The Naked CIO, an anonymous technology executive has offered the following challenge:
If you see a leader or are managed by one that justifies IT-as-a-roadblock by way of process or methodology and promotes the “that isn’t our job mentality” than say something because these leaders are from a bygone era and have no place in modern organizations.
Having spent the last 3 decades in academic settings across North America I have not only experienced this type of IT leader I have said something and locked horns with this type of leader wherever I have worked. Unfortunately, not enough C leaders in higher education are confident enough in their knowledge of technology to trust the barrage of dissenting voices and will differ to the CIO.
I have also worked in settings where the college has paid millions of dollars a year to high level IT consulting firm to manage the IT operations of the institution. In these cases the President and the senior leadership team are responsible to spending scarce academic dollars on external consultants so they have to trust the external advice. Listening to the dissenting voice from within would be an admission that they are wasting institutional dollars.
With the move toward cloud computing, web-based applications and the demands of the mobile learner, academic IT more then ever needs to provide a utility based service or simply get out of the way of those who can.
Is your IT department creating roadblocks for your organizations learners? Have you said something about this problem?
