Tag: CIO

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Preparing for That IT Strategic Planning Project: A Data-Driven Approach

Presenters

  • Jerrold Grochow, CIO-in-Residence, Internet2
  • Sara Jeanes, Program Manager, Internet2

Underlying Ideas for this Seminar

  • Data: facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis.
  • If you can’t define it, you don’t know what your data says
  • If you don’t analyze it, you don’t know what your data means
  • If you don’t organize and present your analysis, you can’t convince anyone of what it means
  • Data is most valuable when it can be turned into information that can be used for action

Goals

  • Understand what data is important to different constituencies
  • Learn practical approaches to collecting, organizing and presenting that data
  • Start to apply this framework to your own strategic planning projects

What is Strategic Planning all About?

  • Determining where we are now (org assessment)
  • Determining what drives us to the future (drivers & trends)
  • Determining where we want to be in the future (ID strategic issues)
  • Determining how we’re going to to get to that future (develop strategic business plan)
  • “If you don’t know where you want go go, any road will get you there.”
  • “If you don’t know where you are, it’s tough to figure out how to get to where you want to be.”
  • Being aware of external drivers that influence our organization
  • In short: where/what/how, now and in the future

What Makes Data Important?

  • Things that get measured get managed
  • Can be used to look for trends
  • Helps democratize the process by removing emotions
  • Value to the institution
  • Allows for effective SWOT exercise
  • Sets the stage
  • Raises a strategic issus
  • Highlights a trend
  • Distinguishes a constituency
  • Presents a resource concern

Different Types of Strategic Planning Projects

  • Initial plan
  • Revisited plan: why? what changed?
  • Plan update
  • Organizational focus: resources, culture
  • Service focus
  • Technology focus

Strategic Planning Data Planning Framework

  1. Determine type of project and focus
  2. Determine key questions/issues
  3. Assess & define data
  4. Collect data
  5. Perform analysis
  6. Organize & present

Types of Data Needed

  • Skills assessment: what do we need?
  • Who is using our resources, and how?
  • Retention and recruitment: who is leaving and why? What’s their demographic? What are the demographics of the various departments?
  • What’s the data we’ve already got? Staff counts, project portfolio, budgets, etc.

Two Principal Types of Data

  • Primary: data you collect specifically to serve the needs of the strategic planning activity
  • Secondary: data you have (or can get) that was collected for other purposes but that will be useful
  • You are going to have to use data you already have
  • Internal secondary data: operational data, i.e. logs, usage data, help desk ticketing system, admissions data, anything in IR, IPEDS, infrastructure, monitoring, etc.

Operational Data: Service Utilization

  • Definition: how much of a particular service is used by different groups of users
  • Measure: what best shows usage
  • Analysis: trends/patterns
  • Organization/presentation: table, chart, interactive graphic

External Secondary Data

  • What data can you readily get that would be useful?
  • EDUCAUSE Core Data Service, NSSE, IPEDS, census, industry surveys (Gartner, Forrester, McKinsey)

Internal/External can be both primary and secondary

  • Internal: about the organization
  • External: about the environment

How do you collect data?

  • Instrument your systems, surveys, questionnaires, focus groups
  • Sensors

What Kind of Data?

  • Text, numbers, pictures
  • Qualitative
  • Quantitative
  • USE BOTH, to show impact and value

Timing: When Do You Collect Data?

  • Before: to help ID and frame issues, and to ensure the planning process can proceed smoothly.
  • During: as discussion uncovers additional data that would be useful
  • After: to better manage your organization and monitor progress against plan
  • Always: for the reasons mentioned above

How Can We Best Present Data?

