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EDUCAUSE SOUTHEAST REGIONAL CONFERENCE 2009 | JUNE 1, 2009

Sustainable Governance: Transforming IT from an Oral to a

Written Culture

John Borwick, Jim Love, and Nancy Crouch

Agenda

• Introductions: Who We Are• Picture of an Oral Culture: 1996-2007• Transforming towards a Written Culture: 2008• Where We Stand: 2009

John BorwickAssistant Director, Continual Service Improvement

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27043124@N00/1892285322

Jim LoveProcess Analyst, Continual Service Improvement

Nancy CrouchAssistant CIO

Picture of an Oral Culture: 1996-2007

Wake Forest University

Information Systems flourished at Wake Forest University beginning

in 1996.

Under one CIO, with low staff turnover, we hired many people

each year.

Oral cultures are cyclic, depend on a stable community, and require

extensive interaction.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37569287@N00/490273875

New employees have a difficult time in an oral culture.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/19451080@N00/3263799851

Oral cultures depend heavily on “elders” and “gurus.”

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49503180180@N01/435533081

Our CIO left, and the Interim CIO wanted to change how we worked.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arycogre/54110476/

Written cultures value documents over conversations and can build

on previous accomplishments.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/51035555243@N01/93819794

Written cultures help with audits, consistency, and they reduce

“telephone tag.”

http://www.flickr.com/photos/51035734296@N01/65917688

Transforming towards a Written Culture: 2008

Our group was formed. First we created yet another meeting—the

IS Management Board (ISMB).

The ISMB approved a procedure template and a governing

document procedure.Procedure1. Download the procedure template.2. Draft the procedure.3. If necessary, perform a security review.4. Perform a style review.5. Submit the procedure to the ISMB.6. ISMB approval.7. Post the procedure.

Governing documents cover the rules and procedures that involve

multiple directors.

We created templates for our projects and services too.

• Project Requirements Document Template• Service Level Agreement Template• Service Acceptance Criteria Template• Technology Evaluation Form

How do any of these documents become relevant in an oral culture?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33917831@N00/2188277801

“What are you doing now, or within the next 30 days?”

We hold training and office hours to talk with people about

procedures.

We conduct semi-annual document reviews.

Where We Stand: 2009

We hold process improvement sessions using these documented

procedures as a baseline.

We review metrics based on our procedures.

University ITSM Web Site

http://itsm.is.wfu.edu

• Templates• Blog entries & lessons learned• ITIL v3 Foundations training information

Fly-ins: contact Kriss Dinkins at dinkinrk@wfu.edu

Questions and Discussion

Sustainable Governance: Transforming IT from an Oral to a Written Culture

What did you think?

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• Click on “Evaluate This Session” on the Southeast Regional program page.