I thought it would be interesting to gaze into the future to understand what a university Information
Technology department might look like in 2025.
The following might happen as consumerization, cloud computing and
mobile devices continue to dominate the technology in the next 15 years. The following are ideas that mirror trends
that have taken place in many industries.
The first technology transformation
is the consumerization of the technology environment. Historically, higher education introduced
technology innovation to the campus community.
The ability of an individual to purchase a powerful mobile device to
connect to information resources is growing at a remarkable pace. The cost of many laptop computers and
tablets are below 500.00 and continuing to decline in price. Every university today, even the elite’s,
are unable to provide students, faculty and staff with the technology resources
they can purchase themselves today. Further,
the growth of educational sites like Kahn’s Academy and the thousands of
MOOC’s suggest a transformation is underway in delivering course content. Universities most valuable asset today is its
ability to credential a degree is valid.
So what might the future look like
for the Information Technology department?
1.
Access to information will become central to the IT
function, students will be able to take courses at many institutions and will
need the University to credential their coursework for a degree.
2.
Analytics will be a central offering of Information
Technology departments. The question is
will this function become a responsibility of the Chief Financial Officer or
the CIO.
3.
A recent presentation suggested in 2020 only 18%
of IT operations found on campuses today would remain. The remainder of the academic and
administrative applications will be purchased by individual colleges from
software vendors, not IT departments.
IT departments will be required to identify all sources of university
information to provide university officials the ability to make wise decisions.
4.
Branding will become important to a university
to attract top students and faculty.
Marketing and social networks will be critical to ensuring a University
continues to be recognized as a leading academic institution. Many of the functions now found in
Information Technology departments will become the responsibility of the Chief
Marketing Officer. It is not farfetched
to find enrollment management a function of the CMO.
5.
Computing will migrate off campus as cloud
computing gains prominence. Students have already moved to Google and Microsoft. All academic and administrative computing
will be done by boutique vendors who ensure their software meets the unique needs
of various departments. The shift has
started with major vendors like Adobe moving all their users to the cloud, many
other vendors are following. Two
companies to watch are the administrative ERP vendor Workaday and the academic
learning management software vendor Instructure. Both are the fastest growing companies in the
higher education marketplace.
6.
Campus networking functions will move to the facilities
management organization. University
administrators will understand that there is little difference in structured electrical
systems and data systems. The growth of
smart building being managed by the facilities organization will ensure the
skills necessary to successfully manage the campus network.
7.
Universities are creating a new office to
oversee all learning, often called the Associate Provost of e-Learning or the
Vice President of e-Learning. The
office will be responsible for coordinating all learning on a campus, this
would include libraries, study spaces, academic computing departments and the
teaching and learning centers.
8.
Student computing labs will cease to exist. Universities will convert student computing
lab space and library spaces into collaborative study spaces. . The emphasis on retention will be the
catalyst of the transformation. The purpose of the study space will be to
ensure all students are successful. The
study spaces will be managed by knowledge navigators and will support the
personal devices a student or faculty owns.
The responsibility of the space will be to bridge the classroom to
information resources.
9.
General administrative computing will be
available from vendors like Google, Amazon and Microsoft. Departments will replace purchasing servers
with contracting for services. Server
administrators will dwindle and application specialist will grow..
10. Research
computing will migrate to large multi-university clusters or national
labs. High-speed academic networks will
grow in importance.
Just some thoughts to consider, the
future will definitely be different than it is today. The individuals that will be difference
makers will be individuals that understand the mission of the university and
provide students and faculty with the technology necessary to be successful.
