2025 EDUCAUSE Top 10
#9: Taming the Digital Jungle

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Data is more important than ever. Tools to collect and use data have proliferated throughout our institutions. We are attempting to cut our way through a digital jungle, which is impenetrably thick with data and tools that are scattered throughout the institution and filled with risks that catch us unawares. What we need is a digital garden that we plan and cultivate, where we know what data we need and have, we can identify and weed out the risks, and we have the right tools for the right tasks when and where we need them.

The Promise

Shifting efforts from administrative support to mission work. Most institutions are operating as efficiently as the status quo permits and deferring work when staff lack capacity to complete it. Updating and unifying digital infrastructure, services, and governance can help institutions streamline administrative processes and reduce manual tasks (see issue #2: Administrative Simplification). The time and resources saved could be shifted to support teaching and learning, and research and scholarship.

Reducing risk. The overabundance of digital tools and data is a serious asset-management problem. Cybersecurity and privacy professionals often don't know what data and tools constituents are gathering and using. The sheer volume of tools and data inflates the risk exposure for institutions and the costs of protecting the institution and individuals' privacy. The compliance landscape, whether focused on student financial aid, research, or something else, is also getting increasingly complicated. A more organized data landscape with fewer tools will help institutions provide the oversight needed to comply with regulatory requirements.

Addressing and anticipating needs. The institution may have the data that decision-makers need to improve operations, support students, and more, but when data and tools are scattered across the institution, no one has a comprehensive view. Updating and unifying digital infrastructure and governance can give people access to the information and analytics they need to better answer the questions that can help address existing needs and gain insights to anticipate emergent needs.

Enhancing the student experience. A digital garden could, in part, focus on growing a student-centered experience at the institution by giving students greater, seamless access to resources and support services. This would also give institutions more insights into students' needs and help student services leaders improve services.

Advancing students' success. Updating and unifying digital infrastructure and governance gives institutions the opportunity to craft a comprehensive and efficient digital ecosystem for students, faculty, and staff. Strong data from multiple sources can help leaders better identify and then act to close equity gaps with the goal of helping all students succeed.

Personalizing experiences. Better organized and managed data can help service providers, staff, and faculty learn more about the needs of learners and other people they support and help personalize an experience for learners, faculty, and staff.

The Key to Progress

Establish the cultural and political foundations for transformation. Updating and unifying digital infrastructure and governance is not just about data and systems. This work is about transformation, and it's critical that we bring our community with us in this process through formal engagement, development of best practices, and active communication. A culture of innovation and continuous improvement makes all the difference in successfully addressing digital transformation. When an institution fosters that culture and encourages experimentation, adaptability, and a principled approach to innovation, it becomes easier to implement and embrace new digital solutions. That mindset not only supports smoother transitions, but also motivates our community to actively participate and get involved in, and contribute to transformation.

QuickTakes

Start with a vision that people can connect with. Institutional leaders need to provide a clear objective that articulates the intentions behind the work and how it will benefit the institution and its constituents. People need to see how the technologies, data, and processes will make a difference, or they'll question the effort.

Clarify priorities and pursue the highest good. Under-resourced institutions need to focus their efforts on outcomes they can feasibly achieve. This will inevitably require deciding what not to pursue, no matter how important it may be. At well-resourced institutions, the challenge will be to cast a vision so stakeholders understand the importance of contributing to a greater good that could also reduce their autonomy. In both cases, leaders should emphasize doing the right thing rather than issuing mandates.

Assess institutional trust. An institutional history of unmet commitments, secrecy, and infighting will derail efforts to build a governance structure and unify data infrastructure. An underlying lack of trust will show up during discussions about centralizing and sharing systems, data, and tools.

Leverage successes and crises. Sometimes a small win or discovered opportunity can solve someone's long-held need and really open people's eyes and minds to the benefits of shifting approaches to data and governance. No one wants a system failure, but sometimes that's what it takes to clarify the need to address this challenge.

Move beyond yesterday. Change is always challenging, and we work in an industry that is deeply steeped in tradition. This work needs to distinguish between traditions that differentiate and enhance an institution and ongoing habitual approaches that may be disguised as traditions. When processes and tools that used to work well even five or ten years ago no longer fit the world we live in, they need to be refined or recreated to be more dynamic and adaptable to changing circumstances.

Get the role of IT right. This work involves both business strategy and engineering. Technology leaders need to contribute as strategic partners to align technology strategy and architecture with business needs. Technology professionals need to partner with staff in academic and business units to understand their needs and engineer efficient solutions that work for them.

You're cultivating a garden, not building a car. Converting from a digital jungle to a digital garden will be messy and ongoing. The initial work involves a lot of experimentation and iteration. Unification will probably be relative rather than absolute, and both digital infrastructure and governance will need to adapt to new institutional priorities and structures as well as new data sources and tools.

