University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: March 23, 2006

By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor

Establishing a governance process for IT decision-making and building a robust and adaptable technology foundation are among the recommendations of the Information Technology Strategic Transformation Committee (ITSTC), a panel charged with reviewing the university's IT functions as part of the UB 2020 academic planning process.

The ITSTC also recommends the university enhance IT support for innovation in instruction and research, and optimize IT management.

The four recommendations, or strategies, which encompass 10 initiatives and 56 specific projects, are the result of a nine-month, comprehensive examination of the university's IT environment. The ITSTC looked at the existing organizational structures, processes, systems and resources used to deliver IT services across the two campuses. It also conducted focus groups of UB faculty, staff and students to determine IT services and needs, and consulted with chief information officers and IT staff at 12 colleges and universities across the country.

"We found that UB is very well-positioned in some of the IT services and infrastructure that it has, and the university can take advantage of evolving technology and evolving approaches to determine how we can do it even more effectively in the future," says Elias Eldayrie, associate vice president for information technology and leader of the IT strategic transformation team,

"Some areas are doing very well, and in some areas we can improve. We can take advantage of overall changes occurring, both in technology and in its applications," to make the IT function even more efficient and effective, Eldayrie says.

The ITSTC's report notes that IT will play a key role in supporting UB 2020 "by enabling the campus to become more competitive for large grants, creating an environment where interdisciplinary and inter-institutional collaborations can flourish, providing infrastructure for increasingly data-intensive disciplines and research and enabling faculty to challenge students with new and innovative learning experiences."

The four strategies recommended by the panel "will generate efficiencies in utility services, allowing for greater investment in core research and academic IT infrastructure and support," the report says. "The strategic plan also creates an effective system for governance and decision-making that builds support across the various constituencies and develops a collaborative model for service."

Eldayrie points out that implementing a governance process is the report's "overarching" recommendation. It's important, "as we move forward in our planning and implementation of IT capabilities," he says, "that we have a shared vision and a comprehensive plan development and implementation."

As part of its examination of IT across the campuses, the ITSTC uncovered some data that it says present "significant opportunities for change." For example, UB maintains 75 phone systems at an annual cost of $3.8 million, spends $11 million annually to support administrative applications (162.5 full-time equivalent positions) and maintains 24 separate email systems and 773 servers.

"Addressing several of these opportunities," such as consolidating servers and services, "may enable UB to realize financial savings and achieve critical capacity gains that can be redirected to the support of the core academic mission," the report says.

Other initiatives outlined in the report include upgrading and standardizing workstation hardware, software and images; coordinating and expanding IT research computing support; implementing an enterprise-wide security strategy; and enhancing instructional computing support by standardizing basic classroom technology, adding IT classrooms and implementing a "refresh" cycle for classroom equipment.

Eldayrie says the report has been presented to President John B. Simpson and the UB 2020 executive committee, the deans and vice presidents, and to IT staff from across the campus at a town hall meeting on March 3. The reception has been overwhelmingly positive, he says.

Now that the formal review has been completed and a strategic plan has been devised, the next step, he explains, is to determine the specific initiatives and projects that should be undertaken.

"Now, the task is for us to figure out as an institution which ones to do first," he says.

The IT Strategic Transformation Committee's strategic plan may be viewed online at http://www.buffalo. edu/ub2020/itstt/.