UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The multi-year initiative to rethink shared support and services across Penn State continues as the University’s Information Technology (IT) Optimized Service Teams (OST) engage with consulting group PwC to help guide a strategic approach.
As part of its nine-week engagement with the IT OST that began in February, PwC is helping to examine Penn State IT’s current state, benchmarking other similar institutions, and will provide a set of recommendations to senior leadership on the future state of IT at Penn State.
In support of an interactive approach to develop recommendations, over the past few weeks, the IT OST and PwC have built on the Current State Report shared in December, surveyed more than 220 IT leaders, held nine open sessions with over 150 IT staff members, met with academic leadership, and conducted individual interviews with over 30 student, faculty and staff stakeholders.
As the next step in this process, PwC is utilizing the current state information and benchmarking data to facilitate three workshops with selected leaders from around the institution on March 21, March 28, and April 4.
“The engagement and feedback from our community has been valuable as we seek to create a future state for IT at Penn State that upholds the University’s mission, aligns with best practices in higher education, and meets the needs of students, faculty and staff,” said Chris Lucas, interim vice president for information technology and chief information officer. “As we move forward in this process, these perspectives will help shape discussions during the upcoming workshops focused on gaining additional insight from key stakeholders.”
The opening workshop on March 21 will focus on reviewing stakeholder interviews and survey results and feature discussions on other current-state themes and implications.
The second workshop on March 28 will give participants the chance to explore and provide recommendations in the areas of funding structure, service optimization, service distribution, customer satisfaction and future IT operating models.
The April 4 workshop will feature a deep dive into foundational recommendations and provide an opportunity to create an actionable timeline.
Following these sessions, PwC will then analyze all information collected throughout this process and provide a set of final recommendations for consideration by the OST executive sponsors at the end of their engagement in early April. Additional progress updates will continue to be shared with IT staff and the community.
The goal of the Optimized Service Teams — in alignment with Penn State’s mission, strategic priorities, and the recent roadmap released by University leadership — is to optimize business practices, enhance service and support for the University community and create better career pathways and development opportunities for staff.
Those with questions or feedback about the IT OST and the upcoming process can email ITOST@psu.edu.