Strategies for New Circumstances

In the nine months since the economic downturn hit higher ed with full force, the resulting retrenching on our campuses has forced IT professionals to think in new ways about what they do. We have learned that the viability of our institutions cannot be taken for granted. The way we work as IT organizations has begun changing and will continue to alter dramatically in the years to come. To succeed, we will need to focus our attention on two key campus relationships: the intersections between IT leaders and campus chief business officers (CBOs), and the relationship between central and distributed IT services.

CBOs focus on money and efficiency; CIOs have a broad campus perspective and keep a pulse on automating business processes. This natural relationship between CBO and CIOs must be nurtured. Similarly, the relationship between central and distributed campus IT services should be closely examined to maximize what we have and what we do. We are past the point where we can afford overlap and role ambiguity. We must figure out how to communicate and partner better to ensure that, together, we deliver the best possible services for our institutions.

Join Bruce Maas, CIO of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, on June 16 at 1:00 p.m. EDT for a lively discussion of what we've learned so far in navigating the rough waters of 2009 and future strategies for IT organizations.