Share and collaborate beyond the institution for the greater good. Every college and university needs to use data to reduce barriers to entry, improve access, increase affordability, strengthen student outcomes, and lower institutional operating costs. When institutions have successes, they should share their experience with others. Such collaborations will help the entire sector progress faster and more efficiently, making higher education more effective and increasing public confidence and trust.

Ask Yourself

How can institutions balance the need for a unified digital infrastructure with the diverse and evolving needs of different academic disciplines and administrative units?

The Bottom Line

Outdated, siloed systems are hindering institutional agility and innovation. Unified digital infrastructure can lead to better data-driven decision-making and improved student experiences. Efficient systems free up resources for core educational missions.

Data Point

Recent EDUCAUSE research found that "institutional leadership support" was the top success factor selected by respondents who had recently completed an ERP implementation, and "effective communication with all stakeholders" was the top skill needed for successful implementation.^Footnote1

From Strategy to Practice

What You're Saying

"Unifying campus alert systems into one system is a current project. We believe consolidation of systems is the future. There's simply too many inadequate systems on campus."

"Get rid of the old, customized complexities and streamline when possible. Concentrate on integrations that support a more efficient and cost-effective use of technology."

"Again, our IT infrastructure must be modernized and adapt to new technologies and methods. Governance is a key as well because the institution is only as 'safe' as its weakest point of failure. The history of IT in higher ed is one of 'service first.' We are now in the time of high risk, and it is necessary to put 'protection first' as our focus."

"YES! Lots of loose ends and tech debt across most campuses. A unified and focused strategy is essential."

"Collaboration among university leadership, IT and edtech specialists, faculty, students, libraries, administrative staff, R&D teams, ethics committees, and robust governance structure is required for investing in the digital journey across the university. By working together, these stakeholders can create a cohesive and effective digital environment that enhances learning, teaching, and administrative processes to increase efficiencies in the processes."

"As vendors continue the upward spiral on pricing, there is increasingly enough motivation to tackle the contentious issue of buying exactly what meets your preferences and needs versus pooling funding to choose to standardize on solutions that meet most needs and to tolerate not getting precisely what you wanted."

Solution Spotlights

"We continue to operate under the following principles: personalization, automation, integration, reporting/outcomes: PAIR."

Mark Staples, College of Charleston

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"Ninety-eight percent of all data on the campus of Oral Roberts University (ORU) is accessible from one location through the Student app by Ready Education. The all-in-one location for digital access allows students to seamlessly flow across campus. As one professor states, 'Every minute IT saves faculty and students from stumbling over technology is one more minute of student and faculty engagement.' The Ready Education app makes ORU campus-ready in a digital world. This is the reason the Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education has ranked ORU in the top four universities in the country for student engagement."

Michael Mathews, Oral Roberts University

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"To do this, we are diving deep into each of our current platforms and identifying areas of underutilization with the goal of maximizing value. As much as possible, we will consolidate and reduce costs by eliminating areas of duplication and selecting solutions that can enhance our offerings. All technology solutions will be evaluated based on their ability to offer native web-services integration with our cloud, IAM, and security tools and solutions."

Abel Cruz, Seattle Pacific University

What You're Working On

Comments provided by Top 10 survey respondents who rated this issue as important

Centralization/consolidation of systems and services

• This has been something we've been working on for years. Streamlining, aligning, and unifying, when appropriate. As two institutions that are being run jointly with a single president for the first time in our history, we're systematically examining every aspect of what we do and how we do it to find efficiencies.
• Efforts are underway to centralize various services, consolidate redundant systems, and increase data integrations.
• This is an ongoing task as we review our current services and attempt to consolidate.
• Salesforce Education Cloud campus; Ellucian BANNER; and auditing all IT investments to reduce software stack.
• We are moving toward a one-system model based on standardization of processes and solutions across our institutions.
• Reducing application clutter, modernizing on fewer, better, more flexible platforms.

Data governance

• Creation of a new framework and university policy specific to data governance.
• Development of unified data governance process and operating model. Engaging stakeholders throughout the institution.
• We are redefining our administrative user group to take a deeper dive into data governance, specifically due to the fact that so many systems are now integrated into the overall fabric. Institutional research will play a major role in identifying and bringing data issues to this redefined administrative user group.

