ITSS Technology Strategy Principles

ITSS Technology Strategy Principles

1.ITSS will define and promote one technology strategy.

2.ITSS’ strategy will be understood and endorsed by clients and support their needs.

3.Technology strategy will trend toward uniformity, not unsustainable diversity.

4.Excellent use of technology is more important than using excellent technology.

5.ITSS will choose and demonstrate prowess in targeted areas of technology that further Stanford University’s role as innovator and leader.

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Implementing the Technology Strategy Principles

1.ITSS will define and promote one technology strategy.

A single report will be published and regularly updated which includes what technologies (i.e. products, practices, implementations) ITSS uses and promotes. This report must give current technology uses and the strategy for future direction. The ITSS strategy will be the responsibility of the ITSS Strategist in conjunction with Stanford’s academic and administrative IT leaders.

2.ITSS’ strategy will be endorsed by clients and support their needs.

There must be a documented connection between technology strategy for ITSS and client support for that direction. If the technology strategy is not reviewed and endorsed by clients of ITSS, it is not valid. An advisory board will be formed which will be charged with regular review of ITSS’ strategy and inclusion of client input. It is critical that ITSS Technology Strategy answer client questions clearly and demonstrably.

3.Technology strategy will trend toward uniformity, not unsustainable diversity.

Technology implementations and product diversity will be actively controlled by the ITSS published technology strategy. This strategy will deliberately and openly make choices limiting the branching of IT architectures, product selections and operational implementations.

4.Excellent use of technology is more important than using excellent technology.

The ITSS strategic master plan will provide a framework from which IT project managers, developers, systems administrators, etc. will work within. This will free them from having to reinvent commonly used technologies. The focus will be on the quality of the implementation and resulting service rather than on using the latest technology.

5.Focal areas of technology prowess are identified and supported.

Stanford University is among an elite echelon of academic institutions in the world. The expectations of Stanford’s IT leadership are correspondingly high. ITSS technology strategy must respond to this expectation by choosing specific target technologies which demonstrate this leadership prowess.

Concrete steps

Short to medium term deliverables

Formation of core of advisory board within n months/weeks

When the draft of strategy will be completed

Leadership

Informing

Auditing

After 6 months of analysis define selected areas of prowess

The Role of the Technology Strategist at Stanford University

The newly created Strategist position will act as a bridge between and evangelist to several groups of stakeholders regarding the future of IT at Stanford University. Some of those interest groups are:

IT Leaders (outside and inside ITSS)

Academic Community

Administrative Leaders

IT Technical Staff

Technology Manufacturers

Peer and Business Institutions

Input needed:

Academic and administrative mission within each major stakeholder area

Identify and broker contacts with technology decision makers at Stanford University

ITSS Business and Service Strategy

Areas of IT Architectural concentration working as an strategy and integration team:

Networking

Infrastructure

Application

Data

What is needed from each of these roles:

Comprehensive understanding in respective technology concentration (not just within their respective division of ITSS)

Strong understanding of the interrelation of the four IT areas

Produce proposals defining architecture across Stanford University for given concentration areas

Commitment to work together and integrate directions to form unified technology strategy

Seen as credible and fair by technical staff

What is needed from the Executive Directors for these roles to succeed:

Support the recommendations of these technology leaders and the collective decisions

Entree into forums where campus IT decision makers and stakeholders work

Enforce the endorsed strategy policy

Enunciate one uniform technology strategy