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Issue # 1: Funding IT
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Component
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Common Problem
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TeamDynamix
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TD Tools
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The Spelling Commission challenge for more accountability, efficiency and transparency
with respect to Higher Education IT.
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CIO credibility becomes damaged when they cannot clearly demonstrate efficiency
gains, improve project performance or clearly report the status of all IT work as
it aligns with objectives and resource capacity.
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Clear and simple dashboard reporting, centralization of data, ease of use and embedded
communication tools
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CIOs asked to demonstrate value in exchange for funding support.
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Key IT initiatives are not funded when accomplishments are not clearly tracked putting
the CIO further behind in their ability to support the organization and achieve
new objectives.
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- Clearly demonstrate performance
- Clearly demonstrate project-driven objectives
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TDPortfolio Planning, TDPortfolio Analysis
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Increases in funding likely to depend on the CIO's ability to align spending with
support for institutional priorities.
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IT may struggle to clearly or impartially tie IT spendingand future needs to organization
objectives.
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- Clear alignment of proposed spending to goals of institution, department and leadership
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TDPortfolio Planning, TDPortfolio Analysis
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An adaptive planning model to help ensure IT alignment and agile responses to changing
needs.
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Without objective visibility into which projects should be postponed or canceled
in favor of high priority projects, "shoehorned" initiatives constrain current project
schedules, postpone project benefits and decrease the quality of service to the
organization.
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- Clearly evaluate and demonstrate the impacts of new project opportunities
- Guarantee that internal customers clearly understand costs of adjusting the project
schedule
- Adaptable solution
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TDPortfolio Planning, TDPortfolio Analysis, TDProjects
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Issue #2: Security
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Component
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Common Problem
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TeamDynamix
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TD Tools
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IT security not viewed as a spending priority.
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CIOs at risk as security projects fail to be funded, making IT vulnerable. If exploited,
this volatile combination results in blamed CIO.
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- Clearly demonstrate importance of security initiatives to drive prioritization
and spending
- Achieve stakeholder and team buy-in
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TDPortfolio Planning, TDPortfolio Analysis
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Issue #3: Administrative/ERP/Information Systems
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Majority of EDUCAUSE members have or are close to implementing ERP.
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After ERP project, resources need a simple structure to be refocused on support,
maintenance and basic project work.
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- Create a simple structure to plan and track annual maintenance and upgrades
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TDPortfolio Planning, TDProjects, TDTicketing
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Institution has sustainable resources to improve and maintain systems.
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Tremendous increases in quantity of systems supported by IT lead to difficulties
to completing projects on time due to lack of visibility into resource priorities,
current workloads, capacity and planning tools to allocate enough resource for planned
work.
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- Maintain a clear understanding of resources capacity to avoid bottlenecks increasing
cost, delaying projects and missing expectations
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TDPortfolio Analysis, TDProjects, TDTicketing
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Issue #7: Infrastructure
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Component
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Common Problem
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TeamDynamix
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TD Tools
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IT project delivery schedules become increasingly limited while integration, security
and maintenance requirements become more complex.
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The project volume increases, driving higher requirements of existing resources
and resulting in higher budget risk, schedule risk, technical risk and project failure.
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- Control your environment
- Force leadership to make conscious, objective choices about projects
- Ensure a higher rate of project success
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TDPortfolio Planning, TDNext
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Issue #8: Strategic Planning
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Component
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Common Problem
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TeamDynamix
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TD Tools
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IT leadership must create an efficient strategy for IT environments that change
rapidly and will continue to change within the context of the institutions strategic
direction.
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Without objective visibility into which projects should be postponed or canceled
in favor of high priority projects, "shoehorned" initiatives constrain current project
schedules, postpone project benefits and decrease quality of service to the organization.
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- Clear understanding of best options to facilitate changing environment
- A solution that facilitates maturity while maintaining simplicity
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TDPortfolio Planning, TDAnalysis, TDProjects, TDTicketing, TDAdmin (configuration)
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IT needs to focus on specific contributions to achieve the organization's strategic
goals.
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Without processes, tools and transparency, CIOs are viewed as non-strategic order
takers.
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- Graphically demonstrate projects and requests providing the most value to the
organization and individual departments
- Give internal customers new information to help achieve their objectives fastest
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TDPortfolio Analysis, TDPortfolio Planning
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IT needs to demonstrate that the strategic plan is connected to the strategic foci
of the institution.
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Higher education leadership cannot easily understand how the multitude of IT projects
directly supports the institution's goals, making funding and priority-setting very
challenging.
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- Clear alignment of projects with objectives
- Easy to present to internal customers
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TDPortfolio Analysis, TDPortfolio Planning
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IT needs a communication plan to inform all constituents about IT planning activities
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IT can be perceived as a "black hole" into which projects go and seldom return,
resulting in lack of trust of and animosity toward IT.
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- Clear visibility at the organizational, program, portfolio and individual stakeholder
level
- Demonstrable value
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TDPortfolio Analysis, TDPortfolio Planning, TDClient
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The strategic plan drives the IT budget priorities and investments.
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Stakeholder "pet" projects on the CIO's agenda cause questioned and changed funding
decisions, driving resource strain, budget overruns, late projects and opportunity
cost.
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- Meaningful scorecard and metric-based prioritization model to make conscious decisions
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TDPortfolio Planning, TDPortfolio Analysis
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Accountability is built into the strategic plan with credible metrics to demonstrate
progress.
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Without adequate visibility into an organization's activities, IT leadership cannot
manage the portfolio because they cannot grasp an understanding of its performance.
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- Simple to demonstrate progress and health of projects
- Easily identify areas for corrective action
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TDPortfolio Planning, TDPortfolio Analysis, TDProjects, TDFinance, TDTicketing
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Strategic plans need to be reviewed and updated. IT needs to facilitate the participation
and buy-in of constituents from across the organization.
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Without the tools for an inclusive environment, a CIO is viewed as an island and
not considered a peer by leadership. If plans are not revisited, key opportunities
may be lost or detrimental projects may never be cancelled.
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- Provide easy access to reports and documentation to support visibility and inclusion
of leadership, committees and stakeholders
- Drive buy-in and consensus
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TDPortfolio Planning, TDPortfolio Analysis
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Issue #10: Governance, Organization and IT Leadership
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Component
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Common Problem
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TeamDynamix
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TD Tools
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Manage the allocation of IT resources.
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CIOs cannot clearly visualize how resources are being utilized, resulting in missed
expectations, project budget overruns and timeline overruns due to over-burdened
resources.
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- Clear inventory of as-is capacity plus the ability to overlay requested work to
make educated choices
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TDPortfolio Planning, TDPortfolio Analysis, TDProjects, TDFinance, TDTicketing
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Achieve balance between the needs of academic IT and administrative IT.
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CIOs cannot objectively guide institutional choices about project selection, allowing
non-objective and pet projects to creep into the project mix, reducing spending
effectiveness as it relates to achieving goals.
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- Scorecards and metrics are created to facilitate an objective balance between
the two needs
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TDPortfolio Planning, TDPortfolio Analysis
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