University of Limerick Information Technology Division VISION DOCUMENT Note: This Document is not a Strategic Plan or an IT Strategy; it outlines the vision, steps and components that will be developed by ITD to create the IT Strategy for the University for the years 2015-18
A. INTRODUCTION Table of Contents Section Page A. Introduction 3 B. Strategy at a Glance 4 C. Philosophy 5 D. Operating Principles 7 E. Determining Demand 10 F. Governance 14 G. Annually Adjusted IT Priorities 15 H. Supply and Control 19 I. Risk Assessment and Control 21 J. Conclusion and Next Steps 21 Version 4.0
The Information Technology Division (ITD) of the University of Limerick (UL) is pleased to present its vision for the construction of the University IT Strategy 2015-18. The purpose of this document is to outline the underlying beliefs and principles which will guide ITD s approach to constructing the strategy and also the components which will exist within the finished plan. This document will be presented to the Executive Committee to ratify the proposed approach as well as the Interim Priorities which will be the focus of ITD s efforts until the full process to develop the IT Strategy can be completed. As with all strategic processes there will be significant stakeholder engagement in the planning process as it moves forward. On the following page the components and underlying beliefs and principles of the IT strategy are represented in graphical format. The pages which follow will provide further detail on how these components will be addressed and expanded to create the IT Strategy 2015-18. Ian McKenzie Director Information technology Division University of Limerick March 2014
B. STRATEGY AT A GLANCE Data Governance University Strategic Plan Ideas and Committees Application User Groups Technology Portfolio IT Services & Processes Strategic Technology Maps University Business Model Formal IT Governance IT Staffing/ Development Plan IT Financial Management IT Metrics Departmental and University Strategic Documents Business Objective Mapping IT Procurement Governance Enterprise Architecture IT Sourcing Project & Portfolio Management
C. PHILOSOPHY The following concepts underpin all activities undertaken by ITD Balanced Approach ITD believes that all issues must be tackled with the elements of People, Processes, Business needs and Technology in mind. Technology is only one piece of the puzzle and all four elements must be considered and addressed equally in any technology venture. Neglecting one element will result in unstable or inefficient systems and/or processes. Delivering Value In implementing technology, planning training or managing a portfolio of projects consideration must be given to the impact of the activity. A mature organisation should always utilise a blend of approaches which facilitate maintaining existing operations, Improve processes and also promote Innovation to transform existing practices. The division of time dedicated to each area will be shaped by internal governance. Time, Cost and Quality Dimensions All aspects of IT operations must be considered in terms of Time, Quality and Cost. These factors impact on each other and a measured approach must be pursued to find balance. Whilst it may be possible to gain value and efficiencies in two dimensions at one time, these will generally result in a negative impact on the third dimension.
Benefits Realisation ITD s practices should be firmly rooted in the principles of Benefits Realisation. All processes and actions should be constantly evaluated by asking are we doing the right things, are we doing them the right way, are we doing them well and are we getting the benefits from the time, money and resources we are investing. Internal and external factors will drive operating objectives which in turn will highlight planned benefits and business changes. Technology is used to enable change to realise these benefits. Governance processes should be utilised to continue activities which deliver the planned benefits and discontinue those which do not. Nexus of Forces The Nexus of Forces coined by Gartner in 2012 lies at the heart of ITD s approach. The impact of Mobile devices and applications, Cloud technologies, social platforms and the huge increase in the potential of institutional data is fundamentally changing the education and Business landscape. Consumerization of IT and the explosion of personal devices and the desire of students and staff to use these in their work/ learning practices are also having a major impact. As a Division and organization it is our belief that these forces must be embraced and leveraged for our application of IT to remain useful and relevant to the organisation and its customers.
