orientation with world-class help desks and sophisticated escalation processes.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Security was a deny first, enable later process. Now the department defines security by corporate policies. These policies follow national and regional privacy laws, enable multi-layered authentication for a variety of roles, and facilitate freedom of information legislation.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>IT departments used to hand-craft software to meet every nuance of an organization's processes. Now the department staff are master negotiators working with a sea of vendors to deliver information services written by a vast array of industry subject matter experts who have never set foot inside the organization.</li>
</ul>
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These are the facts crafting our new reality. The implications for the future of IT are undeniable. The decline and fall of traditional IT is complete. Organization do not need, nor do they want, a traditional information technology department. What they crave is a world-class information service organization.<br />
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~<br />
<br />Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-50065088383262331072012-10-19T18:26:00.000-07:002012-10-19T18:26:43.579-07:00Chaos Theory for IT<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I made a career shift several years ago from financial
services to higher education. Being in IT leadership, I wasn’t concerned with
making the change. From my point of view I was simply doing a similar job, just
different industries. What I discovered was a fascinating cultural shift from a
centralized top-down environment to a distributed consensus-based world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Moving from organizations with enforced technology standards
to a one-size-fits-none world was an interesting transition. Personal computing
tools in a corporate environment were locked down and well controlled. In a
higher education environment, particularly universities, funding comes from
many sources and technology decisions can sometimes be made in many places.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I could debate the relative merits of technology in these different
worlds, but the most fascinating difference is the decision-making process.
Utilitarian efficiency experts may argue that top down is the obvious preferred
approach. Decisions get made and everyone simply follows through. Logical. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But do the best decisions get made in this model? The
university world provides an interesting counter-example. Major decisions are
made with extensive socialization of the underlying issues. Building consensus
in this world is like pulling back an elastic band or a slingshot. The more
effort you put into developing consensus (or pulling back the elastic), the
more buy-in, understanding, and acceptance you have to the solution. When you
launch your initiative and let go of the elastic, everything goes faster.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">My lesson from implementing large IT projects in this model:
invest the time in developing consensus and you will see the return. It is
worth the time and effort to build consensus first, because you have everyone’s
support later. The time upfront is saved by reducing grief and re-work during
the implementation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The process of consensus-building starts with engaging the
key thought leaders across the organization. The next step is to make it
interesting for them. What do they want from it? Once you get their input, use
it. Apply their comments in a meaningful way. Consensus doesn’t mean everyone
gets to make the decision. But it does mean that everyone at least has the
opportunity to contribute.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ultimately, consensus is about relationship building.
Whether you work in a top-down hierarchy, a centralized bureaucracy, or a
distributed chaoscracy, the one consistent factor is your ability to create
confidence in the decisions made and the path forward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">~</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-18623022298493950632012-10-16T20:58:00.000-07:002012-10-16T20:58:06.278-07:00IT and the Holy Grail<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I can't help but notice how many IT leaders, myself included, list "strategic planning" on their resume and their LinkedIn profile and any other personal profile. It makes me wonder if strategic planning is the holy grail of IT. Any single topic with so much attention begs the question: do we put too much faith in our ability to plan?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">To answer the question, let's borrow a trick from mathematics and think about strategic planning by working backwards from the end state. Consider where you are today and how well a plan from five years ago could have predicted your current predicament. Could you have planned out an enterprise IT strategy that accommodated Google Apps and Bring Your Own Device and ubiquitous Apples and staff with multiple IP addresses? And could you have predicted the need to balance all of this with ever growing privacy legislation? What about the decline and fall of outsourcing (witness General Motors turfing HP/EDS)? If these events were unpredictable half a decade ago, why do you think you can plan out the next five years?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Over the past few years I have had the wonderful opportunity to read several IT strategic plans as well as write a few. They are all remarkably similar. With my eyes closed I can tell you the titles of the first three sections: Mission, Vision, and Values. Creativity doesn't seem to be considered a valuable asset in strategic IT planning. Yet without creativity, how can we imagine the future? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The process to write these plans is fun to watch. Sometimes these strategies are built in a conscious fashion using a formal planning approach; sometimes these strategies emerge through convulsive reactions to change in the world around us. Some groups start with an enterprise architecture; some groups start with a crisis. No matter what the motivation, everyone has a plan. You may develop it elegantly, or you may stumble into it wretchedly, but it is human nature to crave a plan for the future.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The problem is that the accuracy of your plan five years from now has a plus/minus of 100%. In other words, the rounding error for any IT strategic plan is roughly equal to the entire contents of the plan.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So how do we reconcile the need to plan with the inability to plan well? Military strategy sometimes comes in handy. Think about the brilliant Canadian victory at Vimy Ridge in 1917. After years of trench warfare stalemate, a technique of rolling bombardment was introduced. The shells landed just-in-time and just-in-front of the advancing infantry, thereby preventing the enemy from emerging from their bunkers in time to mount a credible defense. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Maybe we need rolling strategic plans. Instead of trying to predict an accurately future IT state, set some basic objectives (invade Germany and capture the Kaiser) for the long term. Then figure out what you need to do in the shorter term to work towards those goals (capture the next trench). Then revisit and adjust the long term view every year. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, five years ago, an IT plan could have easily said, "investigate web-based productivity tools." A year later it may have said "assess vendor product roadmaps for web based productivity tools." The next year may have said, "compare cloud-based tools for productivity services from Microsoft and Google and what are the performance issues." Finally, the next year the plan may have said, "evaluate Google Apps service from Apple and Android devices and determine the impact of privacy legislation on their usage." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Narrowing the scope from broad strategy to practical implementation is the ultimate measure of success for any strategic plan. The real holy grail of strategic planning is accomplishing real work. It isn't about the plan. It's about what the planning process enables you to accomplish.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">~</span><br />
