Security is #3 on the EDUCAUSE 2010 Top-Ten IT Issues List

[Valerie Vogel <vvogel () EDUCAUSE EDU>]

As you may have already heard, EDUCAUSE announced the results of the
2010 Current Issues Survey today. Information security remains in the #3
spot according to this year's survey. Funding IT is still the #1 issue.
Two additional topics of interest -- Identity/Access Management and
Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity -- also appear on the list (#5 and
#6, respectively). 

The EDUCAUSE Review article, "Top-Ten IT Issues, 2010"
(http://www.educause.edu/library/ERM1032), identifies the issues that IT
leaders in higher education see as the most critical challenges they and
their institutions face. The article's authors also pose critical
questions that are intended to encourage further thinking and
discussion. Additional resources include recommended readings for each
of the top-ten issues and tables with demographic breakdowns of the
survey results (http://www.educause.edu/2010IssuesResources). The press
release is included below.

Thank you,
Valerie
_______________

Valerie M. Vogel
Program Associate, EDUCAUSE
office: (202) 331-5374
e-mail: vvogel () educause edu 

Follow HEISC on Twitter: http://twitter.com/HEISCouncil 

-----Original Message-----
From: EDUCAUSE
Sent: Thursday, June 10, 2010 11:09 AM
Subject: Top-Ten IT Issues in Higher Education: EDUCAUSE 2010 Survey
Results 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Catherine Yang
Senior Director
EDUCAUSE
cyang () educause edu
303-544-5671

Bret Ingerman
Vice President for Computing and Information Services
Vassar College
EDUCAUSE Current Issues Committee Chair
ingerman () vassar edu
845-437-7605

 
*******************************************************************
Top-Ten IT Issues in Higher Education: EDUCAUSE 2010 Survey Results
*******************************************************************

June 10, 2010, Boulder, Colorado--EDUCAUSE, the association for
information technology (IT) in higher education, has just published the
results of the 2010 Current Issues Survey in the latest EDUCAUSE Review
(http://www.educause.edu/library/ERM1032). The article identifies the
issues that IT leaders in higher education see as the most critical
challenges they and their institutions face.

Of special value to IT professionals, the article's associated web page,
EDUCAUSE 2010 Current Issues Survey Resources
(http://www.educause.edu/2010IssuesResources), includes:

*   Recommended readings for each of the top-ten issues
*   Tables with demographic breakdowns of the survey results

The 2010 survey gathered responses from 22 percent (421) of the 1,952
primary representatives of EDUCAUSE member institutions, representing
colleges and universities of all types and sizes--public and private,
community colleges through research universities. The primary
representative is typically the chief information officer (CIO) or
senior IT administrator at a member institution.

"While many of the top issues remain the same, what's different is that
they're now in the context of systemic changes that have occurred within
higher education. For example, take IT Funding. In the past IT Funding
may have referred to trying to make the case for additional funds.
However, new economic realities dictate that IT funding will remain
fixed, at best. So now, more than ever, the IT leader needs to work
effectively with the campus leadership to prioritize the services that
are essential, given a fixed level of funding," said Bret Ingerman, vice
president for computing and information services, Vassar College, and
chair of the EDUCAUSE Current Issues Committee.  

Three findings merit special mention:

*   All ten of the issues from the 2009 survey are back, albeit in a
slightly different order. In addition, Strategic Planning returns as an
issue of renewed importance after a two-year hiatus (there are actually
eleven issues on the list this year, since two issues tied for sixth
place). However, even though the issues remain basically the same, the
underlying context of why these issues are on the list, and the impacts
that the issues are having on IT leaders, differ this year. 

*   Survey participants--typically CIOs of EDUCAUSE member
institutions--were asked to select the 5 most important IT issues out of
a selection of 27 in each of four areas: (1) issues that are critical
for strategic success; (2) issues that are expected to increase in
significance; (3) issues that demand the greatest amount of the campus
IT leader's time; and (4) issues that require the largest expenditures
of human and fiscal resources. Many of the issues that IT leaders face
today reflect a fundamentally changed technology and educational
climate. For example, one interesting finding is that although
Outsourcing/Insourcing/Cosourcing/Crowdsourcing did not rank in the top
ten as an issue of strategic importance, it appears poised to become
one. It is #3 on the list of issues with the potential to become more
significant. This should come as no surprise, since it seems that not a
day goes by without an article appearing in the trade press, educational
press, or popular press about some new service being offered in the
"cloud." Likewise, more of the IT leader's time is being consumed by
Governance, Organizational Management, and Leadership (#2) and Strategic
Planning (#4), whereas these two issues are #6 and #9, respectively, on
the list of issues critical for strategic success. IT leaders are
spending more time plotting long-term responses to both the acute
pressures and the systemic changes that they and their institutions
face, and IT leaders must work to make sure there are appropriate campus
bodies from whom they can solicit input and vet new directions in
services and support.

*   Despite all of the changes taking place in higher education and the
world at large, the primary responsibility of IT leaders remains the
same: to deliver the essential services that underlie the institutional
mission. Thus, keeping the enterprise systems running
(Administrative/ERP/Information Systems), maintaining a robust and
secure technological infrastructure
(Infrastructure/Cyberinfrastructure), and supporting the learning
management systems that provide essential academic support (Learning
Management Systems) remain the top consumers (#1, #2, and #3,
respectively) of financial and human resources within the IT
organization, even though these issues may not be of high strategic
importance (#2, #10, and #8, respectively). Clearly, the role of the IT
leadership is to keep the technological ship afloat even as the course
may be changing. It is a testament to leaders of the IT organization
that they are able to continue to do so during a time of uncertainty.