External Review of University IT Services
This past spring, an external review of the work to establish a new division for university IT services (UIT) was conducted on behalf of the University Director. The assignment included a review of the introduction of a division for university IT services with specific regards to pre-existing conditions and future expectations for the new organization and its governance, as well as a review of the results of two years of transformational work.
About twenty representatives from the university’s core operations have been interviewed about their perspective on the introduction of the division for university IT services and how they perceive the current quality of IT support. The review was carried out by Johan Johansson, chairman of ITCF (The Swedish Higher Education CIO-forum) and Joakim Nejdeby, Chief Information Officer at Linköping University.
The review resulted in a number of recommendations for continued development across several different areas:
- To continue to develop the overall governance of IT.
- To ensure that all IT operations are permeated by a focus on the core business of the university, work to establish confidence and temper expectations regarding the rate of change during the continued efforts to establish the division for university IT services, and to further develop the range of services for academic IT.
- To review the internal organization of UIT and the implementation and realization of IT-related frameworks.
- To bolster local IT support by, among other things, increasing availability and resolve uncertainties regarding the division between IT and AV/VC support.
- To review the financial plan and the dimensioning of IT and to follow up IT costs over time.
- To consider launching a project to ensure that the university provides a purposeful digital everyday life for students.
Action plan, measures and business dialogue
An action plan featuring a number of measures linked to the recommendations from the external review is now being prepared. Some measures regarding local IT support have already been implemented, such as improved availability of IT support on campus through extended opening hours. A service location for IT support at the University Hospital will open soon.
Personnel with specific skill sets are being gathered in a new grouping within UIT in order to deliver better and more focused research-related IT support.
UIT will invite departments and other university operations to further dialogues this autumn, with an aim to establish a clearer focus on the core business of the university and further enhance the collaboration model, so as to sustain continued dialogue in the long term.
Also, this past spring a user survey regarding IT was conducted among employees and other active personnel at the university. The continued work to review the results from the survey and providing feedback to responders is being coordinated with the action plan resulting from the external review. For more information about the user survey, see Results from the User Survey regarding IT and Continued Work.
Questions regarding the external review can be put to IT Director Lisbet Holmberg Stark.