Now and beyond - ITS 2015

Article by Liz Sidebotham
Project Office Manager

What is the ‘ITS 2015’ Project ?

Information Technology Services (ITS) is the main provider of IT related services to Swinburne, so it is critically important that it provides the appropriate IT systems and services to enable Swinburne to achieve its objectives. The ITS 2015 project is designed to ensure that the University’s IT strategy, and ITS as a department, are aligned with, and effectively support, the Swinburne 2015 vision.

In addition to this, the project is also timely due to the growth in the department since the previous strategic management review, including the integration of staff formerly in ADS and the Faculty of ICT. The project is significant, not just in terms of the benefits it will deliver, but also in terms of the approach which will be used.

Doesn’t the Swinburne 2015 vision statement already set out what ITS needs to do?

The Swinburne 2015 vision statement quite rightly focuses on Swinburne’s core activities of teaching and research, rather than on supporting and enabling factors such as IT. For ITS to be an effective service provider to Swinburne and to play a strategic role in its future development, ITS needs to understand how it can best contribute to achieving the Swinburne 2015 vision. The ITS 2015 project is a key part of ITS consideration of, and response to, the 2015 vision statement, and will involve all ITS staff and discussions with stakeholders from across Swinburne’s faculties and departments.

What will the project deliver?

Firstly, the project will deliver a new statement of the values and mission of ITS. This mission defines what ITS does, ie the reason for its existence, while the values describe how ITS staff will go about this.

Secondly, the project will deliver Swinburne’s IT strategy, which is of significant importance to the whole of Swinburne, as it will guide our IT related decision making in terms of investment of funds and staff and our technical approach in the longer term.

Taken together, these provide a clear sense of direction, and a framework for decision making and prioritising resources. Over time, it is anticipated that this will lead to an improvement in satisfaction with the services provided by ITS to Swinburne students and staff, and also improved job satisfaction for ITS staff.

Where will the Values and Mission Statement come from?

The values and mission statement will be developed by ITS staff – this is a bottom-up approach, not the top-down approach which has often been used to develop statements of mission and values. The ITS management team have committed not just to this approach, but also to ensuring that the values and mission are actively used in future.

All staff will participate in one of a series of professionally facilitated half day workshops, each of which will produce a statement of values and mission. After the last workshop, there will be an opportunity for all ITS staff to comment on all of these. Following this, a working party will meet to create a single draft of the statement, and there will then be consultation with key stakeholders across Swinburne, and another opportunity for ITS staff to comment. As a last step in this process, the working group will then finalise the ITS statement of values and mission

As well as creating a statement of values and mission owned by the staff, this approach also provides a unique opportunity for ALL ITS staff, in each function and location, to collaborate and contribute to a common endeavour. In the process, there will be the opportunity to get to know better ITS staff in other functional areas and create a greater understanding of how the new and established areas of ITS contribute to the 2015 vision.

How will the IT Strategy be developed?

This will be developed by ITS, and will draw on both technical factors and consultation with key stakeholders across the University. Creation of the IT Strategy forms phase 2 of the ITS 2015 project, and more information about this will be available later in the year.

When will the ITS 2015 project be undertaken?

The project will be delivered in two phases:

Phase 1 delivers the ITS statement of values and mission

• March - staff workshops
• April - opportunity for staff to comment
• May - working party, staff comment and stakeholder input, finalise statement

Phase 2 IT Strategy

• March to October

What happens when the project completes?

Completion of the project represents a beginning, not an end !

The benefits from the values and mission will be realised over time as they are used regularly and on an on-going basis in activities such as communications, planning, staff development and hiring. The ITS Management team have already committed to this.

The IT Strategy describes the vision for IT at Swinburne and sets goals for ITS to achieve. It will be used to assist in prioritising investment of funds and resources, as well as making some of the more technical decisions. Naturally, there will be a need to review and refresh the IT Strategy over time to reflect the changes in the tertiary sector, in Swinburne and trends in the IT industry.

Further information

For more information about the project, please contact Liz Sidebotham, Project Officer Manager, on esidebotham@swin.edu.au or extension 8310.

Feedback on this article