I. Solid Foundation of IT Infrastructure & Sound Fiscal Planning

Recommendation 1: The University should build a solid foundation of IT infrastructure that will help and enable IU to achieve a position of leadership, and to assure that sound fiscal planning permits the maintenance of this infrastructure at state-of-the-art levels.

Life-cycle Funding, Modernization, and Local Support

Action 1. The University should build life-cycle replacement funding into its planning at every level of investment in information technology (including personal, departmental, and central systems, and network hardware and software); and UITS should develop a life-cycle replacement model to use where needed in conjunction with its investments in information technology. Implementation should begin immediately, with full funding of life-cycle replacement phased in over a fixed number of years.

Action 2. The University should budget a standard amount per year, per FTE to support life-cycle replacement of faculty and staff desktop computers, and to cover the cost of providing local support to that desktop.

Action 3. The University's stock of computers should be systematically modernized so that they are all capable of supporting current releases of widely-used software, Web access, and other basic tasks of computation and communication.

In 1999 the University almost completed the implementation of life-cycle replacement funding for basic desktop technology (computers, printers and servers) for all schools and academic support units on all campuses. (Replacement needs for administrative support units will be addressed in Phase II which will be completed in 2000.) Ordering of equipment for Phase I at IUB was completed by the end of 1999 and installation should be completed by the end of the first quarter 2000. Phase I is nearly complete at IUPUI, with the exception of the School of Medicine, which is completing a life-cycle funding and modernization plan. This should be finished and implemented by the middle of 2000. Life-cycle funding replacement proposals and implementation plans for all regional campuses have been approved, with the exception of South Bend, whose plan should gain approval in early 2000.

Equipment replacement accounts are in place for all appropriate units on all campuses, with the units and UITS sharing responsibility for the accounts. Oversight from the UITS Finance Office and the campus budget offices ensures that these funds are used solely for equipment purchases. UITS contributes, on average, 25% of the modernization and life-cycle funding costs paid for from these accounts.

The UITS Finance Office has achieved very substantial savings for the University through aggregating large equipment orders and negotiating volume pricing agreements with vendors. Combining large purchase requests from the IU Libraries, UITS, and other departments netted a $1.5 million savings under the first agreement with Dell; similar savings are expected under the second Dell agreement. Agreements with Apple have likewise provided substantial savings. In time UITS involvement in the life-cycle replacement process should be limited to oversight, aggregating orders, and setting standards.

When this initiative is complete by mid-2000, it will mean that no desktop computer on the desk of any IU faculty or staff member should be more than three years old and will also be running the most recent release of Microsoft or other popular desktop software. When this initiative is complete, IU may well be the first University in the United States to have implemented institution-wide life-cycle funding for desktop technology.

Information Technology Staff and Skills at IU

Action 4. The University should review the market compensation levels for qualified IT professionals at each campus and their surrounding communities, and seek to make compensation competitive with employment alternatives, within the context of overall University salary goals.

To meet President Brand's charge to become a leader in the use and application of information technology, UITS must be able to retain and attract skilled IT professionals in a national context in which demand significantly outstrips supply. Surveys of salaries paid in UITS mission-critical skills areas showed that UITS salaries fell 29-40% lower than those paid at Michigan and UC-Berkeley, 12-34% lower than the higher education survey averages, and 21-41% lower than industry survey averages. A list of job categories deemed especially vulnerable because of striking salary gaps was drawn up. Salary adjustments were then made to 100 staff in these categories and further adjustments have been made. These seem to have had a noticeable effect on staff retention and recruitment. An IT Compensation Task Force, co-chaired by Vice President for Information Technology and CIO (VPIT) McRobbie and Vice President and CFO Palmer, has been addressing compensation issues and strategies for attracting and retaining IT staff. Recommendations include addressing ever-changing staffing challenges with flexible solutions and pilot programs and applying supplemental and bonus pay in the short term to address the low compensation levels of exceptional staff and those with mission-critical skills.

UITS offers other kinds of compensation beyond salary increases. Surveys show staff regard training as a key benefit. Similarly, information technology competencies and skills constantly evolve because of dynamic business needs. Thus, UITS has increased training resources for staff and local support providers, including CBT Systems online tutorials in some 35 subjects, NETg training modules (600 titles), partnership agreements with other IU departments, and training opportunities from campus HR offices. Flexible kinds of appointments allow professional staff to take part-time leave to be with family or pursue degree or professional training. All FTE appointments include a fee courtesy. UITS and IU Human Resources plan to undertake a broadbanding pilot in which IT staff will be rewarded as they attain various levels of competencies and responsibilities.