Traditional enterprise planning efforts take considerable time and forecast out years in advance. The pace of technology and change happening across higher education has made this type of approach obsolete. However, the need to respond to changing conditions and align to new opportunities requires a planned approach. Come join this session to learn how to develop successful planning initiatives for service delivery that embrace agility and ensure campus perspectives are represented and execution of goals is achievable in short time frames.OUTCOMES: Learn how to develop a planning process that embraces agility and change while identifying how to increase diverse perspectives to improve ideas, gain acceptance, and create new strategies for executing initiatives
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Change management is a formal approach for transitioning an organization from its current environment to an improved future state. This session will help you understand the importance of change management in technology operations. Using the example of Lewis University, we will show how change management can be used to implement technology initiatives in a traditionally difficult environment. Moreover, the outcome of the process is transformation change in technology adoption and IT service management. The session will include a brief presentation, followed by group discussions that outline the important elements to consider when implementing a formal change management process.OUTCOMES: Discover the importance of change management in technology operations in higher education while identifying important items to consider when adopting a formal change management structure and ways to implement the processes in technology operations
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In 2014, the 23 libraries of the CSU system decided to adopt a shared library management system. Traditionally, each library had managed its own database system for purchasing resources, cataloging books, and managing patrons. Cloud technology, software as a service, and the increasing use of shared electronic resources makes it possible for the libraries to reduce redundancy and increase efficiency by adopting a shared system. However, it was a political challenge to build the collaborative trust necessary to make a unified system work. We will discuss the strategies the CSU used to overcome these challenges.OUTCOMES: Understand the benefits of using new library technologies to increase collaboration between campuses, define the challenges of collective action that hinder the success of collaborative projects, and develop strategies and tactics that increase the chance of success in large-scale technology projects that involve many campuses
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You have a way that you like to do things. Guess what? So does everyone else! Using a “people skills” framework, individuals develop increased awareness of the impact that behavior has on others, enabling them to strengthen relationships, improve communications, and modify their behavior in order to better work with and understand each other. Balancing technical expertise with “people skills” is challenging but essential to success. However, it ia also difficult to approach people and tell them they need to develop soft skills. This presentation will examine proven concepts that reinforce effective communication and behaviors.OUTCOMES: Develop a high-level understanding of the “people skills” framework for discussing individual behavioral styles, explore ideas for how to effectively address team issues related to communication, and discover strategies to approach individuals and groups with the intent of helping them develop soft skills
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The combination of embedded administrative and academic technologies, big data, powerful analytical tools, and sophisticated data-mining techniques are poised to spark a revolution in how education is delivered and how the efficacy of that education is measured.
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Project Information Literacy (PIL) is a series of national research studies that investigates what it is like to be a student in the digital age.
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How far are you with your configuration management database (CMDB)? Who manages your CMDB? Do these questions sound familiar? CMDB has become a hot buzzword. Like so many concepts in IT, the CMDB is largely defined by the organization. A CMDB is only useful when the organization decides what’s important to it and why. Throwing everything in without a means for maintaining it creates skepticism and frustration. Wesleyan has been on its CMDB journey for over two years. In this session, we will explore the CMDB process, including defining what’s important and engaging champions to help keep it going.Outcomes: Develop strategies for defining what’s important for a CMDB effort * Leave less intimidated by the concept of a CMDB and understand how to tackle components with clarity * Better understand why CMDB is valuable and learn how to convince the skeptics
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Higher education is going through some dramatic shifts in its business, which in many cases is directly affecting the customer support model. As managers in our university’s IT department, we have experienced these changes firsthand. We plan to describe how our university is transforming into a customer-focused institution and how this has changed our department and our culture. We will share what this has meant for our staff and how it has affected managing our teams. There will be time to hear from others about how they are responding to their organizational changes. Outcomes: Explore how different organizations manage change * Discuss different strategies to navigate through change * Recognize opportunities for positive change in your own departments
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ITSM begins outside the toolbox by defining what it means to your university, identifying where you are (Maturity Assessment), where you want to be, and creating a roadmap for getting there. Boston College took the path of defining ITSM independent of a tool: if you can’t define it, you can’t measure it. If you can’t measure it, how do you know if you’re successful? In this session, we will share the steps for building an ITSM strategy. By first defining what ITSM means to your university, you can then use an ITSM tool to help standardize, automate, and measure your ITSM efforts.Outcomes: Learn about BC’s ITSM strategy, from definition to continual service improvement * Gain a different way of looking at an ITSM tool implementation, thinking outside the toolbox first * Obtain a sample roadmap and an understanding of what BC did at each phase
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The University of the West Indies is a regional higher education institution based in the Caribbean. In its strategic plan 2012–17, the UWI recognizes the importance of leveraging ICT to gain a competitive advantage, improve decision-making processes, and become an information-driven organization. This comes at a time when the organization faces increased competition, severe resource constraints, and economic and political pressures to perform. We will illustrate using an example from the UWI–St. Augustine campus how an organization can successfully implement a BI system in face of challenges inherent in business intelligence.Outcomes: Understand and appreciate the challenges organizations face when implementing BI systems, how these can be addressed through the implementation of a proper BI strategy * Learn and apply basic tools and methodologies to create a sound BI strategy for your organization * Adopt and implement various standards that can be used to support BI operations within your organization
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