D. OPERATING PRINCIPLES The following principles will guide all ITD Department implementations. They act as high level guidelines which will inform operational strategies which will be developed as part of the IT Operational Plan. These principles are not end goals in themselves, but guideposts for action and decision making. PRINCIPLES Service ITD will develop operational policies and procedures to position itself as a quality provider of support related services to students, staff and faculty. These processes will constantly aim to improve responsiveness, support delivery and stakeholder satisfaction. ITD believes that on-going front line support of existing services is just as critical as development of new initiatives and priorities. Quality ITD bases and has accredited many of our processes on ISO 9001:2000 Quality principles. ITD undertakes to: Establish effective and efficient processes; Implement these processes; Monitor the processes at appropriate intervals; Find ways of understanding customer perceptions of performance, and Continually seek to improve the effectiveness of our systems, the processes and services being supplied. Sustainability All projects which are implemented should be evaluated for sustainability in terms of available resources across the four quadrants of Business/Learning, Technology, People and Process. ITD will continue to provide high level advice to the Executive Committee and to advocate for sufficient monetary, physical and human resources to ensure that all projects which are implemented are sustainable in the longer term and meet the business and teaching and learning needs of the University. Balance must also be maintained between on-going support initiatives and activities to build the capacity of IT systems and processes to deliver new and enhanced services. Stability ITD will implement strategies to improve the stability of the current IT systems on campus. This includes planning for the replacement and consolidation of existing systems, building of redundant systems to protect against single points of failure and investigating outsourcing and service level agreements to improve, maintain and replace aging systems to reduce system PERFORMANCE METRICS Level of stakeholder satisfaction on customer surveys and feedback Quality statistics presented and reviewed at monthly and quarterly quality meetings, including SLA performance, customer feedback and process reviews Level of presence and consideration of all four elements (Business, People, Process, Technology) in project plans for major project implementations System availability statistics and service outage data (reviewed as part of quality process)
down time. This includes investing in system monitoring technologies and other proactive strategies to monitor, manage and troubleshoot system level performance issues and possible failure points before they occur. Governance ITD will implement full cycle Governance structures backed by formalised portfolio and project management methodologies. This will boost stakeholder engagement in the decision making processes which will drive major developmental activities of the Division. Governance processes will ensure that benefit realisation approaches are pursued in order to ensure that limited time, money and resources are dedicated to those areas which are of the greatest strategic importance to the University. IT Governance will need to be aligned with other existing Governance bodies within the University. Scalability ITD will constantly seek to review existing and new technology implementations to ensure that capacity exists for future growth and expansion. System purchases and implementation strategies are required to incorporate scalable designs for greater flexibility in order to be responsive to future periods of rapid growth, unexpected expansion or additional program needs. Security The design and implementation of IT Systems within the University will meet reasonable levels of security consistent with the level of confidentially or risk involved with the related systems. Security should be sufficient to protect key systems and infrastructure, but not so unreasonably high to make systems and services difficult to use and access. In short, the level of security should match the systems and data they are protecting. System integration is also covered in this principle, as the University should continue to move towards centrally managed authentication, identity management and single sign on models. Strategic Alignment ITD will seek to design its operations and implementation strategies to align more closely with the academic goals and mission of the University. This will ensure that departmental activities and implementations are consistent with the pedagogical needs and requirements of faculty in order to deliver appropriate 21 st Century tools to support teaching and learning. Standardization Where possible ITD will strive to adopt principles of standardization in the roll out of hardware and software. The balance must be found to ensure that standardization practices improve the ease of use of the technology by staff and faculty and students rather than hinder it. ITD will work to promote Governance review, determining benefits delivered from commissioned projects compared to projected benefits, alignment between available resources, commissioned projects and objectives of University Strategic plan Responsiveness to approved requests for provision of computing resources including but not limited to metrics such as average deploy time for new servers and modifications to applications in standard workstation build. Security metrics including successful blocking of security breach attempts, spam and malware infections. Monitoring of number service outage or disruption events due to security related incidents. Percentage of ITD time and resources which can be linked directly to achievement of objectives and KPIs of University Strategic Plan Number of systems in operation across two or more faculties. Number of frameworks in place for Faculties and Schools to procure from and implement common systems. Degree of