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Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-75370972487488120982012-08-28T20:51:00.001-07:002012-08-28T20:51:47.316-07:00How do you measure an IT department?As part of a consulting engagement my client wanted to know how well their IT department compared to similar IT departments in the same industry. I began by collecting data comparing the customer's IT department to peer organizations in the same industry. I knew before I started that there may be some apples to oranges comparisons. What surprised me was that I was comparing apples to flying saucers. I discovered the real issue is determining how to define an IT department before making any quality judgements.<br />
<br />
In this particular study I looked at organizations within the same somewhat regulated industry. Organizations with similar revenue and customer volume had IT departments that varied in size by over 200%. So what was really going on here? First, it was clear to me that everybody has a different names for the same thing. Second, there are no obvious rules about boundaries. Let's look at both dimensions sequentially.<br />
<br />
Names can be deceptive. For example, within IT there is often an infrastructure group. Assuming that includes server support, does it also include network support? If that includes network support, does it also include the phone system? If it includes the phone system, it probably includes the automated call response software and support staff. If you include these staff, do you include the telephone operators? If the operators are included, then do you include the call centre and business help line staff? Now we have an organization that reaches directly from the external customer to the back-end server.<br />
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I know this example may be extreme. But where do you draw the line? Let's think about boundaries. Does IT end at the pure technology of servers and network gear? Or does it go further? Think about applications development. IT usually includes the programmers, but not always. What about the analysts that work with both the business and the programmers to develop the requirements? Sometimes they are called business analysts, sometimes systems analysts. They do the same work, but the systems analysts typically reside in IT and the business analysts do not.<br />
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Defining IT by roles performed simply doesn't do the trick. As I reviewed the organizations in the study, there seemed to be no consistency. One IT department ran the printing operations for the whole organization. Another included web content development. Contrary to intuition, you cannot define an IT organization by the functions it runs.These seemingly arbitrary distinctions depended on history, available skills, and ultimately, political machinations.<br />
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Names are nearly meaningless and boundaries fluctuate continually making comparisons challenging. But the rules creating IT boundaries are remarkably consistent across all organizations. The ability for IT to influence these changes is negotiating power. The degree of negotiating power accumulated by IT defines its boundaries. Building negotiating power comes from cumulative value-building. Every transaction between IT and a customer creates or destroys the clients' perception of IT's value. If IT provides great service, clients are more willing to work with IT. As a result, they become more willing to support IT in political bargaining when the organizational boundaries are inevitably revised over time.<br />
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Back to the original question - how do you measure an IT department? I would propose that you define the worth of your IT department by its return on service (ROS). If clients feel they get great service, the long term reward to IT is greater scope - a higher ROS. Conversely, bad service creates negative ROS and a shrinking IT department. A good IT department is one that is growing because it is providing an optimal return on service to clients. The last full measure of an IT department is its return on service.<br />
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~<br />
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<br />Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-74798051938295749202012-07-24T13:55:00.000-07:002012-07-24T13:55:02.533-07:00What is the difference between a CIO and an IT Director?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At a recent consulting meeting a CEO asked me “why doesn’t
my IT department work well with the rest of the organization?” Before I could
answer, he asked another more telling question: “what’s the difference between
an IT director and a Chief Information Officer?” The answer to the first
question was embedded in the need to ask the second question. If you don’t know
the difference, you don’t understand the value of a CIO.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So what is the difference? A Director of IT focuses primarily
on technology. A Chief Information Officer focuses on people, processes,
projects, and technology as a holistic system designed to achieve the mutual
interests of the entire organization.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Director may engage people, processes, and projects to
move technology forward, but only to the extent that these elements support
technology initiatives. For the Director, it is all about the technology first,
and everything else is secondary. This perspective leads the IT director to
confuse the tool (technology) with the product of the tool. When the IT
department values the tool more than the purpose of the tool, its values become
misaligned with the values of the overall organization.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A CIO is part of the DNA of the entire organization, not
just the techie side of it. A CIO is deeply engaged in the core mission of the
organization where technology is viewed as a means to an end. The objective of
the CIO is to achieve the goals of the organization. To a CIO, the technology
is part of a bigger mechanism that works as an integrated machine to achieve
the mission and vision of the whole organization. The only way to achieve such
ambition is to integrate people, processes, projects, and technology from
across the organization into a seamless system. Boundaries among delivery
groups become irrelevant as the CIO works closely with every partner and
stakeholder in the organization to achieve the broader mission. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My answer to the CEO’s first question: your IT department
does not work well with the rest of your organization because you have an IT
director, not a CIO.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">~</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-538247247966232112012-06-24T15:08:00.000-07:002012-06-24T15:08:17.440-07:00Appreciating Asymmetrical Advantage (Lean IT)<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Competitive weapons</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Napoleon said an army marches on its stomach.
The ability to provide food, supplies, and shelter to his troops was his
primary building block of success. He didn't attribute his victories to the
obvious factors of battlefield tactics, great weapons, or excellent training.
His focus on logistics was much more mundane, yet infinitely practical. He
created a simple advantage that his enemies could not match easily. Can your IT
organization identity something it does that no one else does nearly as
effectively? Strategy is about advantage, so what makes you so special that it
gives you an edge over your enemies?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Creating an effective IT strategy begins with
developing an appreciation of your own IT organization’s asymmetrical
advantages. What do you have that your competitors don't have? Such advantages can
be measured by context, influence, and tolerance. By context, I mean how deep
is your awareness of all the market forces affecting your competitive position.
Influence means how much you can affect outcomes in your chosen market.
