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NEWS RELEASE
September 13 , 2007
Media Contact:
Stan North Martin
Phone: 919-515-1348
stan_martin@ncsu.edu
RMIS and ITD join to form Office of Information Technology
Administrative and academic IT services to campus will continue without disruption throughout the transition.
NC State University is moving forward with plans to consolidate the functions of the university’s central IT organizations. Associate Vice Chancellor Steve Keto and Vice Provost Sam Averitt announced on August 31, 2007 that Resource Management and Information Systems (RMIS) and the Information Technology Division (ITD) are working together to create a new unified IT organization called the Office of Information Technology, or OIT.
The interim OIT consolidated structure is being implemented as part of the transition plan in preparation for the university’s new vice chancellor for information technology (VCIT) position. The OIT will complete the current phase of consolidation in November, 2007. The same broad range of IT services and resources that NC State receives from RMIS and ITD will continue to be provided by the OIT throughout the transition.
“Maintaining services and service levels is a high priority for all participating groups in this consolidation,” said Averitt and Keto and in their joint memo announcing the consolidation plans to RMIS and ITD staff. “Additionally, there is a high commitment to successfully meeting targets for planned initiatives and current projects.”
Keto, Averitt and a team of RMIS and ITD directors have been working on the consolidation plans for more than six months. The OIT will be organized according to functions and activities and will have a staff of over 300 people. Averitt and Keto will lead the new organization jointly until the VCIT is hired in 2008.
“The consolidation of central IT services is essential to stretch severely constrained IT resources to help meet growing demands for services, reporting capability, security, and accountability, ” Associate Vice Chancellor Keto said.
The OIT consolidation reflects the continuing convergence of IT services and business processes which led to the creation of the Communication Technologies (ComTech) department in 2000. In June 2006, Chancellor Oblinger proposed the creation of a unified IT organization when he endorsed the creation of a new chief information officer position for the university. In spring 2007, NC State listed the reorganization of information technology as its first priority among its initiatives for UNC System President Erskine Bowles’ President’s Advisory Committee on Efficiency and Effectiveness (PACE) initiatives. The merger of central IT organizations was also recommended in the June 2007 report of the IT Scoping Team report commissioned by the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Finance and Business.
“This consolidation is not just about business processes and efficiency,” observed Vice Provost Averitt; “We also want to be better able to meet student and faculty requirements for new technologies and solutions to enhance research, education and engagement.”