itself as a coordinating force to increase collaboration and sharing amongst faculty areas to reduce costs and duplication and add to the consistency of the student experience. Engagement and Communication ITD will pursue an agenda of engagement with our customers, clients and stakeholders. ITD believes that it is important to communicate regularly and in a timely manner with those impacted by changes in services and to consult widely in designing new services and systems. ITD will also look beyond the UL Campus and will seek to engage with other National and International bodies to learn from and contribute to best practice and policy in the areas of Information Technology and Education. usage of open standards for development and data interchange. Stakeholder feedback and satisfaction. Performance metrics related to communication. Level of engagement with external entities (National and International)
E. DETERMINING DEMAND The demand proposition of the IT Strategy will target a number of key areas and will utilise a number of tools to determine the demand requirements from the University community. These areas are explored below A) University Strategic Plan Pioneering and Connected, the University Strategic Plan 2011-15 will be a key driver of the IT Strategy for the University. Enhancing the Student Experience, increasing the depth and impact of the University s Research Profile, sharpening our International Focus and contributing to the economic, educational, social and cultural life of Ireland and the Shannon region will all be critical drivers in influencing and determining the strategy and direction around the way IT is used within the organisation. ITD will also seek to play an influential part in shaping future Institutional Strategic Plans B) University Business Model ITD believes that in order for Technology to be an enabler of institutional success, the institution must first clearly define its business model and strategic orientation. The choices and deployments
in the areas of People, Process and Technology should be clearly guided by this direction and will differ greatly dependent on the approach or business model adopted by the institution. It is the intention of ITD to work with the Executive Leadership of the University to define this model to guide our IT strategy. Although it is accepted that most institutions will have certain elements of all the quadrants above, it should be understood that they will be dominate in one main area and cannot be all of them at the same time. 'Only Us U': Brilliance for Market" This is the most conservative model, typified by institutions such as Harvard and Oxford. These intuitions rely heavily on creating a sense of exclusivity while showing the highest publicly recognized academic standards. Technology adoption is likely to be more customized and peopleintensive. These institutions will often expend large sums of money for technology to deliver a high degree of flexibility and uniqueness. 'Me Not U': Edge in Market" These institutions focus on providing the student with a personal edge in the market or a specific community. This approach is typified by Business schools such as Harvard Business School or INSEAD. There is high focus on Alumni and building of networks for advancement and engagement long after graduation. Technology has less emphasis, however protection of intellectual property and use of social networks to build linkages between the institution, students and Alumni are critical. 'Everybody's U': Scale of Market" This model is the most common and would include the majority of higher education globally. This is essentially education for the masses with a focus on fuelling the knowledge economy. Technology choices are often built around enhancing cost-efficiency and scalability for both administration and education practices. 'All About U': Speed to Market" This model is about personalisation or educational experiences where usefulness to the individual rather than accreditation drives the curriculum. The Open University in the UK is one such example. The aim here is mass personalisation and speed to market. MOOCs could be considered a product of this model and other technology choices will be influenced by distributed delivery, virtual worlds, social e-learning platforms and self-service. Because of the scale involved, efficiency and cost also remains a major driver in technology choice. C) Ideas and Committees Within any dynamic institution a number of ideas and concepts relating to the way that IT can add value will emerge. These may come through formal groups such as committees and sub committees or also through informal means such as departmental meetings or peer discussions. ITD will develop a number of strategies to allow for the capture and promotion of these ideas through to formal governance structures to allow the evaluation and assessment of these ideas for their potential to add future value to the University.
