Recent years have seen the rapid maturing of cloud technologies and a marked increase in savvy among technology consumers at all levels. In higher education in particular, this has led to a proliferation of best-of-breed software systems that fit various niche needs, sometimes resulting in multiple application deployments even within one department. While the technical details of spinning up new systems are usually fairly straightforward, managing the inherent cultural shifts and resultant data explosion can be much more challenging. Individual departments are typically not well-versed in project management, and many liberal arts institutions do not employ dedicated project management professionals. Fortunately, IT is often well-positioned to step into this role by virtue of our experiences with administering various systems projects.
Over the past year, Information Services at DePauw has worked closely with our office of Development and Alumni Engagement, assuming a leadership role for multiple major implementation and conversion initiatives. Along the way, we found that several of the simple tools and techniques we employ for software development and systems deployment can be leveraged to help guide broader projects that entail significant cultural components. The result has been a more comprehensive understanding of the systems in play by administrative staff and a very strong relationship between IS and Development Services. We are eager to share what we have learned during this process, both good and bad, and how we plan to improve our model moving forward.