Is There Value in Your IT Services

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Is There Value in Your IT Services?

• Presented by Ian McLeod, CCP, I.S.P.
• CANHEIT 2006, Dalhousie University

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About BCIT

• BCs largest post-secondary institute
• Founded in 1964
• 48,000 students enrolled annually
• 2,100 faculty and staff
• 100,000 alumni
• 230 million revenue
• 5 major metro campus locations
• 10 satellite partner locations

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About Computer Resources..

• Centralized organization supporting
• Infrastructure networks, servers, data centre
  operations
• Client Services help desk, desktop support
• Academic Services labs, classrooms, faculty
  desktops, software images
• Enterprise Services Banner, Notes, Domino,
  Oracle, Cognos, WebCT
• Web Services public web, collaboration, social
  software, portal
• Close to 100 staff (FT, PT, Students)
• 9 million operating budget

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What is value ?

• Value (valyoo) noun
• An amount regarded as a fair equivalent for
  something esp. goods and services.
• Material worth
• Worth in importance or usefulness to the
  possessor
• A standard or principle regarded as desirable or
  worthwhile
• Math. A calculated or assigned numerical
  quantity.
• Mus. The relative length of a rest or tone
• - Websters New Riverside Dictionary

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For the crossword puzzle people..

• Vanadium noun Symbol V
• A white ductile metallic element
• - Websters New Riverside Dictionary

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Arent We Good

• We measure
• Uptime 99.999
• Number of Help Desk calls taken
• Response time
• Satisfaction levels
• Ratios of staff budget to students faculty
• Number of times the boss yells at us
• CIO/Director length of service

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Interactive Question Sharing

• What does your Institution measure as a benchmark
  for IT performance?

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Are these the right things to measure?

• Nicholas Carr was partially right
• Most customers want technology to work.. when
  they need it to
• Most IT work happens in the back room.. Hard work
  to deliver what faculty see as equivalent to a
  commodity like power or phone

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Measure what matters to the customers.

• We measure far too much and get far too little
  for what we measure because we never articulated
  what we need to get better at, and our measures
  arent tied together to support higher-level
  decision making.
• -quote from The Agenda, by Michael Hammer

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TechQual Instrument

• Questions grouped into six areas of IT Service
• Wired, Wireless Networking and Online Access to
  Resources
• Helpdesk, Support, Training, and End User
  Experience
• Access, Support for College Station-based
  Administrative Systems
• Campus Website, Web Publishing Tools, and support
• Available Computing Hardware and Software
• Shared Governance, Opportunities for Feedback,
  and Inclusive Planning
• Courtesy of Texas AM University of Qatar

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TechQual Instrument

• Five questions referring specifically to the
  types of service provided in each area.
• Statements are rated from 1 9 on
• Minimal Service Level Expectation
• Desired Service Level Expectation
• Perceived Service Performance

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Value Disciplines

• Treacy and Wiersema describe three value
  disciplines
• Operational Excellence
• Customer Intimacy
• Product Leadership
• Excel at one, but remain adept at the others

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Current state in CR..

• Things are working pretty well, but
• There is still a backlog of project work
• CR is not being strategic or innovative
• What do all those people do anyway..
• At budget time they still want to cut
• VP is still not a technology person

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Time to Change, but how ?

• Change our name to IT Services
• Develop an IT Strategic Plan
• Mission
• Vision
• Values
• Goals
• Initiatives over 3 year timespan

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Challenges for IT Services

• Goal 1
• Increase credibility of IT Services as a service
  and innovation centre that supports the success
  of each of its customers

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Challenges for IT Services

• Goal 2
• Improve the quality of customer service by
  developing a closer relationship with IT Services
  customers

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Challenges for IT Services

• Goal 3
• Establish a new culture within IT Services, to
  exemplify a more modern, flexible and open work
  environment reflective of a Premier Polytechnic

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Challenges for IT Services

• Goal 4
• Establish IT Services as a process based
  organization.

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Challenges for IT Services

• Goal 5
• Establish an innovation mandate in collaboration
  with IT Services customers, that will realize
  shared goals for program delivery and research.

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Is Our Service Really Helpful ?
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IT Services Critical Considerations

• Closer Client Relationships
• Flexibility
• Responsiveness
• Efficiency
• Reliability
• Process Oriented
• Matrix Managed

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What does success look like?

• It is interesting to ask yourself what success
  looks like. It certainly isnt quiet. It is a
  very busy work environment with considerable
  autonomy exercised in a responsible way. It
  involves measured risks and creative thought. It
  also involves working outside normal boundaries
  at times and accepting that this is the most
  important thing I can do to serve my client
  today, this afternoon, this minute.
• -Chris Golding, VP, Learning and Technology
  Services

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TEK is Innovation and Strategic

• Real value is gained when customer needs are
  addressed, and IT is perceived as useful to them
• The most value is likely to fall outside the
  Mainstream support areas, and primarily
  Innovation or Entrepreneurial
• Strategic 5-7 year initiative driven by academic
  VP called Technology Enabled Knowledge (TEK)
• Combination of infrastructure, technology, and
  faculty engagement/development

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TEK has five focus areas

• Enhancing Teaching and Learning through
  technology
• Advancing the Institutes Applied Reseach
• Connecting BCIT to the world
• Equipping our learning spaces
• The business of BCIT

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Grassroots Video

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Innovative and Opportunistic

• Sometimes it is all about timing, and being in
  the right place at the right time.

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References and Links

• Michael Hammer, The Agenda, Three Rivers Press,
  New York, New York, 2003
• EDUCAUSE QUARTERLY, Volume 29, Number 2, 2006
• http//technology.qatar.tamu.edu
• http//www.bcit.ca/tek
• Canadian Campus Computing Survey 2005
• EDUCAUSE Core Data Service

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Questions and Comments.

• Contact Information
• Ian McLeod
• Director, IT Services (formerly known as CR)
• Ian_McLeod_at_bcit.ca
• www.bcit.ca/cr/
• Voice 604-432-8624