Developing an Institutional Perspective on the Information Technology Function: The Case of Cornell University

This case study examines how Cornell University took an institutional approach to analyzing and determining how IT services, investments, and costs are shared across units of the university. It addresses questions that include, How can a complex and decentralized university make more effective use of its IT resources? How can the central IT organization influence the behavior of academic units that create, and then jealously guard, their isolated pockets of IT activity? How can an institution measure the full scope of information technology costs and benefits within departments, schools, and administrative units?