Finally, tolerance is the degree to which you are willing accept the risks of
competing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Big vs. lean</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Let’s look at the example of a large IT
organization vs. a lean one. The lean IT organization typically has a much smaller
staff and budget relative to comparison organizations in the same industry, and
operates with a minimal margin for error. Leading a large IT organization makes
strategy easy. You can afford to "let 1,000 flowers bloom" by
experimenting, testing, and making mistakes. Your context is big, your
influence is substantial, and your tolerance is high. But a lean IT
organization does not have that luxury. These organizations need to leverage
every opportunity available and maximize their return from every investment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The simplest comparison between big and lean is their
approach to an ERP system. A large organization can afford to buy, run, and
customize their ERP system. They can fine-tune it to every nuance of their
specialized processes. But a lean IT organization is forced to rent a
standardized version where they accommodate their business processes to fit the
system - customization is an unaffordable luxury.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Let’s assume you run a smaller lean IT group. How
do you level the playing field? You can start by thinking differently about
every aspect of your operations. No IT organization needs their own data centre
if they are willing to take the necessary precautions and make the necessary
sacrifices to move everything to the cloud. No IT organization needs to
customize their applications suite if they are willing to modify their business
processes. No IT organization needs to run its own enterprise systems like
email, content management, and collaboration software if they are willing to
use industry standard software services.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you actively move in all of these directions,
your lean IT organization pushes the implementation, management, and support of
conventional and traditional systems out the door. Does that mean you should
shut down your IT department? Hardly. What you do with what you have left is
your asymmetrical advantage. The core IT staff members become your unique
footprint in the industry. These are the folks that understand the business
processes at the very core of your organization. These are the folks who will
integrate and leverage the low cost tools you have pushed out the door. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The ability to integrate technology and to
improve process becomes a strategic advantage of the lean IT organization. You
have the remarkable opportunity to focus the intimate business knowledge of
your subject matter experts on building unique projects, processes, and
initiatives that the big organizations are ignoring because they are too busy
running their overly complex in-house information systems.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>Should</i>, <i>can</i>, and <i>control</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So how do you get there? The lean IT organization
uses the concepts of context, influence, and tolerance to whittle down its list
of strategic initiatives into two piles. The stuff they can give to someone
else is in the first pile. The second pile is the stuff they are uniquely
positioned to implement better than anyone else in their industry. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Context dictates what technologies the IT
department <i>should</i> operate. What
market forces are buffeting your competitive position? If the industry is
consolidating, where can you collaborate with other organizations to create shared
services? Is this really an activity that gives your organization a competitive
advantage? Is this IT function really part of the core business? Ask yourself
these questions for all aspects of your information systems. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Influence determines what technologies the IT
department <i>can</i> operate. Sometimes you
simply may not have the right resources to operate the IT services you might
like to keep within your organization. Sometimes geographic isolation or
over-subscribed demand for specific technical skills forces you to consider
alternative delivery mechanisms outside your IT organization. Often you simply
don’t have enough budget money to do everything you would like to do. Don’t
operate the functions you cannot properly influence. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tolerance defines how much <i>control</i> the IT department needs to successfully operate these
technologies. What is your risk profile? What is the probability of
success? What is the degree of impact if you fail? If you can’t stand the heat
then get out of the kitchen. Some IT initiatives are just too risky for the
culture and risk tolerance profile of your organization. Stop doing them and
give them to someone who is willing to take the risks or can mitigate the risk
through systemic factors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>An example</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">These three factors act like a series of
successive filters. For example, if you are considering moving a new data
warehouse system to the cloud you need to first assess context. Do you really
want to be in the business of managing the servers needed to support the new
system? Unless you are a technology company it is unlikely that you would
consider server management to be part of your core business, so your context
would indicate support for the move. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now consider your degree of influence: do you
really have the database administration skills in your organization to manage
the new technology efficiently? A lean IT organization may not be able to
afford high-priced data base administrators or may want to focus their precious
skills on other systems. Since you would struggle to support the technology
internally, the externalization of the system makes sense from an influence
perspective.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally, are you willing to tolerate the risk by
placing this sensitive information in another organization's care? If can
successfully write a contract that transfers the risks associated with housing
mission-critical data to a third party, then the last filter also supports the
move. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In this example all three gates have been opened
and the move makes sense. Only when all three filters are aligned should you be
willing to make the strategic change, because then you have a conclusive
asymmetrical advantage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Lean on your asymmetrical advantage</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Becoming a lean organization is an asymmetrical
advantage despite your size. When you are forced to scrutinize every IT
investment for maximum leverage and return, you inevitably become more
efficient than the big players. For each dollar invested in IT, you gain
business improvements that outstrip your larger competitors. Ultimately, your
relative size can change your behaviour and gives you a distinct lead over the
bigger and slower competitors. You can float like a butterfly and sting like a
bee even if you a mere David to your competitor's Goliath. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As you become more effective, don't lose sight
of your core competencies defined by context, influence, and tolerance.
Remember, Napoleon conquered all of Europe with a lean military organization. But
he was resolutely defeated when he lost sight of his core competencies and let
his army starve in Russia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">~<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-62097904409460992282012-06-07T05:40:00.001-07:002012-08-26T10:04:57.108-07:00The Process Design BluesEveryone needs a hobby and mine is playing blues guitar. I may not be very good at it, but I'm not ready to sell my soul at the crossroads just yet. What I find fascinating about the blues is how such a simple musical structure becomes a portal into an infinite variety of musical improvisation and creativity. From a basic chord progression of 12 simple bars, the opportunity to innovate is literally limitless. Strangely enough, playing the blues is a great opportunity to think differently about business process.<br />
<br />
Having designed many business processes, I have discovered great process design is lot like the blues musical structure: you need to leave lots of room for improvisation within a tightly structured and easy-to-understand framework. Good process design optimizes an algorithm for getting things done, but great process design builds in room to handle inevitable change. Great process design empowers process users to make independent decisions within the framework of the process. Great processes give users the room to deal with the variability of real life while simultaneously enforcing tight controls and high expectations around the key milestones in the process.<br />
<br />
