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Institutionen för informatik Umeå universitet
Outline
• Introduction • The IT function • SIX IT governance archetypes • The ICT strategy for Umeå University
1 Mikael Söderström
Introduction
• The role of management in IS strategy can mean two things: (1) The importance of management in general, or (2) The importance of specific departments and/or managers
• We will focus on management in general • It is difficult to speak about the role of
management – Can be very different in different organizations, depending
on size, the nature of the business, organizational culture… – Varies depending on the strategy of the specific
organization – Tends to vary over time
• As we have seen earlier it isn’t that long ago since IS strategy became a concern for senior mgm
Mikael Söderström Institutionen för informatik Umeå universitet
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Introduction
• We will look at two key issues; the IT function, and five IT governance archetypes
• The key issues also tends to vary over time and in different organizations…
• Which issues that are regarded as key issues and how they are managed often depends on – Who controls the IT direction – How central IT is seen to business strategy – The value placed on IT knowledge and skills – How IT investments are justified – Who are deemed winners and losers when a new IT
system is implemented
Mikael Söderström Institutionen för informatik Umeå universitet
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The IT function
• The term IT function includes all tasks necessary to plan, build, run, maintain and further develop systems and applications
• This requires professional staff as well as technical facilities
• Staff often includes software developers, database administrators, project managers, support personnel and information specialists
• Don’t confuse the IT function with a functional department. The functions it performs can be organized in different ways
• It can be a central department, it can be decentralized, or large parts of it can be outsourced
Mikael Söderström Institutionen för informatik
Umeå universitet 4
The IT function
• Agarwal & Samamurthy (ch. 8, Galliers & Leidner) describes three different organizational models
• The partner model (being a catalyst for innovation) – IT is an active partner in business innovation – Business leadership in IT innovation through divisional
information officers – Corporate IT catalyzes innovation through strategic
consulting – Focus on 3 types of costs; business application costs,
infrastructure costs, utility costs – Works in environments where
• There is a need to promote business innovation through IT • Senior management lack a deep understanding of IT • Organizations with multiple related businesses • Strong IT leadership trusted in the organization
Mikael Söderström Institutionen för informatik Umeå universitet
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The IT function
• The platform model (providing resources for global innovation) – IT provides the assets, services and resources for business
innovation across the organization – But, business ownership of IT innovation, senior managers
in business units owns strategic information systems – The IT function as a factory, delivers scalable and flexible
infrastructure, often organization-wide platform and capabilities that can be used in business innovation
– Account managers in IT function collaborates with business unit executives to get IT capabilities in line with business needs
– Works in environments where • There are unique IT needs across units (often global organizations in
multiple lines of business) • Strong level of IT knowledge among senior business managers
Mikael Söderström Institutionen för informatik Umeå universitet
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The IT function
• The scalable model (using sourcing to be flexible) – IT provides flexible and scalable resources for the
organization – Centralized IT organization for uniform use of IT
capabilities, but at the same time strong IT Presence in business units
– Multisourcing arrangements, permits the IT function to control costs and change staff in response to the business cycle
– Scaling for variable resource needs, flexible staffing in order to be able to enhance the IT function’s ability to scale up and down along with business growth
– Works in environments where • Business is global with related lines of business • The industry is cyclical (an industry that is sensitive to the economic
cycle, revenues are generally higher in periods of economic prosperity and expansion, and lower in periods of economic downturn and contraction)
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The IT function
• There is no best IT organizational structure • The IT function needs to respond to the unique
environment in which it exists • Most research on how to organize the IT function
is done in large, often global organizations • => Findings may not be that useful for smaller,
more local businesses
Mikael Söderström Institutionen för informatik Umeå universitet
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Six IT governance archetypes
• IT governance refers to – Decision rights; who makes each type of decision – Input rights; Who has input to a decision – Accountability; How are people or groups of people with
decision and/or input rights held accountable for their role
• The 6 archetypes are based on an empirical study of more than 250 organizations in 23 countries
• Note that these are large organizations perceived to be top-performing
• In the study decision rights are related to the right to decide regarding 5 key IT decisions; IT investment and prioritization, IT architecture, IT principles, business application needs, IT infrastructure strategies
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Six IT governance archetypes
• Business monarchy – Senior business mangers make IT decisions affecting the
whole organization – Decisions can be made by a group of executives, including
the CIO and senior executives from business units – Often, input for key decisions come from many sources,
the CIO, business units, the budget process, etc.
