Vision and Strategy for Information Technology in Higher Education

Fostering a highly functional, effective, efficient, current Information technology Services in Higher Education requires the consideration of three major areas, and then a concise action plan that will remedy these areas to make the plan functional.

Information technology in higher education falls into three distinct categories. The first category day-to-day operations comprises of the basic function of information technology in any given organization(ie. keeping e-mail running, file systems, basic uptime for desktop, systems and overall network and telecommunications functions). The second category function of information technology in higher education is the strategic planning, decision making, and implementation. The third major category and by far one of the most important functions is to foster teaching and learning by keeping up to date with all new trends and tools that will be required for the education of students.

It is one thing to state the major goals of the organization but how do we as information technology professionals achieve and actively implement these goals? To achieve the goal of Day-to-day operations one must begin by listing out all of the core components of information technology functions and rate them in order of importance. There is a methodology for this practice called SLA's (service level agreements) this methodology not only allows you to prioritize all day-to-day operations but it also allows you to set expectations on turnaround time forward repairs and maintenance.

There is another favorite methodology under the information technology governance framework that lots of information technology professionals used to align the strategic goals of the institution with the information technology operation, this is called COBIT this methodology takes you step-by-step through the procedures necessary to align information technology with the overall goals of institution i.e. implementing a long-range strategic plan in consultation with all stakeholders to ensure all information technology decisions are in line and hitting in the right direction with complete understanding of all constituents.

The 3rd most difficult category for any information technology professional is the overall pedagogy and teaching and learning. This is a difficult subject for any individual to explore. It consists of two differencing interests. As each year student begin to learn in different ways, it is an ever moving target to keep students engaged in higher education without implementing massive technological tools (ie. social networking tools to overall communication and collaboration tools). The educators trained many years ago who were taught to harnessed proven methods of educating students must now also grasp the ever increasing learning curve of new technology. This becomes a unique challenge for both sides, the IT team as well as the educators themselves.

The overall vision for information technology in higher education is based on patience, understanding and solid communication. One cannot hold the point of view that any one path is right in consultation with the overall community. All decisions must be made in a methodical manner and clearly communicated to all constituents, faculty, staff, administrators and students. Only with repeated communication and clear understanding will information technology ever be effective in any higher education organization.

What is ITIL?

ITIL is the abbreviation for the guideline IT Infrastructure Library, developed by CCTA, now the OGC (Office of Governance Commerce) in Norwich (England) developed on behalf of the British government. The main focus of the development was to create mutual best practices for all British government data centers to ensure comparable services. Today ITIL is the worldwide de-facto-standard for service management and contains broad and publicly available professional documentation on how to plan, deliver and support IT service features.

What is COBIT? (Cobit is an information technology governance framework and supporting toolset that allows managers to bridge the gap between control requirements, technical issues and business risks. COBIT enables clear policy development and good practice for IT control throughout organizations. COBIT emphasizes regulatory compliance, and helps organizations to increase the value attained from information technology).