The concept of using a loose/tight process design makes some folks uncomfortable. Traditional thinking dictates highly structured and specific steps with no room for independent thought. And that is exactly where traditional process thinking fails - not leaving any room for autonomous and liberated thought. If you want processes to be agile and adaptive to change you need to leave room for human intelligence and creativity to engage. But business processes are not like Grade 2 art class. You need to be very disciplined at the key milestones. Each key milestone in the process needs to be measurable and comparable. Exceptional rigour around defining these process checkpoints ensures the process is executed appropriately. Installing metrics for all milestones ensures managerial control during process execution.<br />
<br />
These metrics also enable process improvements over time as the process is executed repeatedly. You need to experiment continually with improvements to the process and measure the results. Measuring the change helps you understand the effect of the change. By comparing multiple executions of the process over time you begin to identify new and better ways of running the process. If you can't measure it, you can't improve it.<br />
<br />
As a manager you need to carefully weigh your own engagement in the process. In between these highly controlled and evaluated milestones, you need to empower your staff. Leave the decision-making between milestones up to the discretion of your staff. They should be given your absolute trust to make the right decisions between milestones. After all, you did hire good people didn't you? So give them the opportunity to shine. If you are not comfortable with the room to maneuver you have given them between milestones then you need to re-think the process design. Are there other milestones you need to build into your process? Remember not to overdo it, or the milestones become millstones and the whole process slows down and looses it flexibility and agility. Finally, remember not to abdicate your responsibility to monitor the process for performance variations. If the variations are too extreme, then you need to get engaged.<br />
<br />
As an example of this process design philosophy, let's examine a key strategic process for any organization - the project management process. You must be absolutely tight around several key milestones. The first is the project charter. It has one simple objective: define, in certain and quantifiable terms, why you want to do the project. The act of requiring this document as a milestone demands extensive analysis, collaboration, and consensus building before the document is submitted for approval. As a process owner, you do not need to manage the analysis work, but you absolutely must assess the results of the analysis and use the project charter to make the crucial go or no-go decision.<br />
<br />
The next milestone is the Project Plan. This document is the contract between the project team and the sponsor. As a contract, it articulates the specific scope, budget, timeline, resources, and risks of the project. Once again, the process owner does not need to engage in the detailed analysis and development work. The project staff members are more than capable of building the components such as a work breakdown structure. However, this contract document is of mission-critical importance to the project sponsors. As a project process owner your role is to ensure the results of the analysis stand-up to significant, extensive, and careful scrutiny. The Project Plan milestone sets the stage for the most expensive stage of the project, so you want to use the milestone to be absolutely positive the project is ready to move to the next stage.<br />
<br />
Once you have an approved plan, the execution begins. A well-written project plan has specific execution milestones defined. These milestones report on completion of activities according to scope, budget, and timeline of the plan with a change control mechanism. Once again, the project sponsor and project owner need to be actively informed and engaged in reviewing these execution milestones. If milestones are meeting promises (or appropriate change requests are approved), then the project manager and her/his team are perfectly capable of implementing the work between milestones without interference. However, if the project misses milestones, then the process owner and sponsor must engage in the project's detail work.<br />
<br />
Assuming everything goes well the final milestone is the Project Closure. At this milestone you decide if you did what you said you would do. Are all the expected project products and services completed to a satisfactory quality level? Will the organization reap the benefits promised in the project charter? The sponsor and process owner review the original project charter to determine if the project delivered on the promises made. This milestone is used to determine if the project is truly finished. These two leaders do not need to be involved in the final development work for the product or service, but they do need to ensure it is are completed properly, hence the existence of a milestone at this point in the process.<br />
<br />
Throughout this project management process there are specific and explicit expectations in each of the milestones, and liberal room to empower project managers to use their judgment and make decisions throughout the process. The worst project management methodology I have ever seen consisted of 14 binders, each 2" thick. They were never opened and never used. Conversely, the best project management methodology I've ever seen was a single 1" binder that was well thumbed with lots of coffee stains. It was a process that left lots of room for individual creativity within a tight context of specific milestone-based deliverables.<br />
<br />
I can always tell when I hear great blues. The old familiar structure is always there, yet the great artists make every blues song sound unique, inspiring, and wonderful. Just like great blues music, great processes can lead to business innovation and creativity. But don't let them run amuck or you will get 20-minute guitar solos that bore your audience to tears.<br />
<br />
~<br />
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-18103998431461492322012-05-21T18:32:00.000-07:002012-05-21T18:32:43.467-07:00Fear and Loathing in IT CommunicationsWhen I was in my mid-twenties I took a visitor from the Ukraine to dinner. She was in town to attend a wedding and I wanted to shown her my city. She spoke several European languages, none of which was English. I spoke English and several other languages, but my list included Fortran, Pascal, COBOL, and C. In theory, we should have had a serious communications issue. But we didn't. I explained most of the menu by mimicking the sounds of the various farms animals on the menu (much to the amusement of everyone at the surrounding tables) and we both ended up enjoying the evening.<br />
<br />
Partially based on this experience I have always been suspicious about communications issues. I never cease to be amazed at how often IT folks point the finger of blame at communications skills. Repeatedly I hear "everything just boils down to communications" or "if we could just communicate better everything would be okay" or "all our problems could be solved by better communications." I don't agree. I would go so far as to say that there is no such thing as a communications issue. Faulty communications are inevitably an indication of a deeper issue. Communications issues are only symptoms of real problems. If you solve the issue at the communications layer, you are not solving the real problem. You need to dig deeper if want to create a sustainable fix.<br />
<br />
For example, I once replaced a CIO who failed with an ERP implementation. Folks claimed she failed because she did not communicate in an accurate fashion. She had oversold the benefits and undersold the costs, so her communication had twisted expectations beyond the realm of reality. This observation may have been true on the surface, but why did she feel the need to distort the messages? She clearly felt obliged to make exaggerated claims about how the system would improve the organization at bargain basement prices.<br />
<br />
So why did she do it? She was right that the organization needed an ERP system and she was right that the benefits are hard to explain. Try telling a senior board member that an integrated database will improve the strategic mission of the enterprise. But instead of taking the time to educate folks on the issues, she tried to sway them with promises that could not be kept. In the short term she was able to sell them on the concept and got buy-in to the project. In the long-term she couldn't keep her promises and paid the price of not being realistic.<br />
<br />
This approach reflects a lack of patience for explaining the real reasons to undertake a significant project. Take the time to understand the issues yourself. Think in terms of your stakeholders. Understand their needs, their fears, and their language. Instead of talking about "integrated databases", call it a "single source of the truth." Spend the time educating and informing before selling. You may be surprised by what you find. Maybe your organization doesn't really need the new system after all - or maybe it needs the system more than you realized. But this isn't about communications. This is about taking the time to understand the fundamental issues before moving forward. Look before you leap. Think before you communicate.<br />
