March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 1 Copyright Sunny Donenfeld, This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.

The IT Managers Council at Cornell University Improving Communication and Coordination Between Central and Local IT Staff and Operations NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts March 21, 2006

NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 3 A Decentralized Environment Only a third of IT staff and operations at Cornell located centrally  Central IT FTEs: 297/822: 36% of total IT  Central IT Budget*: $25.4/68.9M: 37% of total IT Cultural gap between Cornell’s central and local IT  Pedestrians vs. drivers * Does not include benefits

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 4 Cultural and Organizational Context Current, historical communication and coordination issues across IT at Cornell Gap between central and local IT  “CIT is isolated from the schools seemingly by institutional design.” Mutual respect at the individual level  Distrust at the organizational level But, relationships are changing

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 5 Effects of the Gap Ineffective purchasing Duplicate technologies Additional staffing Impact beyond IT  Administrative Systems

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 6 How to Bridge the Gap? Fundamentally change the relationship between central and local IT  Central IT must better understand units  Units must articulate needs and constraints  Align expectations  Build communities of communication  Develop and promote standards

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 7 IT “Workforce Planning” History  University hiring freeze; beginning of WFP  Goal: $20M/year to the academic side 2003  IT WFP surveys: who and how many?  External Team Review for Administrative Computing  IT WFP Recommendations  Gartner Estimates No staff targets

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 8 Critical Outcome: IT Managers Council Recommendation Improve communication  Intra-unit  Across IT units Share information Plan together Help CIT and units become less isolated from each other

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 9 Critical Outcome: IT WFP Unit Plan Reviews Unit response to the IT WFP recommendations  Purpose: Alignment on roles and responsibilities  Process: Meeting with Dean/VP, Business Officer, and ITMC representative  Next Steps

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 10 ITMC Structure One representative from each major college, administrative unit, and CIT area  A large, eclectic group  You’re not “you”, you’re your unit  Theoretically, all Cornell IT is in the room A note on positive side effects…

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 11 ITMC Goals Collaborate on substantive issues that will benefit Cornell as a whole  Improve software and hardware acquisition  Promote career development, advancement, and training  Recommend standards  Build connections with HR, Purchasing, others The ITMC will compel units to “take responsibility for the success of their programs as well as improve the likelihood that their needs are met.”

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 12 ITMC Challenges The makeup of the group  Various levels of authority within the units  Different sized units The size of the council Intra-unit communication  Don’t count on it!

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 13 ITMC in Action: Disaster Recovery Planning Board of Trustees query: Cornell preparedness for a Tulane-like disaster Original response from central IT Task force set up Charge  Backup software and off-site copies  Cold site  Quick-ship

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 14 ITMC in Action: Help Desk Issue Tracking System Central system replacement Identification by ITMC Best Practices Committee Collaborative project

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 15 Recent Issue: Client Central neglected to inform campus Local abstained from the blame game How and when to leverage the ITMC?

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 16 ITMC Committee Evolution: Focus on Tangible Change ITMC Operational Procedures IT Professional Development Software Acquisition IT Proven Practices

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 17 Operational Procedures Committee Responsible for developing a set of structures and procedures that enhance the effectiveness of the ITMC and thereby maximize the contribution of this council.

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 18 Operational Procedures Challenges Size and makeup of the ITMC  36 Campus IT Leaders 12 Central 15 Academic Units 9 Administrative Units Managing discussion at monthly, 90 minute meetings Building trust despite history

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 19 Professional Development Committee Responsible for exploring and recommending optimal strategies to facilitate the development of IT professionals in alignment with Workforce Planning and other university initiatives.

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 20 Professional Development Initiatives IT professional training Professional development conference Cross-divisional job exploration

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 21 Software Acquisition Committee Responsible for exploring and recommending optimal strategies for the campus-wide acquisition of computer software.  Develop and recommend policies for software acquisition that maximize efficient and cost- effective software purchase and use and that minimize university risk  Work to ensure good communication of software purchase choices and trade-offs throughout the Cornell community

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 22 Software Acquisition: Current Discussions Improving communication between CIT Software Licensing and the rest of campus Advising the Purchasing Office and CIT's central software acquisition team on policies and strategic directions Exploring whether cost savings created by central licensing are accurately reflected in funding

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 23 Proven Practices Committee Committee’s charge is to collect and document internal IT practices in order to:  promote their use when they would help increase IT effectiveness and efficiency  facilitate inter-unit communication and collaboration  establish and promote Cornell standard best practices  identify and prioritize technical areas in need of campus-wide solutions

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 24 Best Practices Initiatives Focus on desktop support  University-wide help desk system  Departmental IT policy library Job description library

March 21, 2006 NERCOMP 2006 Worcester, Massachusetts 25