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Case Study · Higher Education

IT Governance Framework:
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Building a customized IT governance framework to align people, process, and technology with UAB's University Strategic Plan and establish shared governance across the enterprise.

Client

Ivy League University IT Dept.

A team of senior consultants deployed

More than 50 years of combined experience in IT Governance and Project Management

Four deliverables produced

Request intake process, governance framework, committee models, and project scoring matrix

Unanimous support

All 18 ITSAC school and department leaders unanimously supported the framework approach

Strategic imperative met

IT Governance Framework enabled UAB IT to meet its strategic imperative for shared governance

The challenge

Governance process not aligned to University or IT Strategic Plan

UAB IT’s process for governing business and IT requests did not align to the University or IT Strategic Plan. With over 200 committees and sub-committees meeting regularly, UAB IT needed a streamlined process to include designated groups with the authority to evaluate business and IT requests based on strategic alignment.

In the UAB environment, co-authorship of solutions between IT and the business is vital to expense control and risk reduction. Due to the disparity of school and department needs, lack of solution co-authorship happened frequently — individual stakeholders entered into solutions independently without collective consultation from all dependent areas.

The requirements

Seven requirements for a governance framework proposal using best practice frameworks

UAB IT requested the assessment focus on frameworks recognized by best practice leaders including Gartner, InfoTech Research Group, and Chief Executive Board.

  • Define a single-entry point for all business and IT requests and establish factors for strategic vs. non-strategic determination
  • Establish models for strategic committees representing business and technology needs of various schools and departments
  • Increase level of stakeholder engagement in co-authoring technology solutions
  • Construct a method for evaluating strategic projects using business case factors that score benefits, value, complexity, and constraints
  • Increase the role of IT as a strategic partner capable of providing centralized support
  • Align financial decision-making process with UAB Resource Cost Model (RCM)
  • Develop a framework implementation plan communicating goals, timeframes, and outcomes
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The solution

iSeek deployed a team of professional consultants with 50+ years of combined IT Governance and Project Management experience

After reviewing various approaches to industry-standard frameworks, UAB IT turned to iSeek Solutions for a customized solution. Employing iSeek’s standard approach for stakeholder engagement, the consultants identified the people, process, and technology required to align with strategic goals and objectives.
 
As a result of peer-university research, collaboration with University leadership, and input from key stakeholders, iSeek produced four key deliverables.

Deliverables produced:

  • Request Intake Process Flow for governing business and IT requests
  • IT Governance Framework for strategic and non-strategic projects
  • Committee Models for stakeholder engagement and solution co-authorship
  • Project Scoring Matrix enabling the decision-making process

Presented

Framework demonstrated to all ITSAC members including 18 school and department leaders

Unanimous

All ITSAC members unanimously supported the proposed approach

Aligned

Framework supported UAB IT’s vision for “One University” across the enterprise

Momentum

Leaders expressed desire to move forward quickly with implementation

The results

Unanimous support from all 18 ITSAC school and department leaders — and a strategic imperative met

iSeek facilitated a presentation to individual ITSAC members demonstrating the approach. All 18 school and department leaders unanimously supported the framework. Several leaders expressed adulation for the structure and methodology of the proposed IT Governance Framework and scoring matrix. Leaders were immensely supportive of UAB IT’s vision for “One University” and believed the proposed framework supported it. The IT Governance Framework enabled UAB IT to meet a strategic imperative for initiating a new approach to shared governance of people, process and technology across the enterprise.

The Planning, Engineering and Permits Department is very appreciative of the leadership Robyn White from iSeek Solutions provided as we tackled a major upgrade to our GIS Enterprise System. Our team was able to focus on the technical details as iSeek Solutions provided project management support and worked diligently to ensure the project was a success. We are grateful for the support we received from iSeek Solutions to help us grow and continue to expand our GIS services across City departments and to our citizens.

Planning, Engineering and Permits Department
City of Birmingham, Alabama

Ready to build a governance framework that aligns your organization’s people, process, and technology?

iSeek Solutions brings senior-level IT governance expertise to higher education, government, and enterprise clients.

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