In ways that best resonate with the audience, in ways that show importance. For example: “That’s the equivalent of a the cost of a full-time grad assistant” or “IT capital plan == building capital plan” or “system maintenance == building maintenance”

  • Text: quotations, narrative, video
  • Numbers: tables, charts, graphs
  • Pictures: infographics, photos

Institutional Strategic Priorities

  • Understand research and learning/teaching focus areas! This will tell you where senior leadership of the institution wants to go.
  • Understand the financial areas! This will interact with research and learning/teaching focus areas.
  • Understand the technology focus! You’ll be able to explain how this will interact with all the other areas.
Categories
Technology

My EDUCAUSE 2013 Mega Post

One the things I try to do when I attend conferences is to make a detailed record of all the sessions I attend, with the exception of keynotes, which tend to get really good coverage from other folks.  I live blog the events as I attend them, which hopefully helps those who committed to other sessions, and then I do one of these “mega posts,” which summarize all the posts I attended.  Based on my itinerary, 2013 seems to be the year of big data and analytics.  I’m willing to bet a lot of my fellow attendees will agree 🙂

I’ve been in higher education for just over seven years now, and somewhat amazingly, this was the very first EDUCAUSE event I’ve ever attended.  Why didn’t anyone tell me about this conference?  It was an extremely worthwhile event, at least for me…one of the meetings I had will likely save my division close to $50,000 each year!  That savings will go a long way toward providing students at CSUN with more and/or better services.  There were lots of great sessions to attend, with lots of smart folks sharing what they’re doing with IT on their campuses.  I’ll definitely be back next year.

Without any further ado, here’s my EDUCAUSE 2013 mega-post…please drop me a line and let me know if this helps you!

 

Friday, October 18 (last day of EDUCAUSE was a half day)

 

Thursday, October 17 (my busiest day)

 

Wednesday, October 16 (spent a few hours prowling the vendor floor and visiting with my accessibility colleagues)

 

Tuesday, October 15 (each session was a half-day long)

 

Categories
Technology

Climbing the Leadership Ladder: An Insider’s View of the CIO Search Process

Title:  Climbing the Leadership Ladder: An Insider’s View of the CIO Search Process

Speakers:

  • Dianna Sadlouskos, Strategic Alliance Partner, Next Generation Executive Search, LLC
  • Philip J. Goldstein, Managing Partner, Next Generation Executive Search, LLC

 

This firm has done about 18 CIO successful searches, and is here to provide career coaching and observations to address the three what institutions want (candidate profile), making your case, managing your career.

The whole process starts with a consultative process with the institution about what they actually need.  It’s hopefully heavily influenced by institutional priorities.  It also includes thing “top of mind” with presidents and provosts.  Often, these folks think executive search firms have three boxes of the following types of IT pros to pull from:

  1. Optimizer:  delivers continuous improvement to IT
  2. Transformer:  early adopter of technologies, reforms and refocuses IT
  3. Strategist:  shapes institutional and IT strategies

IMPORTANT:  the institution needs a clear sense of what they’re looking for.

 

SLIDE:  Evolving Emphasis

Historical

  • Improve service
  • Contain costs
  • Run large technology/ process change projects
  • Provide technical leadership
  • manage Risk

Recent

  • Catalyze innovative pedagogy and enable student success
  • Enhance research competitiveness
  • Optimize central and distributed IT
  • Set sourcing strategy
  • Create sustainability

 

SLIDE:  Building your Brand

  • Personal Brand:  defined professional profile
  • Value:  Manage your reputation, influence the industry conversation, build a cohort community
  • Brand Attributes:  Authentic, energetic, connected, intellectual curiosity

Use of social media counts!  It’s important how you view yourself, and you have a real hand in developing your own reputation by influencing or even leading relationship-building activities.  Be true to yourself and your intentions.

Start with 3-tiered approach:  Study > Share > Build

What are other CIOs doing?  How do I want to set up my own profile and how does it resonate with the three CIO types above?  For example, if you’re interested in student success and retention, there are certainly groups you can join that will help you get up-to-speed.  Eventually, you will be able to create community with like-minded people whose ideas resonate with you.  Share your slide decks with tools like slideshare…chances are good that your experience will help someone else.

Shared some of the top CIOs using social media:

  • Baz Abouelenein
  • Phil Komarny
  • Stephen DeFilipo
  • Tim Chester

Be consistent in how you represent yourself!

