Technology Strategy for Digital Transformation: Get Your Stakeholders on Board

The 2019 focus for the EDUCAUSE Enterprise IT Program is the relationship between enterprise IT and digital transformation (Dx). You can read here about our plan for the year. As we prepare new resources for this topic, we will publish them within each challenge on the Enterprise IT Program web page.

In our second set of resources for the year, we look at the importance of working closely with stakeholders regarding technology strategy and helping them understand its importance to the institution's Dx goals and initiatives, whether those stakeholders are in IT or in departments and functions across the institution. As colleges and universities start to make changes related to the digital transformation of higher education, IT leaders must develop a technology strategy that enables and supports the institution's Dx initiatives, typically requiring technology that is more flexible and agile than what has been needed in the past. And in order to be successful, IT leaders need to work with a wide variety of stakeholders in both the planning and implementation of that technology strategy.

Dx requires a shift in culture and workforce as well as in technology. The culture shift will require a new approach to how campus leaders interact with each other, an emphasis on change management, and a movement toward institutional agility and flexibility to meet quickly changing needs. This shifting culture needs to be kept in mind as a new technology strategy is developed so that technology can help create the kind of environment that supports that flexibility and agility. Dramatic shifts in workplace skills at all levels and professions will also be necessary as data and analytics become increasingly important to institutional strategy. IT leaders and their organizations must model Dx by adopting innovative practices and creating new digital architectures that provide unprecedented agility and flexibility to enable the institution to rapidly and efficiently achieve its strategic aims.

This evolution in enterprise IT thinking can be seen as an opportunity for the IT organization to act as a strategic partner in the institution, going beyond the delivery of technologies and services to the integration of technology throughout all aspects of the institution's mission, adding value in direct relationship to the institution's goals. A focus on the value that technology brings to institutional strategy and goals results in a symbiotic relationship in which technology not only serves but also shapes strategic ambitions. In this evolving environment, information technology becomes mission-centric and client focused, positioning the college or university to integrate digital technology into every area of the institution in a way that increases value across all aspects of the higher education mission.

Reaching that state of integration, however, requires that stakeholders from all across the institution, not just within IT, are involved and engaged. Nowhere is this engagement more important than with Dx initiatives. The development of an effective technology strategy that enables and supports Dx can be effectively managed only with input and involvement from stakeholders across the institution, both so that IT can deeply understand the institution's needs and goals and so that stakeholders can feel a sense of ownership with and connection to the digital aspects of digital transformation.

Bringing in shiny new technology is not in itself a transformation. The shift happens when the institution transforms its processes and practices in a way that directly impacts mission and strategy. The IT leader is uniquely positioned to serve as a trusted partner and advisor in this work because of the central role of the digital world, allowing the IT leader to envision possible digital futures while also working to create the kind of technology environment that enables institutional Dx strategies. IT leaders should take advantage of this position to bring stakeholders into the important conversation about technology strategy development that supports Dx.

In the Enterprise IT Program's second set of 2019 resources, we take a look at how SUNY Oswego and the University of Memphis have engaged with their stakeholders as they develop and implement technology strategy. You can find more resources related to this topic on the Enterprise IT Program's Technology Strategy page, including:

• Actionable tools such as the IT Governance Toolkit, which provides resources to help with the process of understanding, designing, and implementing a governance framework
• An EDUCAUSE workforce study highlighting the role of Enterprise Architect
• Relevant working group materials, EDUCAUSE research, and recent articles from leaders within the EDUCAUSE community

Because the work of developing and implementing a technology strategy goes far beyond the IT department, the Enterprise IT Program webpages also feature links to resources from other professional associations such as NACUBO (the National Association of College and University Business Officers) and AIR (the Association for Institutional Research).

We hope you find these new resources helpful. Send us your questions and suggestions by email.

If you have a story to tell about your own institution's work in the area of digital transformation, or if you have suggestions or questions about the Enterprise IT Program, please contact Betsy Tippens Reinitz.

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Betsy Tippens Reinitz is Director of the Enterprise IT Program for EDUCAUSE.