UNE Information Technology Strategic Plan

Transcription

1 UNE Information Technology Strategic Plan Our strategy is to take the good things we have learned about IT in the last few years and refocus it all on helping UNE staff and students.

2 In order to achieve the University strategy two themes will resonate throughout IT over the next three years: Collaboration & Innovation UNE - Winner of the Systems Thinking Australian and New Zealand University IT Service Quality Student Satisfaction Award 2011.

3 Contents Executive Summary... 2 Current Landscape... 2 Future Landscape... 2 UNE Key Directions... 3 The Strategic IT Capability...4 Summary & Plan... 5 Key Priority Initiatives for 2012:... 5 Key Priority Initiatives for 2013/14:... 5 Approach...6 Green IT...6 Measuring Success...6 IT Strategic Principles State & Future State... 7 IT Strategy on a Page... 7 Acknowledgments... 7 Summary of IT Tactical Goals...8 Translation of Strategic intent & Strategy to activity...9 Appendix State Appendix 2 Future State Appendix 3 IT Strategy on a Page

4 Executive Summary Current Landscape Information Technology is recognised by the UNE executive as underpinning our ability to execute effectively in the tertiary sector and remains one of the key strategic channels for the University to achieve the objectives set out in the University Strategic Plan. The future for UNE is a positive one, with significant recent recognition from Government of the Universities strategic plan and importance to the region, increases in student numbers in undergraduate and international; and significant improvement in UNE s Research capability and achievements. The recent changes to the tertiary sector including reporting to four Government agencies on a wide range of university issues now mean the University needs to be strategic in its activities to out manoeuvre the market and stay ahead in an increasingly competitive and compliant environment. Ensuring alignment of the UNE investment plans for Information Technology will increase the return on its investment to produce the maximum capability to achieve the UNE strategic plan. Future Landscape The world of information technology is one of constant change, many of the IT roles that exist today didn t exist five years ago. For many in IT the job they do today will be very different in the coming years and the IT services provided will be different in every way. How applications work, how you interact with them and how they are supported. IT at UNE is embracing the future potential that the current technological landscape offers. UNE will no longer be an isolated regional University struggling to get the technical resources it needs to survive, instead, it will have access and the ability to provide real world quality IT services to its staff and students through the new application channels and solutions coming to market over the next few years. Cloud technologies will play a big role in the transformation of IT, and roles in the IT team will change. We will still need highly skilled and excellent staff here in Armidale to provide the IT services but these roles will differ from the current mix over the next few years. As always with every technological revolution this is a time of opportunity to be embraced by all. ITD is well on the way to shaping our structure and services to be the IT team of the future, ensuring ITD remains relevant to the University needs. 2

5 UNE Key Directions When considering the key strategic drivers, the drive to increase distance education student numbers with cost effective high quality courses that will deliver increased investment into the on-campus amenities to provide a premium collegial learning environment. Drive research quantity and quality to achieve international distinction that brings the best academics and students to UNE. These in turn are driving programmes of activity that seek to support the Universities aspirations, in particular, programmes that support investments in our customer channels such as the Western Sydney Future Campus. Strategies for improving the quality of our learning systems and content with partners such as Pearson and delivering research outcomes of international recognition. In addition to these University drivers, uncertainty exists surrounding future government funding for the University which is in turn influencing a renewed focus on measuring University performance to achieve better levels of both internal and external assessment capability. It also places an increased emphasis on the need to regularly review our services and processes to ensure they are efficient and effective. 3

6 The Strategic IT Capability In addition to supporting the internal business drivers and demands from external influences, it is vital that investment in technology is also targeted towards key areas to support and grow our core business of Teaching, Learning and Research from a capability perspective. Within the IT Strategy, there are a significant number of initiatives that support the development and growth of our technology infrastructure and supporting processes. The following key initiatives come through as strongly contributing to the overall university objectives. Improve digital literacy focusing on effective technology use for both our staff and students Improve collaboration technologies to better connect people with people, and people with knowledge Focus on identity, personalisation and managing access to systems. Significant investment in high speed resilient networks Improved technologies and processes to support digital content creation and distribution The redesign of IT to deliver sustainable technology solutions, including governance Innovation to achieve objectives and improve UNE results 4