 

SLIDE:  Presenting your Brand

If possible, arrange to be recruited

Ask for an informational interview first

Prepare a concise, tailored resume

  • quantify accomplishments
  • tailor description of experience

Cover letters aren’t perfunctory

  • Establish the basis for your interest
  • Highlight significant, relevant accomplishments
  • Proactively address anomalies

 

SLIDE:  Cover Letter Tips

  • Customize for each opportunity
  • Organize content:  beginning, middle, end
  • Focus on specific experiences in your background that align with this role
  • Anticipate questions, explain gaps
  • Minimize jargon
  • Proofread / read aloud

Your cover letter should tell a compelling story!

 

SLIDE:  Resume

  • Customize to each opportunity
  • Establish scope and scale of your position
  • Include a professional profile
  • Highlight significant accomplishments
  • Don’t forget the fundamentals

First 5-7 sentences should conjure an image of you.  PDF your cover letter WITH your resume.  If you’re telling a compelling story, length of resume is not that important.  HOWEVER, four pages is a good practical limit that most people will not read beyond.  Be sure to include enough detail, and don’t “bury the lede.”

 

SLIDE:  Search Committee Interview

Committees are testing candidates on multiple levels

  • Depth of experience and knowledge
  • Ability to communicate clearly and persuasively
  • Personality, energy and style
  • Leadership presence

The interview is an audition for

  • How you would interact with cabinet or board
  • What you are like as a colleague
  • How you perform under pressure

 

SLIDE:  Typical Questions

  • Why do you want this job?  (people often stumble over this one)
  • How have you failed and what did you learn?
  • What resources will you need to be successful?
  • How do you develop a culture of service?
  • How do you optimize the relationship between central and distributed IT?
  • How can tech help institutions gain a a comparative advantage in research?
  • How do you quickly spread innovative uses of academic technologies?

When you failed, what did you learn?  How are you a better leader for taking a risk?  That question is not a trap!

 

SLIDE:  Managing Your Career

Essential Experiences you must be able to articulate:

  • Build the depth of your experience
  • Plan – for an institution, org, or service
  • Vision – get the institution, a department or individuals to stretch
  • Prioritize – demonstrate how you apply scarce resources to maximize impace
  • Lead – develop eople, build cpacity, challenge your team
  • Influence – create change without authority
  • Deliver – continuously improves services

 

SLIDE:  If you are a Rising CIO

  • Build experience working outside your primary portfolio:  within IT, outside of IT
  • Develop a point of view on broader higher education and IT isssues
  • Proactively addres predicatble areas of doubt – leadership, strategy, risk
  • Seek opportunities that align with your deepest area of experience

Be able to proactively answer the question:  “are you ready yet?”  This is something that senior leadership teams will want to know.

 

SLIDE:  If you’re an experienced CIO

  • Continue to broaden your experience – research, instruction, consituent engagement
  • Refine your point of view on key issues in IT and higher education
  • Demonstrate your ability to work collaboratively across the organization
  • Develop your rising leaders
  • Articulate your key accomplishments

Strike up conversations with people who are leaders in areas you need to brush up on.  It pays off in two ways:  proves your a good leader and it helps your institution function better.

 

QUESTIONS

How many clients were willing to hire the rising CIO rather than the sitting CIO?  About 20%.  What got them the job was their area of primary expertise lined up with the needs of the university and they had the soft skill nailed.  They had actually worked in larger organizations, and were taking a step back.  You have to be aware the key issues the institution is facing.

What’s the best way to represent 20 years of consulting work in a resume?  You want to include in your introduction details that explains the value of consulting, i.e. diversity of experience.  Clearly articulate your accomplishments and be laser-focused with how those accomplishments align with representative examples that align with the institution you’re interviewing with.

What about “jumping Carnegie classes?”  Depends on the scale and complexity of the operation you’ve run.  For example, if going from a community college to a research university.

Where should people look for opportunities (since not all are advertised)?  Look at aggregators and cultivate search firms.  Read the job posting in the Chronicle of Higher Education.  Create a network of colleagues at EDUCAUSE and other places…endorsements can be extremely valuable and will give you the inside track on opportunities you might not otherwise hear about.

 

 

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