The Black Hole of Information Technology
Planning our way out
Karen Leach, Colgate University Dave Smallen, Hamilton College
NACUBO July 2000
Technology Spending = Anxiety
Institutions are …..struggling to find the most effective ways of incorporating computing needs into university budget and planning processes that, in many cases, are better suited to buying library books or renovating laboratories than to dealing with the short product cycles and unfamiliar jargon of computers and networking.
The Chronicle of Higher Education 2/19/99
Today’s Journey
• • • • • • • Concerns of CIOs Early explorations CLAC COSTS Concerns of CFOs Future journeys Discussion
Concerns of CIOs
•Are we spending appropriately to assure that IT can continue to support the institutional mission? • Are we maintaining the value of the infrastructure (network, computers, software)?
•Do we have sufficient staff and are we compensating them appropriately?
•Are the services we deliver effective and efficient?
Campus Computing Project
www.campuscomputing.net
• Focus on the use of IT to support instruction and scholarship
– – – – Policy issues Strategic, budget, personnel issues Organization, planning issues Current IT resources (computers, classes using technology)
Gartner Group
www.gartner.com
• (1990) 35 users: 1 support staff • (1995)
– 77-95:1 for “tightly managed” – 18-23:1 for “loosely managed”
• Factors:
– – – – Amount of annual training O/S diversity Network management Diversity of software environment
Indiana University
Peebles, Antolovic
• Cost, Quality, and Value of IT Support in Large Research Universities,
Educom Review, (September/October, 1999).
Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges (CLAC)
• 59 selective residential liberal arts colleges • Data survey since 1985 • Size of institutions range from 650-3500 students • Required participation in an annual data survey
CLAC DATA
•E&G (now total expenditures)
•Number of Students FT+PT •Number of Employees •PC’s (Admin, Faculty, Student) •Student PC Ownership % •IT Expenses (by category)
•IT Staffing (by area)
Am I spending appropriately? IT as % of net E&G – CLAC 91-98
N= 25th Mean 75th Colgate 91/92 50 2.0% 3.0% 3.6% 2.1% 92/93 47 1.9% 3.0% 3.6% 1.9% 93/94 43 2.2% 3.2% 4.1% 2.3% 94/95 48 2.4% 3.0% 3.5% 3.0% 95/96 45 2.6% 3.7% 4.6% 2.1% 96/97 55 2.8% 3.7% 4.2% 3.6% 97/98 45 3.5% 4.5% 5.2% 4.8%
IT as % E&G
6.0% 5.0% 4.0% 3.0% 2.0% 1.0% 0.0% 91/92 92/93 93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 25th Mean 75th Colgate
Total IT Spending per Student – CLAC 91-99 includes ITS and outside ITS
N= 25th Mean 75th Colgate 91/92 51 $442 $739 $820 $441 92/93 50 $450 $854 $839 $421 93/94 46 $522 $933 $1,058 $555 94/95 51 $496 $759 $992 $760 95/96 48 $607 $958 $1,279 $602 96/97 56 $723 $1,054 $1,357 $997 97/98 55 $895 $1,215 $1,355 $1,138 98/99 51 $903 $1,276 $1,557 $1,403
IT$ per Student
$1,800 $1,600 $1,400 $1,200 $1,000 $800 $600 $400 $200 $0 91/92 92/93 93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 25th Mean 75th Colgate
Total IT spending per PC – CLAC 91-99
N= 25th Mean 75th Colgate 91/92 54 92/93 54 93/94 54 94/95 54 95/96 50 $659 $1,118 $1,256 $574 96/97 57 $738 $1,015 $1,182 $796 97/98 55 $749 $1,057 $1,203 $814 98/99 52 $867 $1,295 $1,464 $1,113
IT$ per PC
$1,600 $1,400 $1,200 $1,000 $800 $600 $400 $200 $0 91/92 92/93 93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 25th Mean 75th Colgate
Am I Staffed Appropriately? Students (FT & PT) per IT Staff – CLAC 91-99
N= 25th Mean 75th Colgate 91/92 54 92/93 51 109 181 194 197 93/94 47 100 147 177 121 94/95 52 87 130 156 125 95/96 48 92 137 169 146 96/97 55 71 97 118 102 97/98 55 69 94 109 111 98/99 54 65 86 98 99
Students per IT STaff Member
250 200 150 100 50 0 91/92 92/93 93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 25th Mean 75th Colgate
Am I Paying Appropriately? Salaries per central IT Staff – CLAC 91-99
N= 25th Mean 75th Colgate 91/92 54 92/93 46 $29,972 $36,515 $39,611 $33,822 93/94 42 $30,618 $35,436 $41,363 $23,291 94/95 45 $31,389 $36,795 $42,250 $32,500 95/96 49 $33,083 $40,984 $46,750 $33,553 96/97 55 $28,448 $32,203 $36,939 $32,179 97/98 54 $32,000 $35,983 $40,242 $36,423 98/99 51 $32,883 $38,006 $43,716 $40,386
Salaries per ITS Staff Member
$50,000 $45,000 $40,000 $35,000 $30,000 $25,000 $20,000 $15,000 $10,000 $5,000 $0 91/92 92/93 93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98
25th Mean 75th Colgate
The COSTS Project
launch date - October, 1997
• What is the cost of delivering IT support services?