<br />
Whenever I hear IT staff complain about a communications failure I like to probe into the underlying motivation. Sometimes "communications failure" really means, "I don't want to communicate" because "I'm afraid to let them know what's really going on." If your staff are afraid to pass on an honest message, then it may be due to a lack of skills, inappropriate control processes, or a repressive departmental culture. And that's your fault, not theirs. Let's look at each of these three issues separately.<br />
<br />
When I talk about lack of skills, I don't mean the basic ability to talk and write. Let's assume that you have hired folks who were sufficiently educated to earnestly function in your IT shop. But what they might not have are the skills to face a problem in a direct manner. You need to teach them how to frame a problem and give it context. IT staff need to avoid the "the sky is falling" approach. Chicken Little will only panic your customers. Your staff need to be coached on explaining the issue in plain language without emotion and with potential recommendations. Issues are lonely creatures - make sure they are always accompanied by a solution.<br />
<br />
Once your staff have the skills to give the problem the appropriate context you need to implement non-bureaucratic control processes. Give them the opportunity to explain problems. For example, your projects will inevitably go through changes during their lifecycle. If modifications are inevitable, so is the need to explain why you need to make the change. Build mechanisms for escalating changes into your project management methodology. Ensure project steering committees are trained to expect these shifts in plans. Too often "poor communications" are blamed for what in reality are poor processes.<br />
<br />
No matter how much context and process you provide, if your culture does not encourage open and honest discussion of issues, they will remain veiled behind the hazy cloud of "poor communications." Shooting the messenger doesn't change the truth; it only hides the truth. That's when communications skills get blamed. But even the best communications in the world are not going to change a repressive culture. You need to nurture the ability to say, "I made a mistake." Mistakes are tolerated and learning outcomes are encouraged.<br />
<br />
These are just three examples of when communications takes the blame for more fundamental problems. Sometimes a communications breakdown is based on an emotional fear of change. Change is like a death. The old way has died, and the new way is an unknown and unfamiliar place. Fear of change is irrational, but real. But it is not a communications failure. If you simply address the communications issues you will never fix the real change management issues. Address the change head-on; don't wallow in the black hole of superficial communications-driven fear and loathing.<br />
<br />
I have implemented major change initiatives where the communications are quite easy and natural if you have done all the other hard work. This hard work includes really understanding your stakeholders. Spend time getting to know what makes them tick. Engage them in a meaningful way in the decision-making process. Create an education process for you and them. The more you both learn about each other at the beginning if an IT initiative, the easier it is to talk frankly and openly when issues arise. When someone blames a "communications failure" someone probably hasn't done the hard work.<br />
<br />
There is an interesting follow-up to my dinner with the visitor from the Ukraine. I attended the wedding with my dinner companion the next day. At the reception a couple came up to us and revealed they were in the same restaurant as us the night before. We were a little embarrassed until they said they made their dinner choice based on our mimicking of animals from the menu. They chose the Chicken Kiev.<br />
<br />
~<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-48732836339296785072012-05-10T17:03:00.001-07:002012-05-10T17:03:48.722-07:00Are Students Customers or Products?Are students customers or products in an higher education institution?<br />
<br />
The answer to the question is forced upon higher education institutions by the very nature of the information systems they implement. There are two types of systems in a higher education environment. Some information systems treat students like products of the institution and other systems treat students like customers of the institution.<br />
<br />
ERP systems like Banner, Kuali, and PeopleSoft are designed to maximize efficiency. By simple virtue of the need to process large volumes of students in registration or accounts payable, the student becomes a product. They enter into a system for processing like unfinished goods. The administration module begins processing the large volume of raw material (applicants). The registration system and associated systems like the degree audit system help track the work-in-process inventory (students). Eventually they become finished goods to be delivered by the convocation system (graduates).<br />
<br />
Learning management systems such as Moodle and BlackBoard are designed to enhance learning outcomes and improve the educational experience. The LMS is designed to help students learn the course material. A well-designed LMS environment provides consistency throughout the student's lifecycle at the institution. They are designed to optimize the learning experience with little consideration given to maximizing efficiency. Similarly, campus services such as wireless are architected to improve the student experience through ubiquitous service and gobs of bandwidth. These types of systems are intended to treat students as customers receiving a service from the institution.<br />
<br />
The student help desk is a transaction-processing environment. Clear response and escalation processes are defined to maximize the customer experience. Effectiveness of response, and customer satisfaction take priority over efficiency. High touch and human contact create a positive student experience that will improve student retention. Conversely, billing students for tuition is a production process. It is a process that demands financial rigour and productive use of system resources. The entire billing system is designed to be as efficient as possible.<br />
<br />
To be a truly effective CIO in a world where students are sometimes customers and sometimes products is what makes the job interesting. The real opportunity for a CIO in the higher education world is to understand when to see students as products in certain circumstances, and when to focus on students as customers in other scenarios. This wonderful opportunity forces CIOs to deliver process efficiency and learning effectiveness concurrently to the same group of people. The best CIOs are good at both skills sets and know exactly when to apply the right approach.<br />
<br />
One more wrinkle to make it more interesting. Are faculty and staff customers of the IT organization? I suggest that IT needs to treat faculty and staff in a more thoughtful manner than just customers. Like consulting firms, IT should consider faculty and staff to be clients. A client relationship suggests a more nurturing and enduring relationship based on more complex relationship than straightforward customer transactions. WalMart has customers. McKinsey has clients. Which way do you think your faculty and staff would like to be treated?<br />
<br />
~<br />
<br />
<br />Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-76372298932983555552012-05-02T15:32:00.001-07:002012-05-02T15:32:39.380-07:00The View from IT Mountain<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">For the first time in my life, I went mountain biking. It was exhilarating, frightening, demanding, and fun. Most of all, it provided a unique view. After a long climb to the top of the mountain we came to the edge of the first trail. I also came to the edge of a clearing where I could see everything - the adjoining mountains, the community where I live, and the remarkable path to the top of a small mountain.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">While I paused to catch my breath (which was a good long time), I had a chance to think about the unique view that IT has in any organization. Much like being at the top of a mountain, IT gets to see everything in an organization: the hills, the valleys, and the paths connecting key centres. No other group in an organization has such breadth. Marketing, finance, manufacturing, and HR have incredibly deep understanding of their own valleys. They might also have a wonderful knowledge of how their department connects with some neighbouring organizations in the adjacent valleys. But they do not see the whole connected picture.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<h3>
