A Management Perspective on Distributed Support at Rice University

In the spring of 1995, the central information technology (IT) division at Rice University began to implement a distributed model for computing support. The approach decentralized customer support into the academic divisions, and involved matrixed teams from across the IT division, the library, and existing departmental staff. This article addresses the management aspects of the transition to distributed support, focusing on the implementation process, changes that were required in migrating from a strong centralized organization to a distributed model, and the challenges encountered in the implementation. This article is an updated version of a CAUSE95 conference presentation (CNC9527).