7 Summary and Plan In summary, the next three years will provide for significant changes in many of the core business process areas of the University, as well as providing for renewed focus around key competencies of technical infrastructure services. Key Priority Initiatives for 2012: Develop a highly technology enabled learning space in Western Sydney Finalise the integration of UNE and Pearson ecollege learning environments Redesign the University web presence for Web 3.0 Completion of the Academic Research Network link from Armidale to Narrabri to provide network reliance and high speed data Implementation of the Microsoft Office 365 hosted collaboration solution for UNE staff and students Implementation of the desktop enterprise system (Microsoft System Centre Configuration Manager (SCCM)) to expertly manage the PC fleet Implementation of the IT Service Management tool (ServiceNow) to provide the framework for high quality IT service delivery Review the centralised V s decentralised support structure of IT services to create alignment between UNE strategic objectives and available resources Expand the Disaster Recovery capability in Sydney to support the Finance, HR and Student Administration applications. Phase two of ITIL (Service delivery best practice framework) to raise the service delivery framework to a capability level 2/3 and improve our service standards Review UNE identity management and prepare for a core identity management system change. Development of a virtual desktop infrastructure to support end user devices and improve the UNE business continuity capability. Key Priority Initiatives for 2013/14: Upgrade student computing facilities across the campus Upgrade IT security architecture and components for high security and high availability systems Implement on-line delivery technologies for students to engage ubiquitously Upgrade the access network infrastructure for wireless in the colleges and on campus Improve and centralise the research technology capabilities for computational power, storage and access Implement a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system that improves the collaboration of UNE in everyway 5

8 Summary and Plan Approach significant change in approach A has been adopted from previous years in the development of the IT strategy. Rather than focusing on primarily IT demands and drivers, the framework applied has taken a service and functional perspective. This has altered the way in which the strategic objectives have been considered and enhanced the way in which the objectives and subsequent initiatives can be observed to align with the University s own business goals. Of note, a) This strategy starts afresh, whereas previously over the past few years, the focus has been on refreshing the strategic initiatives and budgets rather than a holistic view. b) A ground up collaborative approach was taken to engage with the Academic, General staff and the student community in the development and formalisation of the overall strategy. c) Several technical roadmaps from the ITD Operational plan have been incorporated into the IT strategy. d) This is an Information Technology strategy for UNE not a directorate only strategy. Green IT The green IT as an agenda item has had much fanfare in the last eight years, for some the novelty and usefulness of this strategy has waned in recent years, largely led by the US market. In the mid 2005 s Green IT was seen by many organisations as a sales strategy using emotion to gain buy-in to their sales model. As with many initiatives there is a hype cycle and green IT has dropped significantly on the priority list. A significant factor that has led to this is that electricity in the US is generally cheap in comparison to the Australian market and the Global Financial Crisis refocussed many on survival. The green IT issue is still a priority for IT at UNE, with the high cost of power that is set to rise in the coming years with the introduction of the Carbon Tax and the socially responsible need to do the right thing by our environment. ITD will ensure that the ongoing energy consumption of our systems is optimised and we will introduce process and services to gain further efficiencies. Measuring Success critical aspect of this strategy A is ensuring it is both being executed successfully over the set timeframe, and that the anticipated outcomes and benefits are being realised appropriately. Progress towards achievement will be monitored by the IT Management team on a monthly basis with overarching quarterly reporting to the UNE IT Advisory Group to ensure appropriate Governance and risk management. Contribution towards the objectives of both the overall IT Strategy and the University of New England Strategic objectives will be assessed on the basis of targeted contribution for the year and actual contribution. 6

