The IT Strategic Plan: Top Down and Bottom(s) Up

Andrea Chappell, IST Project Leader

The Evolving Plan

• Top down approach: Strategy Map • Bottom up approach: Consultations • Examples of what’s emerging • Bringing it together, with Prioritization • Are we (getting) there yet? Alignment with measures #watitis2012

The IT Strategic Plan Project

To create an Information Technology (IT) Strategic Plan to advance the state of IT to meet the opportunities for University of Waterloo over the next 5 years.

A uWaterloo IT Strategic Plan, not an IST plan! Where IT should head together.

Top down: Strategy Map

• Visual representation of main elements of strategy: – Mission, Vision – Strategic Objectives (where/how you want to go) – Values • Also, associates performance indicators #watitis2012

Our Purpose (Mission) :

Evolve an exceptional, innovative IT environment to enable engagement, creativity, and impact.

V4.1 Draft uWaterloo IT Community

Our Goal for 2018 (Vision 2018) :

Enable the University’s mission through exceptional learning, teaching and research environments.

Our Promise to Our Stakeholders:

Inspiring and supporting the University of Waterloo through technology leadership and excellence. Stakeholder Enable the achievement of uW research and scholarship objectives Enable the achievement of uW teaching and student life-learning objectives Optimize the user experience Enable the optimization of administrative processes across campuses Enable University outreach activities Exchange accessible, high quality data and information when, where, and how needed Internal Process Be easy to do business with Maintain a secure, reliable, and useable information and technology environment Continuously improve and optimize IT processes, workflow, and platforms Ensure data security, integrity, and privacy Take a design approach to IT development and implementation Define IT accountabilities, responsibilities and authorities, available resources, and supports, and clearly communicate this to our Stakeholders Understand the needs of our Stakeholders Provide knowledgeable, pro-active insights, advice, and solutions through effective governance Enable timely access to the right integrated, cutting-edge information technologies Understand, foster and leverage trends and innovations in information technologies Organizational Capabilities Build a culture of pro-active support and technology leadership Build a cohesive, knowledgeable IT community across the campus Take an University-wide perspective to IT Build collaborative relationships with our Stakeholders and each other Make the necessary technology infrastructure and resource investments Optimize the allocation and use of our financial, technology, and human resources Resource Management CORE VALUES Service Openness & Collaboration Knowledge & Creativity Operational Excellence

Balanced Scorecard

• Performance measurement for the four main perspectives – Stakeholders (people who use IT services) – Internal Processes (what we do) – Organizational Capabilities (skills, capacity) – Resource Management (the money) #watitis2012

Stakeholder Perspective

• Our identified stakeholders: – Faculty – Students – Staff – Outreach areas (employees, alumni, prospective students, etc.) • How well satisfied and served they are by IT processes directed to them #watitis2012

Stakeholder Perspective

Stakeholder Enable the achievement of uW research and scholarship objectives Enable the achievement of uW teaching and student life-learning objectives Enable the optimization of administrative processes across campuses Enable University outreach activities Optimize the user experience

#watitis2012

Internal Processes

• Internal Processes – how IT runs at Waterloo – metrics help determine whether services are answering requirements (mission) #watitis2012

Internal Processes

Internal Process Exchange accessible, high quality data and information when, where, and how needed Enable timely access to the right integrated, cutting edge information technologies Be easy to do business with Continuously improve and optimize IT processes, workflow, and platforms Define IT accountabilities, responsibilities and authorities, available resources, and supports, and clearly communicate this to our Stakeholders Maintain a secure, reliable, and useable information and technology environment Ensure data security, integrity, and privacy Understand the needs of our Stakeholders Take a design approach to IT development and implementation Provide knowledgeable, pro active insights, advice, and solutions through effective governance Understand, foster and leverage trends and innovations in information technologies

#watitis2012

Organizational Capability

• Organizational Capabilities – employee development and IT overall improvement; people are the main resource – where to focus training, mentoring, communications #watitis2012

Organizational Capability

Organizational Capabilities Build a culture of pro-active support and technology leadership Take an University wide perspective to IT Build a cohesive, knowledgeable IT community across the campus Build collaborative relationships with our Stakeholders and each other

#watitis2012

Resource Management

• On what you spend money (people salaries and development, computers, software, etc.) • Timely and accurate funding data needed #watitis2012

Resource Management

Make the necessary technology infrastructure and resource investments Optimize the allocation and use of our financial, technology, and human resources Resource Management

#watitis2012

Bottom up: Existing Data

• Mid Cycle Review data (lots of IT comments) • CIO search (interviews with ~100 area leaders) • Faculty Strategic Plans (Eng, Math done) • Evolving departmental Strategic Plans • Various student feedback #watitis2012

Emerging Themes for IT

1. Enabling Research

– common services, local specialty support

2. Supporting Student-Life

– services, support to student use of technologies in life and study, environment for expanding learning

3. Enabling the Learning Environment

–IT services and support for technologies in their application to the learning environment

4. Information Management

–access to information to facilitate use of data, while maintaining security and privacy

Emerging Themes for IT

5. Governance

– transparent, effective, participatory decisions

6. Supporting Business Processes

– support admin functions by providing effective, efficient, and user friendly applications

7. Re-focusing Client Service

– focus our decisions, support, and evolution of technologies in collaboration with our users

8. Campus Integrations (Design/Architecture) –

opportunities to enable collaboration in IT support and development; federated

“Reputation”

– embedded throughout

Bottom up: Consultation so far

Admin areas: • Environment Admin Group • Housing Managers • Library • Registrar’s Office • Student Info Sys Cross Functional Student groups • Engineering Student Society • FEDS • Grad Student Assoc.

IT Groups: • Arts • Engineering • IST (7 groups) • Math, CS (MFCF, CSCF) • Science • IT Committees: CTSC, Student Technology Advisory, FACCUS • Upcoming: #watitis2012

Emerging “things to do”

• • Some ideas in theme areas from existing data • Other “Things to do” examples have come from consultations

NOT complete or final, examples only!

#watitis2012

Example “Things to do”

• Supporting students at risk & student success, with broad data • Equalization and standards in the learning environment • Open(ing) data • Business Intelligence plan • Document management plan • IT portfolio management and alignment • Horizon technology planning • Software licenses/procurement and online distribution • Community communication strategy • Training and development for IT staff growth and campus benefit • Knowledgebase #watitis2012

Bringing it together

• End January 2013, a first draft of the Plan • Mid February, published to Waterloo community – Another opportunity for feedback on what we heard, what is in the draft • April – final first plan, “living document” that will be reviewed and renewed #watitis2012

How will we know if we’re “there”?

• Measurements!

• How do we measure what we do?

• How will we measure what progress we’re making (or not)?

• Next step is to identify these measures #watitis2012

How to get involved!

• Contact us: – [email protected]

(CIO) – [email protected]

(Project lead) • Web site: – https://uwaterloo.ca/it-strategic-plan – Survey on the site • Open House tomorrow: DC1302, 10:30