<i style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal;">Can anyone connect all the dots?</i></h3>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">A truly successful IT organization can see the whole picture. Its job is to work with all facets of the organization to build integrated information flows. The role of IT puts the department in a
unique position. A successful IT service transcends organizational boundaries. IT delivers service horizontally across the entire organization enabling it to</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px;"> see all the valleys, all the connections, all barriers, and all the opportunities.</span><br />
<br />
<h3>
<i style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal;">How can organizations leverage the broad IT perspective?</i></h3>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px;">To start with, IT departments need to view themselves as holistic and systemic process improvement groups. They are not just technologists, but broad integrators who bring together people, process, projects, and technology from across many disparate units to deliver unified systemic change. If an IT organization builds trusted relationships with all its partners, it can leverage its unique perspective through these relations into a powerful wellspring of change for everyone in the organization.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span><br />
<h3>
<i style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal;">Does IT need help walking to the top of the mountain?</i></h3>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px;">To succeed, organizations cannot bury the IT department at a low level in the organization. Reporting needs to be at the most senior levels in the organization. High level reporting responsibility e</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px;">nables IT to move customer initiatives from a technology focus to a business focus. IT applies the force of broad horizontal connectivity to topple the vertical silos of political dysfunction.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span><br />
<h3>
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal;">Is simply changing structure enough?</span></i></h3>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px;">Structure does not change organizations, people do. But people cannot do it without process. IT needs models for benchmarking processes, re-engineering techniques, and process design. Typically IT departments live with these tools on a day-to-day basis and have more experience with them than any other group. The trick is for IT to leverage these tools into integrated agents of progressive change - a series of progressive changes that improves life for customers, staff, shareholders, and the community. The changes succeed when IT's partners adopt and implement processes, such as a common project management discipline, to deliver projects. The spirit of mutuality of interest leads to real success in the implementation of enterprise IT.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span><br />
<h3>
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal;">IT is horizontal, everyone else is vertical</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span> </span></i></h3>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px;">If you keep this horizontal/vertical perspective in mind, you will realize the unique value of IT: a way of integrating enterprise-wide processes into unified and holistic processes. These processes become sustainable competitive advantages for the entire organization. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">Climbing to the top of the mountain is a lot of work. But the view is spectacular. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">~</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-41846271142093819052012-03-29T11:12:00.000-07:002012-03-29T11:17:40.734-07:00The Perfect IT DepartmentWe spend a lot of time developing IT strategies. A typical strategy starts with a mission, vision, and purpose. I've read several IT strategic plans recently and I have come to the conclusion that organizations have become pretty good at developing these documents. Execution of the plan is tricky, but successful implementation is also becoming a more commonplace skill.<br />
<br />
What seems to be missing from these plans is the opportunity to dream. We have become quite good at mechanically developing goals and objectives, then putting in place the processes to get them done. Results are delivered on time, on budget, and in scope. What falls through the cracks is creativity. Creativity is the spark that ignites innovation.<br />
<br />
Sometimes we need to dream.<br />
<br />
I recently read the actual text of one of my favourite speeches of all time. It was an eye-opener because the passion of the speaker seemed to overwhelm the actual written word. But the text is just as powerful as the delivery. A key line of the speech:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight;"</blockquote>
<div>
I don't have Martin Luther King's eloquence, but his idea is powerful. Let us dream first. The reality and implementation follow the dream. If we were to dream about the perfect IT department, what would it look like? Imagine an IT strategy where contributors were asked to close their eyes and dream of the perfect IT department. What if we could simply imagine what we want to be when we grow up?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Here's my dream IT department ...</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Under ideal circumstances, the information technology
department is seamlessly integrated into all processes at the organization. The
department provides secure and reliable access anywhere, anytime to dependable
high performance information technology services. The people who provide the
service are trusted and inspire confidence in the technologies they deliver. The
department generates innovative ideas supporting the purpose and mission of the organization. Similarly, continuous process
improvement ideas are sourced from the information technology department in a
collaborative manner. New projects are
delivered within promised timeframes and budgets. Ongoing services meet or exceed
customer expectations. People in the information technology department enjoy
their work and their customers enjoy working with them. The culture of the
department embraces an outstanding client-centric service ethic. Clients of the
department embrace technology and enthusiastically work with the department to
build a better future for customers and the organization.</blockquote>
Would not the dream create a better mission, vision, and purpose? Once you have the dream, you have the fuel to inspire an exciting strategy. A strategy where IT really can change your world. A strategy where you can make the rough technology plain and the crooked systems straight.<br />
<br />
~<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-19147383746162291852012-03-28T12:10:00.001-07:002012-03-28T12:23:09.968-07:00Who Should IT Report To?One of the perennial debates in IT is the question: whom should the IT department report to? The CEO? The finance department? The social media team? The head of research and development? The question is like asking how many angels can dance on a micron of silicon. At the risk of appearing to dodge the question, I suggest IT reports to everyone. <br />
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Tradition says IT should report into Finance. Historically IT departments evolved out of a corporate need to automate billing, payroll, and other fundamental and crucial financial transactions. Naturally it made sense for IT to report into the finance department. But times change. IT is an integral part of everything everyone does in an organization. IT is an essential part of the value proposition of any product or service. From pizza stores providing real-time delivery tracking to universities providing online degrees, the IT function affects every aspect of the business relationship. <br />
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I saw the issue first hand when I was the financial controller for a large IT department. I reported into a CIO whom I greatly admired and respected. One piece of career advice he gave regularly was "never let IT report to Finance." At the time I had a hard time understanding his reasons. Our CFO was a great guy and I worked closely with him because of my particular role in IT. The way our company was organized, both the CIO and CFO reported to the president and everything worked extraordinarily well. <br />
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Then the company was sold. <br />
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As the new buyer dissected our organization they made an interesting discovery. The single most expensive physical asset in the organization was the IT infrastructure. But instead of leveraging IT as an integrated value generation mechanism, the buyer viewed it a financial asset to divvy up among disparate interests in the new organization. Like a pirate looting plunder, the new owners did not recognize the real value of the treasures they had captured. The assets were squandered because they were only seen from a financial perspective and not a business perspective. <br />