D) Strategic Technology Maps Once the strategic orientation of the organization is determined a Strategic Technology Map will be developed. This map is NOT a portfolio of technologies for adoption, but instead acts as menu of technologies to choose from. This map tries to answer the question of "What key investments in information technology will be most strategic in positioning the institution for long-term success in fulfilling its mission?". Below are two sample maps for the Everyone s U and All About U models. These are samples only and represent only a few technologies which may be identified. All About U Map Everybody s U Map E) Departmental and University Strategic Documents As part of the University IT Strategy, ITD will regularly monitor and review the strategic plans of other departments and entities. Also included in this review would be other strategic documents from within the University (eg Engaged learning, UL Graduate Attributes Statement, Broadening the Curriculum, UL-HEA Mission Based Performance Compact and and the Institutional Review of the University of Limerick. Within the expectation that these plans and documents will begin to break down and operationalize the overall organisational strategic plan, these review processes will be a critical component in the production of the Business Alignment maps indicated in item F) below. F) Business Alignment Maps Once the strategic orientation of the University is established (A, B, C and E) and a range of technologies identified based on strategic technology mapping (D), the process of mapping business alignment can begin. This process utilises the menu of technologies (D) in order to build business maps to deliver value against the priorities of the organisation. The below is a sample map. ITD would undertake to complete a full mapping exercise as part of the strategic planning process. These technologies would not be implemented in isolation but would be closely tied to Business Outcomes and People and Process dimensions. These maps and plans would be ratified and prioritised for implementation through IT Governance structures
Business Priority Sharpen International Focus Business Initiatives Study Abroad Program Increase International Student Enrolment Expand program offerings to International Distance Learning Market IT Initiatives and Dependencies Social Network Platform Student CRM Virtual Classrooms Establish Educational Technology and Instructional Design Function
F. GOVERNANCE DATA GOVERNANCE ITD will embark on a process to improve the way data is managed within the University. In order to effectively govern data management ITD will work with various University stakeholders to identify and classify the various data sets in use within our information systems. To achieve this, the three ring model (below) will be used. The central ring or Master Data Management process is the most critical as it involves data which is shared or referenced by all important business processes in the organisation. The middle ring involves data which is used by a large number of users and business processes and is shared across several discrete or a suite of systems. The outer ring is reserved for data used by few end users and a small number (or single) business process. The order in which governance processes are developed and the degree to which management processes are localised or centralised will depend on how far from the centre of the ring data is located. APPLICATION USER GROUPS IT PROCUREMENT GOVERNANCE ITD believes that the staff, faculty and students who make use of IT systems should have an advisory and consultative role in the ways those systems are used and changed over time. ITD would seek to build on the success of the SI Users group to form Application User Groups for other key applications within the University. Given the large number of systems in use, groups would only be established for the largest most critical applications. These groups would provide governance oversight and change control approval for any major changes to the operation of the application. The groups may also develop larger project proposals for submission to an institution wide IT Governance structures. The groups would also be tasked with prioritising and ranking smaller development works related to the application where the demand to make changes or improvements may exceed the available resources to deliver those developments. ITD will continue to work alongside the local and regional procurement functions to ensure procurement policies in the area of IT are adhered to. ITD will also undertake to establish and coordinate a number of IT equipment and software purchasing frameworks to allow other departments within the University to take advantage of pre-approved and streamlined procurement processes. As part of the IT strategy ITD will also investigate establishment of IT Procurement Governance structures to ensure that all IT purchases within the university reduce duplication, are in
FORMAL IT GOVERNANCE line with the strategic aims and priorities of the University and also are beneficial to enhancing the student experience. As part of the development of the University IT Strategy ITD will develop a formal IT Governance structure to facilitate the submission, evaluation, prioritisation and resourcing of key University projects with a substantial IT component. This structure will facilitate proposals and developments from both academic and corporate sides of the institution. It is expected that the structure will be developed across two tiers with a larger more inclusive group performing the initial ranking and assessment of projects in order to submit a proposed portfolio of projects to a smaller group such as the Executive Committee for review and finalisation. The structure will endeavour to build a portfolio of projects from the three categories espoused within ITD s philosophical framework- run, improve and innovate. The project selection and prioritisation process will provide flexibility for those project proposers who are seeking only approval and not funding ; and will give a higher weighing to projects submitted and already approved by other standing governance groups within the University. The overall aim of the governance structure is to ensure that IT projects given the highest priority are those which will give the highest current strategic benefit to the organisation. The structure will also act as an oversight committee for large projects as well as the overall portfolio to ensure that projects will only continue to exist if they are delivering the benefits to the University which were documented during the approval process.
