Making Your Tech Dollars Matter:What CFOs Should Know

NYSAIS Business Affairs ConferenceMay 5, 2010

Presenter: Curt Lieneck, IT Director

University of Chicago Laboratory Schools

Senior Collaborator, Educational Collaborators LLC

A Little Background

17 yrs. teaching Lower School

IT Director since 1998

UC Lab School

PreK-12, 1770 students

Me

320 Faculty and Staff

9 f/t tech support people

850 Macs

14 Servers

Planning the largest building project in school history

Not a boxes and wires guy

Robust growth in tech resources on my watch

NAIS Tech Task Force 3 yrs. ISED-L Co-Manager 6 yrs.

Consulting 3 yrs.

We Have a Lot in Common

We Have a Lot in Common

We don’t like surprises

We Have a Lot in Common

We don’t like surprises

We deal with everyone at school

We Have a Lot in Common

We don’t like surprises

We deal with everyone at school

Our good deeds never go unpunished

We Have a Lot in Common

We don’t like surprises

We deal with everyone at school

Our good deeds never go unpunished

If we aren’t good at our jobs, school grinds to a halt

We Have a Lot in Common

We don’t like surprises

We deal with everyone at school

Our good deeds never go unpunished

If we aren’t good at our jobs, school grinds to a halt

We spend a lot of time in the twilight zone

You’re Asking the Right Questions

What are we really spending, both in our educational program and in business functions?

How do we measure ROI and therefore establish priorities?

Given finite resources, where should we be spending on technology?

Are there new technologies relevant to schools that we should be looking at?

Is using technology in program or business functions overrated?

Do we get more productivity and better educational outcomes?

Can We Answer Them All This Morning?

Can We Answer Them All This Morning?

YES, WE CAN!

A Quick Disclaimer

Question 1:

What AreWe Really Spending?

Answer:

Determine Your

Total Cost of Ownership

(TCO)

http:///www.cosn.org

What Comprises

TCO?

Direct Costs:

All the technology charges that show up on your ledgers

+Indirect Costs:

All the costs that don’t show up on any ledger

Divide Total by # of Computers =

Total Cost of Ownership

Direct Costs

Hardware

Software

Support

Training/Professional Development

Connectivity

Retrofitting

Replacement Costs

Power Consumption

Insurance...

...and so on

Indirect Costs

Can be up to 60% of TCOaccording to Gartner

User Overhead:

Down Time

Peer to Peer Support

Data/File Management Time

“Intangibles” Associated With Change

Metacommunication

Hidden Cost Drivers

Hidden and Not-So-Hidden Cost Drivers at My Place

Autonomy vs. “Cultural Attachment to Consensus”Spontaneity

Customization (My Personal Favorite)University Affiliation/Database Integration

School Offices Slow to Own Evolving Data Needs

Other Current Cost DriversA/V Convergence

VOIP (IP based telephone systems)

Evolution of MultiFunction Devices (MFDs)

Escalating Demand for School Communication

Increased School Data Needs/Data Integration Across Discrete Solutions

IP Based Security Systems

Netbooks/Mobile Devices

Demand for multimedia over the network (Bandwidth)

There is no set TCO formula.

Its value to your school hinges on

what you choose to include.

Question 2:

How do we measure ROI and therefore

establish priorities?

Answer:

Determine Your

Value of Investment

(VOI)

http:///www.cosn.org

ROIVOI

What’s the Difference?

Tangible Outcomes

Objective

Quantitative

Summative

Source:

Educause Center for Applied Research, Research Bulletin, Volume 2003, Issue 18, September 2, 2003: “Value on Investment in Higher Education,” Donald M. Norris, Strategic Initiatives, Inc.

“Soft” or Intangible Benefits

Subjective

Qualitative

Formative

Factors Affecting

VOI

Project Risk

Curricular Fit

Mission Fit

Equity

Student Engagement

User Satisfaction

Political Return

Staff Retention

...and more

CoSN’s VOI tool kit provides a great place to

start

Question 3:

Given finite resources,

where should we be spending on

technology?

Remember: time is often > money

Answer:

What are you trying to accomplish?

This will vary from school to school.

But in general, some areas need more attention from

independent schools.

Risk Management

Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Planning

Eliminating human and technical single points of

failure

Documenting critical system operations

Tech StaffingClarify roles and responsibilities; monitor workload

Write job descriptions and evaluate regularly; get the right people on board and the wrong people off

Once you have good people, let them do their jobs

Give your tech leader your support -- and a place at the cabinet table

Outsource wisely

Infrastructure

Nothing drops ROI or VOI like a lame network

Whatever happens next in technology, it will need

bandwidth and electricity

The unsexy stuff needs you: decent server closets,

service contracts, battery backups

Professional Development

This is more about spending time than money

Admin staff are almost always neglected on PD days; they are your best targets for investment

No curriculum review should take place without a tech

component that drives teachers’ PD needs

A Few Random Thoughts on IT

Spending

Success=more work ahead

If you build it, they will NOT come

Networked technology compels interdependence,

thus disrupting silos

Question 4:

Are there new technologies relevant to

schools that we should be looking at?

Answer:

ALWAYS

Server Virtualization: One Server Becomes

Many

More virtual servers = less:

Hardware -- Service Contracts -- Power Consumption

Cooling Demand --Down Time

“Cloud” Computing

Delivering hosted services over the Internet..

Open Source Applications

Crowdsourced, open architecture applications written and maintained by a worldwide developer network.

Source code available generally at no cost.

Web content management

Learning ManagementOS

Productivity Suite

Image manipulation

The source code is “no cost.”

Implementing open source takes time and a learning curve for tech staff and for users.

Mobile Devices/Handhelds

Question 4:Is using

technology overrated?

Answer:

Does the answer really matter?

If it does matter, what do you expect it to do?

What Technology Can’t Do for You

Technology Shines When It:

Empowers us to create things we care about

Minimizes drudgery

Helps us tell compelling stories

Expands our world

Helps us be good stewards of resources entrusted to us

Offers new opportunities for ethical fitness, moral courage, and

service to others

CFOs Can Be “Change Agents”

Partner with your CTO

Learn to lean into the discomfort that technology creates

Grow your tolerance for risk; reward it judiciously

Model good technology use

Expect accountability for resources you provide

Work toward a predictable, sustainable budget that can accommodate steady growth

Build trust through transparency and open dialogue

Q and A?Thanks to Barbara Swanson, the Program

Committee, and you, a fine audience.

Please feel free to stop by if you are in Chicago.

I really mean it.

curt@ucls.uchicago.edu