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The acquiring company's IT group reported into the CFO and the results of the merger seemed to confirm my boss's advice about the IT reporting relationship with Finance. But in hindsight, that was not the real problem. They were an old style organization where the IT department had a weak voice. IT did not see itself as part of the business. They saw themselves as technology order-takers, not as leaders of the information systems strategy and execution. <br />
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As a CIO I've reported into the Finance side of organization and quite enjoyed the relationship. However, the organizational reporting relationship never biased the organizational decision-making process. IT decisions are investments with long term implications for organization success, but financial systems should never receive preferential or biased prioritization simply because of organization hierarchy. Strategic engagement of IT requires broad organization involvement that transcends arbitrary organization structures. A self-aware IT organization perceives itself as reporting to the entire organization, not just the sole linear strand of the hierarchical organization chart. <br />
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So how can IT report to everyone? It starts with an attitude - a collective state of mind defined by the IT departmental culture. It requires an open approach to all relationships across the organization and is manifested in a desire to collaborate and integrate and deliver. This open IT culture is rooted in a mutuality of respect among all departments. Whether it is finance, human resources, or manufacturing, the IT folks need to earn their respect by delivering on promises and meeting expectations. <br />
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Once the culture is established, relationships are continuously nurtured. You can't do that if you think you have one boss. Much like a consulting company has many customers, an IT organization has a multitude of clients. Specialized treatment of one client because of an organizational reporting relationship comes at the expense of servicing others. A nurturing and open IT culture flourishes in an environment where all clients become the centre of their universe.<br />
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Of course the official reporting relationship needs to be comfortable and supportive of the open IT culture. When IT reports to the CEO, this balanced perspective is assumed. In other reporting relationships, the need to be open may be less obvious. The CIO's role is to help everyone understand the need for an IT that meets the needs of the many, not the few.<br />
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As to the career advice from my old boss about never letting IT report to the CFO? I disagree. Sometimes IT should report to the CFO. But sometimes it shouldn't. It depends on the particular business model and the technical acumen of the leadership. What matters is that IT has a strong and respected voice throughout the organization. That can only be achieved by a open, service-oriented IT organization. One that identifies with the business and sees itself as part of the organization's bloodstream. One that sees itself as reporting to everyone.<br />
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~</div>Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-19470583006906683322012-03-15T10:17:00.002-07:002021-11-29T16:47:30.111-08:00Your IT Department Only Needs 6 PeopleI have a confession to make. I am home repair challenged. I can't fix anything around the house that requires tools more complex than screwdrivers and hammers and paint. But I do know exactly what I want done, how I want it done, and what it is worth to me. So I hire experts. When I needed to build a shed I hired folks who spend their lives specializing in home construction and repair and they did a better job than I ever could have done. While they built my shed, I spent my time working on things that I'm good at. We were both productive.<br />
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Similar logic applies to IT departments. There can be an almost infinite amount of IT work in any organization. From upgrading the ERP to enabling BYOD (bring your own device), the choice of opportunities is vast. The challenge is not what to do, but what to ask someone else to do. Where does IT draw the line between internal vs. external work?<br />
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IT needs to maximize the value of existing resources on the most important activities and deliver other services through new channels and creative partnerships. They cannot do everything internally. To understand what can be divested, organizations must assess IT’s core competencies. Core competencies in an IT organization are functions that are central to supporting the mission of the organization.<br />
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The three criteria for assessing whether any particular IT function is a core competency are: <br />
<ul>
<li>External service providers cannot perform the function more efficiently for lower cost, </li>
<li>Performing the function internally maintains appropriate control of the function in the organization, and </li>
<li>The knowledge needed to perform the function is central to the long-term success of the organization. </li>
</ul>
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Focusing the organization on core competencies requires reviewing the major activities performed by IT and deciding what to keep and what might be delivered in a new manner. Non-core competencies are often well served by partnering with a service provider whose sole specialization is the best possible delivery of that service. This approach is similar to hiring contractors to build my shed. Home construction is not my core competency, so I found someone who specializes in that line of work. Alternatively, why build a shed in the first place if my neighbour has extra space in his shed available for a cheap price?<br />
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If you were obliged to take this approach to the logical extreme, the process of assessing core competencies could lead to externalizing almost all the IT work. If an organization were to go to this extreme, what should be left? What are the ultimate core competencies of any IT department? I would suggest the minimal IT organization would consist of only six roles: <br />
<ol>
<li>Chief Information Officer </li>
<li>Enterprise Architect </li>
<li>Project Office Director </li>
<li>Business Administrator </li>
<li>Security Manager </li>
<li>Operations Director </li>
</ol>
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In this new IT world, there is still a need for a Chief Information Officer (CIO). This individual is responsible for making sure all the organization's IT needs are met. But the CIO's organization becomes a lean team of five staff. Let me describe each of the roles in the next few paragraphs.<br />
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The CIO drives IT through visionary leadership that inspires all staff and earns the confidence of clients. The CIO leads the organization's IT with strategic thinking and operational decisiveness, and is capable of bringing the entire organization through sustained periods of significant IT change. The CIO is a leader whose advice and guidance is respected for all information technology issues. These issues may not necessarily be part of the IT function, but the leader needs to be sufficiently well respected across the organization to be sought out for advice and guidance on any IT matter. The CIO ensures appropriate stewardship processes are in place and establishes information systems ethics.<br />
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If the bulk of the IT work is no longer a core competency, then the new challenge becomes how to link all the external service providers (contractors, hosted services, outsourcers, etc.) together. The Enterprise Architect (EA) owns this responsibility. The EA's first job is to understand and articulate how technologies, applications, and data interrelate. The second part of the job is to build a roadmap of where each of these functions will evolve. Defining context, setting direction, and linking external sources into a seamless information technology service is the role of the EA in this optimized organization.<br />
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With multiple service delivery providers come multiple projects. The organization needs to set non-negotiable project management processes and checkpoints to control vendor projects. Consistency of project delivery is essential to the management of expectations by IT's clients. The Project Office Director is accountable for all projects, irrespective of whether the staff are internal or external. Integrated and seamless delivery of project results are demanded and this director is responsible for ensuring everyone works together as single project team.<br />
