The changing face of IT executives: managing information technology departments increasingly requires business and political skills. Major concerns include security, staff training, and keeping up with ever-evolving user needs

University Business, June, 2005 by John Burton

Ardalan hopes to bring to San Juan College an electronic document management system, which he had previously implemented at another institution. But security is never far from the forefront of plans, so he is also planning to upgrade San Juan's card access system. "I have been monitoring and testing the integration of biometrics in this industry, but I am not sure if it has matured enough for this specific mass deployment," he says.

JOB SATISFACTION

Speaking with campus IT Leaders, one gets the impression that they are challenged by the amount of work but overall are a happy lot. "I've worked in the private sector and the military, both of which have good points," says Noffsinger. "But our unique position encumbers us with far Less red tape than most organizations, and we work with and for forward-looking educators who, by and large, embrace new technology and are glad to have a personal technical support experience."

Citing the popular book The Leadership Challenge by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner (Jossey-Bass, 2003), Meserve summarizes his job satisfaction: "The book ends by saying the one constant that ran through their study was that successful Leaders Loved their jobs, loved the challenge, and loved the people they worked with. I'm not sure about the 'successful leader,' but I can tell you that I love my job, I love the challenge, and I have grown to Love the people I work with. I am proud to be part of this team."

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Ask a group of information technology (IT) chiefs what technology they use to keep tabs on their projects and systems, and you'll get a wide range of answers.

"I use all the modules in Microsoft Outlook--for tasks, notes, contacts, and forms," said Farokh Eslahi, director of educational technology at the University of Illinois Springfield. Yahoo's chat program is used to keep in touch with his employees. His department developed a "virtual board" to keep everyone up to date on the status of projects and problems. Microsoft Project and Microsoft Visio are also used.

Microsoft's Windows Terminal Services helps IT Manager Jay Noffsinger keep on top of his organization's operations at the College of William and Mary. He also uses DeLL OpenManage hardware and software for deploying, managing, and monitoring systems.

SunGard Collegis contracts its employees as IT executives at universities. It also offers toots for IT professionals to monitor and manage their systems. San Juan College Vice President of Technology Shah Ardalan uses the HeLp Desk Online (HDO) from Collegis. "This is a comprehensive help desk and activity management system that aLLows me and the IT team to know where we are at any given time. The newest version helps me see the big picture white managers can track and trace down to the ticket level," says Ardalan.

PeopleSoft runs nightly financial management reports that are avaiLabLe at the desktop of Gard Meserve, CIO at Clarkson University. He also uses the HDO application from Collegis, as does Sul Ross University CIO Tom Graft