G. ANNUALLY ADJUSTED IT PRIORITIES The Governance Process will determine a set of annually reviewed IT priorities. However it is expected that the creation of the IT Strategy could take some time to complete and to fully operationalize. To allow ITD to move forward in meeting the needs of the University the following have been identified as Interim Priorities and once endorsed by the Executive Committee they will continue to represent the areas of strategic work of ITD. These areas have been developed through stakeholder engagement and consultation as well as internal gap analysis exercises completed within the Division. The IT Governance structures developed under this strategy will either ratify these areas for continued development or will recommend their winding down in preference for new areas of strategic focus. The new positions column indicates new positions which have been created within ITD through role consolidation or reassignment to address these areas. These positions have been created within the current ITD Staffing budget Area Description Examples of Strategies Matching to New Positions Governance Development of formal project and portfolio approval and prioritisation structures to ensure time and resources - Create a two tiered IT Governance structure to receive, prioritise and select projects for inclusion into the overall IT Portfolio Head Governance, Portfolio and Quality Management devoted to IT related projects are in line with the strategic goals of the University. - Create oversight structures to review performance of current projects in terms of benefits realisation against the strategic priorities of the University *Deputy Director Operations - Formalise role of Application user Groups Strategic Planning Portfolio Management Development of a 2014-2016 ITD strategic plan which is aligned with the University s Pioneering and Connected plan and integrated with the Divisions ISO 9001 Quality Assurance processes Create formal Project selection/ submission process to screen and prioritize projects for acceptance and implementation. Aim to reduce University funds spent on IT projects which do not - Formalisation of the steps outlined in this vision document - Formation of a stakeholder and Executive decision group - Implement Portfolio management tool for tracking project performance and deliverables - Form Project management Office (PMO) *Deputy Director Operations Head Governance, Portfolio and Quality Management *Deputy Director
complete, create duplication or do not align with strategic focus of the institution. Operations Project Management Procurement Governance IT and the Student Experience Communication with Students Increase the role of ITD as a resource and management agent for projects funded by individual divisions/ departments Implement formal project management framework to add structure and efficiency to the process of managing the implementation of IT related projects. Reduce risk due to adoption of project management best practices facilitated by industry standard frameworks and methodologies Partner with Procurement and Finance offices to implement formal governance processes related to IT equipment purchases at the institutional level. Reduce costs and duplication through coordinated procurement practices facilitated by approved policies and procedures. Improve consistency and ease of access to technology systems across faculty areas through establishment of common procurement frameworks Drive consistency in the student experience through promoting joint technology implementations across faculty areas. Consolidate technology platforms to reduce the number of systems in operation across the University which deliver similar functionality. Increase communication and collaboration with students and their representative bodies on campus when reviewing designing, planning and delivering new - Implement PMBOK as approved formal project management framework - Utilise PMO as a means to develop greater use of cross sectional/ functional teams with ITD and UL as a whole - Conduct formalised training for staff in PMBOK - Join Project management Institute (PMI) - Integrate IT procurement activities with wider IT Governance activities - Identify duplication and improve processes for sharing and standardising of IT systems and platforms - Build UL procurement guidelines for IT purchases over a given value - Develop IT procurement frameworks to improve and simplify IT purchasing activities for departments and faculties - Investigate virtual learning environments and technology interactions from the student experience to identify improvement areas - Improve linkages with the Students Union to gain student perspectives on It related issues - Identify areas for improvement for students (eg cloud printing, wireless coverage) - Develop closer links with Students Union for advice on student related issues - Increase the use of social media to provide information and gain feedback from students Head Governance, Portfolio and Quality Management Head Governance, Portfolio and Quality Management Manager Educational Technology Manager Educational Technology