Goals of the COSTS Project
• Short term – Identify and understand examples – Develop unit costs of delivering services – Test hypotheses • Long term – Identify a core of IT services – Identify exemplars – Develop benchmarks – Determine components of total cost of ownership (TCO)
COSTS
Hypotheses
• Economies of scale – Unit cost decreases as number of units increase • Complexity – Unit cost increases with complexity of environment • Outsourcing – Unit cost of providing services decreases with the degree to which it is outsourced. • You get what you pay for – Unit cost increases as the quality (service level) of the service provided increases
COSTS
Data Collection
• 1997 - 2 service areas (network, desktop repair), 25 schools participating • 1998 - 5 service areas (network, desktop repair, administrative information systems, training, helpline ), 100 schools participating in one or more service areas • 1999 - First draft of comprehensive service template, 27 schools participating
COSTS 1999
Sample demographic data
FTE students FTE faculty FTE non-faculty Number of institutional computers Number of student-owned computers Number of active network ports …
COSTS core service areas
• • • • Computer repair Helpdesk Network services Administrative information systems • Instructional support • Student support • Web support • Installation/ replacement • Distance learning • Training • Planning/ management • Other
COSTS 1999
Sample service area data
Budget Categories
FTE IT Staff Total Salaries Student $ Contractual Maintenance Staff Development
Repair … … … … …
Helpline … … … … …
Repair Services
(1998)
Small Large (55) (37) 25th AVG 75th 25th AVG 75th Cost/ computer $59 $129 $174 $40 $75 $96
Computers/ 252 staff
576
784
397 1074 1361
An Example
Helpline service
• A call-in problem solving service designed to provide help to staff and students experiencing problems of an immediate and important nature with information technology resources.
Helpline Service
Components
• • • • • • •
Total cost (personnel, equipment, …) Number of users Number of hours of service provided Annual number of calls Complexity of environment served Quality measures (surveys) Number of IT Helpline staff
Helpline Service
COSTS Study
• • • • •
Helpdesk calls/staff Cost/call Users/staff Average salaries Percentage of overall IT staff size
Helpline
Cost/Call
Avg B1 B2 M1 Small Large Overall
$22 $39 $29 $21 $36 $27
25th
$17 $29 $5 $9 $13 $11
50th
$24 $50 $20 $21 $21 $21
75th
$29 $54 $35 $31 $41 $33
N
9 3 9 14 8 22
Helpline
Staffing as a percent of overall IT Staffing
Avg B1 B2 M1 Small Large Overall
11% 8% 8% 10% 9% 10%
25th
9% 7% 5% 7% 6% 7%
50th
10% 8% 7% 9% 10% 9%
75th
12% 10% 10% 11% 11% 11%
N
10 4 10 17 9 26
Caveats!
• • • • • Emphasis of IT at the college Quality of services delivered Economies of scale Level of expectation Method of delivery
Concerns of CFOs
Mellon Summit Can we develop principles and/or benchmarks for IT
similar to other financial categories? • Endowment
– are we spending appropriately to assure that IT...
• Physical plant
– are we maintaining the value of the infrastructure?
• Human resources
– do we have sufficient staff and are we compensating…
• Services
– efficient and effective services...
The Future
• Revised CLAC/COSTS survey to capture the “large picture” • Annual participation by at least 60 institutions, expand to others • Collect CORE data for longitudinal study • Choose one service area annually for focused study
Discussion and Questions
http://www.its.colgate.edu/kleach/COSTS/costs.ht m e-mail: dsmallen@hamilton.edu