Year two of OneIT was transformative. To realize all the benefits envisioned for campus, OneIT became more than a portfolio of projects. Our campus IT community began operating as a unified organization.

Steve Fleagle

I would like to acknowledge the effort the IT community has put into the projects, and also the transition process that many have gone through as we made changes related to OneIT. Operating as a unified organization provides a more cohesive, consistent experience for IT customers, and helps us better meet the needs of interdisciplinary activities. We maximize the impact of IT investment and learn from each other. 

This Year in Review focuses on progress of the original projects and initiatives that emerged through the Transparent Inclusive Efficiency Review (TIER) commissioned by the Board of Regents. Many other important and exciting OneIT activities are happening in parallel, and we look forward to highlighting those efforts in future communications.

In 2017, IT leaders from every college and unit developed a shared vision for OneIT’s future, focused on governance, culture, structure, and people—recruiting, cultivating, and retaining exceptional staff.

We implemented a new governance process that improves transparency, communication, project prioritization, and decision-making. We created a comprehensive set of IT roadmaps, and are working on a new IT strategic plan. 

We are assessing skills and forming a workforce development strategy. Recently, we announced plans to integrate IT across healthcare and academics to leverage complementary strengths, meet growing demand for IT services, and provide a more seamless user experience. 

By finding ways to deliver IT services more efficiently and effectively, we have saved $3.5 million to date—nearly $1 million in hardware, software, and service savings, and $2.5 million in labor. Operating more efficiently and effectively allows us to strategically reinvest resources to support research, teaching, learning, and security, and to focus on innovations and unique needs.

Continue reading the Year in Review welcome from Steve Fleagle, Associate Vice President & CIO.

2017 Project Accomplishments

Completed

Underway

What's ahead: OneIT plans for 2018

Integration with health care IT is the next major endeavor for OneIT. We are working with Health Care Information Systems (HCIS) leadership on a set of guiding principles, and have identified more than a dozen areas in which our teams will explore potential for collaboration.

Creating an integrated IT environment is a long-term activity that we will phase in. Some collaborations are already occurring, in security, identity management, telephony, and emergency notification.

The OneIT strategic plan will be finalized this spring. IT leaders are gathering input from stakeholders—faculty, staff, students, and IT professionals, and examining forces and trends impacting IT. They are reviewing UI and departmental strategic plans to ensure that our plan supports institutional priorities.

IT is a rapidly changing field, and many skills needed for the future do not exist today. With data from our recent IT skills inventory, a survey of nearly 500 UI IT professionals, we will develop an IT workforce development strategy. We are analyzing the data to understand skillsets we currently have and skills staff are interested in growing. We will address gaps through training, development, and recruitment. 

We will complete the remaining nine of the original OneIT projects this spring, but efficiency efforts will be ongoing. Efficiency is part of our culture of continuous improvement, and has been for many years. We will always strive to operate more efficiently to meet the growing demand for IT services.