IT governance

• Understanding system ownership and decision-making, solving the "Who gets to decide?" question for an organization with fundamentally shared and distributed ownership.
• New IT governance system.
• Creating a new IT and data governance structure.
• Digital governance committee at institutional level.
• We recently implemented a steering committee to address matters of IT infrastructure.
• Better governance as we move to a new ERP for the institution. Governance that we will sustain for the future.
• Creating a new governance model as we implement a modern ERP solution.
• Better governance on IT needs by departments.
• Identifying key objectives and results, ensuring that governance over data and solutions is being implemented
• Implementing strategies that help bring together key players across the vast decentralized IT landscape.
• While much of the industry focuses on AI and the speed of technology advancements, the university has been equally focused on unifying our governance and ensuring our investments align with institutional success. One aspect of this was setting up a new governance structure under the Provost Office. This effort, combined with IT leadership, Provost Office staff, and faculty/researchers, has brought together both ideas and ways to increase efficiency and effectiveness. It is more than just another committee on campus. The group meets for monthly breakfasts and showcases different uses in each college and department. Discussions then expand in other meetings around the frameworks and agility required to help encourage these efforts over hindering them from moving forward.

IT governance, architecture, and infrastructure

• Data governance and data lake for defined data and reporting.
• Professors and students have experienced the frustrations of navigating our college's digital landscape. Disparate systems, outdated technology, and unclear policies can create a real "digital jungle" that hinders our ability to function efficiently and effectively. We are on a transformative journey to tame this jungle. This means updating and unifying our digital infrastructure and governance.
• Data modernization assessment is underway; data governance office established and led by chief data architect; connected platforms are the highest priority.
• Rethinking our data infrastructure model and establishing governance practices.
• Implementing Okta and Collibra to simplify data governance as well as access and authorization.
• Increased inclusion of various types of information collected.
• Anywhere we can simplify, harden, and automate, we are doing our best.
• The university is currently updating its enterprise architecture and technology governance. This effort aims to achieve the following benefits: strengthening the connection and compatibility of its technology systems and services, allowing for more smooth and effective workflows and data sharing across the university; encouraging innovation and exploration with new technologies and solutions to foster a culture of continuous improvement and learning among staff and students; optimizing the use and allocation of its technology resources and budget, ensuring that they are aligned with the university's priorities and deliver value for money; and enhancing the security and resilience of its technology systems and services, reducing the risks and impacts of cyberattacks, disruptions, or failures.
• There is a keen recognition that our digital capabilities are only as effective as our digital infrastructure. It is also understood that governance is key to ensuring the alignment of both so that resources are committed to these outcomes. Recently, we launched a new governance framework to enable this work. This is on the heels of developing a new campus IT and data adaptive strategic plan designed to illuminate this journey and provide focus so that it is achievable.
• This past year, we implemented an IT governance structure that worked extremely well. It helps the IT organization remain in alignment with the business, while elevating our maturity to that of an innovator at the institution. A big part of this is through the infrastructure we provide. A solid foundation is key to everything we do.

Journey mapping / process improvement

• Looking at mapping the experience on a continuum and then looking at how the collection of business systems handle that data journey in a secure and authoritative way.
• As we are solving for new technologies, we are coming together as a system around common course and program procedures and tools, and this will streamline many aspects of the student experience.

Retooling

• Our director of enterprise applications is focusing on architectural changes on the Ellucian platform.
• Switch from Cisco VoIP phone to soft phones (MS Teams) for the entire campus.
• Recent network core replacement with advanced technology, scheduled Wi-Fi refresh project for this year.
• ERP conversion.
• Simplifying tools, focusing on a multiyear transition to Zoom.
• Implementing a new ERP.
• Buying new SaaS to help automate and make day-to-day operations more effective.
• Moving from on-premises infrastructure to cloud infrastructure with limited funding.
• Moving away from desk phones to soft phones.
• The institution is systematically modernizing its approach to smart classrooms, collaborative software, and student computing labs to position it for the late-2020s and beyond. This primarily involves making larger investments into fewer classrooms while reducing the number of student computing lab PCs in favor of more loaner laptops and wireless capacity.

Vendor and license management

• A lot of work around software license management to centralize and rationalize our software licenses.
• Would like to implement processes to better control software purchases.
• Developing IT vendor management and IT governance policies and workflows to know the risks and solutions we have in place.

Other

• The Department of Education and Innovation provides the pedagogical direction, while the IT department supplies the technological tools. Through relentless and sustained coordination between these departments, technology has been leveraged to augment the learning experience. Our joint efforts are directed toward developing a robust service catalog that facilitates superior communication, aligns more closely with organizational objectives, boosts operational efficiencies, and improves user satisfaction. The end result is a marked enhancement in overall institutional efficiency and effectiveness.
• We are developing guidelines and institutional documents on the use of data, security, and the protection of information.
• Continuous improvement training and mindset across the institution.

Note

1. Sean Burns and Mark McCormack, More than "Going Live": Achieving Institutional Transformation through ERP Implementation, research report, (EDUCAUSE, June 2023). Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.↩

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Kyle Bowen is Deputy Chief Information Officer at Arizona State University,

Michael Cato is Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Bowdoin College.

Jared Johnson is Associate Vice President, Academic Technology & Customer Experience at The George Washington University.

Felix Zuñiga is Campus Engagement Partner at The California State University, Office of the Chancellor.