9 IT Strategic Principles The University of New England overarching seven principles of the IT Strategy are: To create world-class teaching, learning and research environments both virtual and real through the implementation of innovation and excellence. To embed collaboration into the institution to facilitate the digital exchange of ideas, knowledge and expertise. To provide empowerment through support services for our Staff and Students which are based on effective best practice approaches. To provide high quality, cost effective application services, with an emphasis on speed, simplicity and stability for our users. To provide secure, sustainable and innovative information technology environments. To be measureable and accountable in the delivery of technology services. To demonstrate leadership in mobility services to staff and students State & Future State Appendices 1 and 2 are high level conceptual diagrams of the UNE IT application support arrangements and architecture. Appendices 1, demonstrates the IT position at UNE as early 2011, appendices 2 is the target state for These are high level designs and as we progress there may be changes based on technological changes and what will provide UNE the best advantage. IT Strategy on a Page Appendix 3 is a one page high level view of the entire IT strategy for 2012 to Acknowledgments The following documents have had significant input into the UNE ITD Strategic plan: UNE Strategic Plan Learning Without Limits University of Auckland IT Strategic Plan ITD Operational Plan PWC UNE IT Strategy 7

10 Summary of IT Tactical Goals ITD will embrace the following five key goals over the next three years to underpin the UNE strategic plan: Simplification Reduce complexity in our systems and processes (Failure is proportionate to the number of components) Standardisation of commodity solutions Improve processes to support efficiency Align with strategic partners to create new opportunities Engagement Establish partnerships with UNE vendors to maximise the capability of our core business systems Free our internal resources from commodity duties to add real value to IT services Ensure that IT activities and investments will generate value Value Find value through innovation and process improvement Change the business processing through the identification of technology and business solutions Reduce system running costs Be recognised as a leader in IT service provision Service Use best practices for continual review and service improvement Improve the daily life of our staff and students in their enablement of IT resources Train our IT staff to be the best they can be Capability Train our Academic, General staff and students to allow them to be as effective as they can be Resource our environment to support the business of the University Be reliable, be available, be effective 8

11 Translation of Strategic Intent & Strategy to Activity Strategic Intent Strategy Operational Activity Quality customer service experience Relationship management Business partnering/enabling Service orientated culture Right people in the role Highly skilled generalists Skill development (Tech/Service & business understanding) Effective efficient procedures Staff empowerment/confidence ITIL V3 training in foundation and certificate level PRINCE 2 Project Management training Structure Process development & review High availability university IT systems Architecture design Redundancy Hosted services DR/Continuity planned & tested Develop Enterprise Architecture (EA) Develop EA culture Rich on-line education services LMS content mgmt. LMS interface Video conference technologies Desktop collaboration tools Lecture recording services Self-service tools and portals Implement and support state of the art teaching spaces Lecture recording solution (Echo 360) Camtasia Relay for desktop recording Pearson partnership Rolling refresh of teaching spaces E-Research Services ARCS Intersect Research Master/tools Collaboration tools Research Business Analysis and advisory group Industry best practice IT standards ITIL / COBIT frameworks IT Governance Project/program Governance Change control & management Reputation development through metrics Professional contract management Implement IT Advisory Group ITIL Training PRINCE 2 Training Contract Training Scalable, efficient IT student systems Systems built with capacity planning Ease of use Meet regulatory requirements Enterprise management tool for PC fleet Enterprise Architecture Process development Security Information Officer Implement SCCM across PC fleet 9

12 Appendix State 10

13 Appendix 2 Future State 11

14 Appendix 3 IT Strategy on a Page 12

15 Robert Irving Director, Information Technology University of New England Armidale, NSW 2351 Australia Phone directorit@une.edu.au Web Produced by Production Services and Publications Office, Marketing and Public Affairs, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia. June CRICOS Provider No G