• IT monarchy – IT professionals make the IT decisions – Decisions are often made by a committee of senior IT
managers – IT professionals can come from both business units and
the IT department
Mikael Söderström Institutionen för informatik Umeå universitet
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Six IT governance archetypes
• Feudal – IT decisions are made decentralized – By business units, business functions or geographical
regions – Not so common, hard to create synergies across business
units
• Federal – Coordinated decision making involving both the central
part of the organization and business units – Representatives can be business unit leaders, business
process owners, or both. IT executives from both business units or the IT department may also participate
– Can be difficult to use because of differences in perspectives between business units and central functions
Mikael Söderström Institutionen för informatik Umeå universitet
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Six IT governance archetypes
• IT duopoly – Decisions are agreements between IT executives and one
business group – The IT executives may be any combination of IT groups – The business group is typically CxOs, business unit leaders
or business process owners – An IT duopoly always includes both IT and business
representation, but only one group of business representatives in each duopoly (federal decision making always have two or more levels of the hierarchy involved)
• Anarchy – Individuals or very small groups make their own decisions
based only on their own needs – Smaller size of the organization than feudal decision
makers => Expensive to support – Formally sanctioned anarchies are rare
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The ICT strategy for Umeå University • Not an IT strategy, rather a strategy for
educational technology • Been developed by a group lead by the Pro-Vice-
Chancellor with representatives from most facultys. The CIO of UmU is also part of the group
• UmU has never had an strategy for educational technology but recent developments has stressed the need for such a strategy – Developments in technology has changed the conditions
for how education can be distributed – Many students and teachers view IT as a natural part of
their lives, both professionally and private => Changed habits
– Many teachers and departments are experienced IT users – UmU has been successful developing net based courses
and programs Mikael Söderström Institutionen för informatik
Umeå universitet 13
The ICT strategy for Umeå University
– Year 2009 UmU was the leading Swedish university in distance education; 11 programs, 406 courses => There is a huge interest in untraditional forms of teaching
– Many believe that in the future we will see more flexible educations, the borders between campus and off-campus will disappear => We need more technology on campus
• However, to introduce more educational technology poses some challenges with respect to – Competence development – Coordination of resources – Development of technical infrastructure – Financing of the whole effort – Development of new pedagogical models
=> UmU needs a strategy Mikael Söderström Institutionen för informatik
Umeå universitet 14
The ICT strategy for Umeå University • The major visions and goals of the strategy are
– Conditions for learning – Vision: UmU offers possibilities for teachers and students
to grow and develop in expected and unexpected meetings in both physical and virtual learning spaces
– Prioritized goal: UmU should offer physical and virtual learning spaces with excellent pedagogical quality
– Organisation and management – Vision: UmU has effective structures and processes that
manages and organizes the activities related to ICT in learning
– Prioritized goal: ICT in learning is a strategically prioritized development area with clearly defined areas of responsibility and management responsibilities
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The ICT strategy for Umeå University
– Technology and services – Vision: UmU provides a technical infrastructure with high
international standard in which functionality, robustness and pedagogical use are in focus
– Prioritized goal: It should exist a well functioning base package of technology and related services for the whole university that supports students’ learning and teachers’ work, and at the same time there must be room for variation
– Culture – UmU should be characterized by creative and
experimenting development work that supports innovations for ICT in learning
– Prioritized goal: UmU should have a creative environment for development and experiments that finances initiatives in new pedagogical models for ICT in learning
Mikael Söderström Institutionen för informatik Umeå universitet
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The ICT strategy for Umeå University
– Finances – Vision: UmU should have a well-reasoned and effective use
of the resources that are reserved for ICT in learning – Prioritized goal: UmU should reserve resources on all levels
to maintain and further develop UmU’s investments in ICT in learning
• Of special interest is how to organize the function for educational technology
• Today there are several units active in this area – Individual departments – The IT department – Centre for teaching and learning – University services – The University library
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The ICT strategy for Umeå University • Your task: Propose how UmU should organize the
function for Educational Technology (a typical task for senior management…)
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