and existing IT Services Facilitating Research IT Architecture planning Business Process Improvement (BPI) Business Intelligence (BI) Embrace the support of increasing research output as an ITD strategic priority. Develop and support technology platforms which directly support researchers as well as administrative offices and centres supporting research activities and funding submissions Develop an IT Enterprise Architecture (EA) plan for the university to act as a blue print to drive technology adoption and integration. Develop rolling replacement plans for core infrastructure based on strategic rather than reactive drivers Build formal BPI functionally in ITD to advise and assist in the redesign of business processes and workflows to produce efficiencies in business and learning operations. Adopt a benefits realisation approach to developing strategies and platforms for delivery of strategic business intelligence solutions to the organisation to facilitate effective data driven decision making - Investigate the enhancement of linkages of the Research Information System (RIS) with other University systems - Improve reporting and data analysis to provide improved insight and access to data for the submission of research funding proposals - Facilitate discussion and collaboration on the use of tools and computer systems to promote research activities within the University. - Develop EA Plan integrated with other processes and structures within the Division - Investigate the feasibility of creating a joint EA/Security role within ITD - Implement TOGAF 9.1 EA framework - Develop a 5 year IT Infrastructure replacement and investment plan with a focus on the areas of run, improve and innovate - Incorporate BPI capabilities into Head of Enterprise Solutions role - Participate in UL Business Efficiency Task Force established by the Executive committee - Train ITD staff in formal BPI methodology practices - Allocate a proportion of ITD budget for outside expertise in BPI practice until internal capabilities can be developed - Incorporate BI function into Enterprise Solutions section - Investigate feasibility of the development of a Corporate Data Warehouse as a single point of truth for BI and reporting activities - Reduce reporting activities from transactional systems - Address Data Quality issues globally across all UL IT Systems Manager Educational Technology Deputy Director Operations Head Enterprise Solutions *Deputy Director Operations Head Enterprise Solutions *Deputy Director Operations Head Governance, Portfolio and Quality Management
Identity Management Disaster Recovery (DR) and resilience of Core Applications Collaboration and Shared Services (CC DIR Network) Address issues of identity management including but not limited to creation and removal of accounts for staff and students, determining roles of staff and students and defining access rights based on those roles. Ensuring IT and physical access rights are consistent and compliant with data protection legislation. Build capacity and redundancy with core business and learning applications to allow fail over operations to an alternate site if the active instance suffers disruption. Develop complementary procedures to facilitate high availability and continued operations while fault diagnosis and rectification can occur on original systems Actively engage with the Computer Centre Director s group as well as local consortium members to examine methods of collaboration to improve efficiencies, reduce costs and to drive improved learning outcomes. These engagements may range from basic sharing of best practice through to formal shared services - Review various roles of students to determine what access students should have based on role (eg enrolled, graduated, deferred, paid, unpaid etc) - Review and automate creation and disabling of staff accounts - Resolve issues related to non-unique identifiers on security access cards - Investigate identity management system to ensure tighter and more cohesive integration between access to related systems on campus - Review and streamline use of active directory and forefront identity manager processes - Incorporate Identity Management with BI initiatives - Work towards creating hot or warm site fail over capabilities for major IT systems (eg Core, SI, Agresso, AD etc) in North campus data centre - Develop plan for funding approval to install UPS and backup generator functionality on all major Server and Communications rooms - Leverage and develop existing capabilities in database systems for improved resiliency and fail over - Investigate cloud based options for system redundancy - Facilitate and support the implementation of collaboration and shared services opportunities as part of the CC DIR Collaboration Framework - Develop closer links with IT organisations at Limerick Institute of Technology and Mary Immaculate College. Head Enterprise Solutions Deputy Director Operations Deputy Director Operations *Deputy Director Operations *- where indicated the appointment of the Deputy Director Operations will allow the Director ITD to be relied from current operational duties to work on these strategic areas
H. SUPPLY AND CONTROL In order to meet the demands of the University including: 1. Determined IT Priorities from the Determine Demand process 2. Outputs from IT Governance Structures 3. Daily Infrastructure and service delivery needs of the organisation ITD will develop within the IT strategy a number of Supply and Control elements. The areas which will be developed are: Element 1. Technology Portfolio ITD will maintain an up-to-date record of the current technology portfolio. This will include all major categories of Technology under the management of ITD and those technologies which are not centrally managed but can be identified. Aims It is expected that this Technology Portfolio will be represented on a customised visual representation of the Gartner Hype Cycle specific to UL s position in relation to the technology adoption. The categories of the hype cycle are: -Innovation Trigger -Peak of Inflated Expectations -Trough of Disillusionment -Slope of Enlightenment - Plateau of Productivity A sample Hype Cycle is shown below: