The Crisis in Information Technology Support: Has Our Current Model Reached Its Limit?
- Published:
- Briefs, Case Studies, Papers, Reports
- Author(s) and Contributors:
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Author(s): Toby Sitko Polley McClure
- Source(s) and Collection(s):
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Sources(s): EDUCAUSE Publications
- ParentTopics:
Abstract
CAUSE Professional Paper #16 focuses on one of the most serious problems facing our profession today: the difficulty of providing the level and quality of support demanded by our customers. The paper claims that "Fundamental changes taking place in higher education make old models of information technology support inappropriate and insufficient." It describes the current problems and ways in which they differ from those of the past, and suggests a new support model. The paper identifies three primary issues which characterize this crisis: overwhelming demands on central information technology (IT) organizations, deterioration of support quality, and the scapegoating of central IT organizations. The solution is a holistic approach to support, with a "whole-product" focus based on customer needs and a reliable baseline information infrastructure. Publication of this paper was sponsored by Adobe Systems, Inc.