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Since external suppliers will do most of the IT work, contract management and business relationships are essential to the success of the new IT organization. The Business Administrator manages the RFP writing, plans the operational and capital budgets, and handles the business affairs of the IT. The Business Administrator works closely with suppliers to negotiate IT services and projects required by the overall organization. The negotiations are done within the context of the enterprise architecture and the Project Office Director sets the project service delivery expectations.<br />
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The importance of IT security, data privacy, and compliance requires the presence of a full time Security Manager. The ideal IT environment would have unassailable policies, practices, and standards that are proactive, not reactive. Strong policy and enforcement is essential if external service providers are to be trusted with an organization's IT assets. The Security Manager is responsible for creating the policies and ensuring the appropriate practices are in place to enforce them as part of all contract negotiations.<br />
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The Operations Director is accountable for all production services. These operations must deliver according to service level agreements with external providers. This Director creates meaningful performance and capacity metrics. These are measures that the IT organization's clients understand. The Operations Director works closely with vendors to provide them with growth patterns for usage. Expected demand forecasts become part of the contract negotiation process and the Operations Director is responsible for meeting these needs by working with vendors.<br />
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Arguably, an IT organization could easily be larger than six people. But if you had to boil the organization down to its absolute minimum, these are the six roles you do not want to externalize. They are your fundamental core IT competencies.<br />
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~Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-15536901843115345152012-03-14T09:54:00.001-07:002012-04-20T06:58:55.969-07:00IT Governance is Dead. Long live IT Stewardship.There was a windstorm on Vancouver Island last night - one that blows off the Pacific and seems to make the whole island shudder. There was a weird noise that seemed to be coming from inside the house. As I lay in bed, the last thing I wanted to do was wander around the house looking for the problem. So I kept telling myself it was just my imagination and everything was ok. Then BLAM! Something fell inside the house. There was no making excuse anymore. I had to leap out of bed and deal with it. <br />
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IT governance has become one of those issues. For the past ten years the holy grail of IT has been governance. But the wind has been shaking the house of governance for sometime now. Over the years I have seen a number of organizations create governance structures and governance models and governance committees. Typically these models are well planned and follow all the appropriate literature. Some processes achieve moderate success while others continue to struggle. <br />
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Typically the CIO creates the governance model, chairs the meetings, sets the agenda, and drives the action. They are attempting to govern IT in the enterprise. But they are attempting to govern someone else’s assets. What gets forgotten in these models is the reason for creating IT departments in the first place. IT departments exist to support the strategic and operational goals of the business. IT was created to realize the dreams and aspirations of their stakeholders. The assets are not theirs to govern. The mistaken notion that IT can govern someone else's property is the root of the problem. <br />
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I suggest we shift our thinking from governance to stewardship. Stewardship is the responsibility to take care of something belonging to someone else. By moving from a model where IT attempts to govern someone else’s assets to a model where IT recognizes the true ownership of the assets changes everything. <br />
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In a stewardship model, the needs and concerns of IT clients actively influence the decision-making process of the IT department. The decision-making process becomes transparent to stakeholders. The clarity creates trust among the IT department’s clients. <br />
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The intention of a stewardship process is to engage clients in enterprise IT decision-making. The organization uses an open and transparent process where clients actively and regularly participate in guiding the future of technology at the organization. The role of the IT department is to facilitate the process of decision-making, not to govern the decision-making.<br />
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The purpose of a vibrant stewardship model is to engage IT stakeholders in the prioritization of work and the selection of the criteria that determines those priorities. Successful stewardship allows customers to influence and guide IT planning, policy, and priorities for the entire organization. All appropriate stakeholders discuss information systems investments in a collaborative fashion. <br />
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Stewardship is the open, honest, and responsible management of something entrusted to your care. Governance is about making decisions that set expectations, grant power, or measure performance. These are two different worlds representing significantly different mindsets. Governance can lead to IT forgetting its role in the organization and attempting to assume more responsibility than is appropriate. Stewardship is about helping the organization realize its information technology dreams and aspirations. <br />
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In case you were worried about my house, everything was okay. The wind blew open a poorly fastened door and a painting that was loaned to us by my mother-in-law was blown to the floor. I fixed the door so it will never shake loose again. Hopefully I have improved my stewardship of my mother-in-law’s painting. <br />
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~Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115934518135134925.post-70728635947399057942012-01-29T21:00:00.000-08:002012-01-30T08:26:02.615-08:00"Of Revenge"<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 22px;">The most unproductive urge in management is revenge. It is an irrational emotion created by a perceived injustice and it produces irrational behaviour with wasted energy. </span><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 22px;">Over many years of mentoring and coaching I've seen hundreds of managers squander their leadership currency by dwelling on a grudge. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 22px;">There is no room for revenge in business. Revenge is like quicksand: t</span><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 22px;">he angrier you get, the faster you sink. </span><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 22px;">I've always told folks that history is over, so get over it.</span><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 22px;"> Move on: build, create, and forgive. Of course that advice is easier said than done. So over the years I've looked for published material to help prevent folks from sinking in the revenge quicksand. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 22px;">There is a lot of well-written business material to provide guidance, but I have never found anything with much lasting impact until a few weeks ago. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 17px; line-height: 22px;">I was helping my son with an essay on Hamlet, a play centred around a character tortured by the need to seek revenge. In the process of researching the paper my son came across a wonderful quote from a Francis Bacon essay titled "Of Revenge": </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 22px;">"Certainly, in taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior; for it is a prince’s part to pardon."</span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 22px;">The essay containing this quote was written over 400 years ago, yet it has enduring truth for current managers. We all feel wronged at times during the course of leading in an organization. Whether we get passed over for a promotion, cheated out of a bonus, or caught in a downsizing. Dwelling on the event is fruitless. Focusing on the negative simply throws you into the infinite vortex of despair. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 22px;">Focus on what you are going to do next. The past may be prologue. But it has passed. The future will only start when you rise above the irrelevant self-imposed prison created by wanting revenge. The future belongs to the optimist.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 22px;">~</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></span>Mark Romanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374380690393778843noreply@blogger.com1