Next Steps

The following next steps for implementing the Roadmap have been identified through discussions with the Information Management Advisory Committee, University Technology Advisory Committee, Board of Deans and Chancellors, and other key stakeholders:

• Move forward with the financial system replacement. Begin work on a needs assessment and explore possible partnerships, including with the state, as well as other options.
• Join the Kuali student partnership. Become a founding member of the Kuali Foundation student system development effort.
• Invest in high-value system enhancements as funding allows.
• Identify a long-term funding strategy to implement the Roadmap initiatives. This includes identifying an annual operating and capital investment plan for information management and administrative systems.

Workforce Planning

As the University moves forward with system replacement, it also will need to engage in thoughtful, long-term workforce planning for its technology staff. As new technologies are introduced and old ones decommissioned it will be critical to retain, reward, and retrain valued staff members and engage in succession planning to prepare for the upcoming wave of retirements.

In addition, it will be important to continue to focus on building an environment that encourages and rewards sharing, collaboration, and partnership within the UW and with external groups such as higher education consortia, state agencies, and business partners. New technologies will provide great opportunities for those who thrive in a community environment.

Updates to the Roadmap

The Roadmap will be updated annually prior to the budgeting process. Projects and initiatives will be reassessed and prioritized in conjunction with the governance framework and the portfolio management process.

Invest in the Future

For the past two decades the University has made a strategic decision to invest its limited technology resources in research and other computing priorities. This approach has enabled the UW to build a technology infrastructure that has made this institution a global leader in technology and given it a competitive edge.

This strategy, however, has resulted in decades of underinvestment in information management and administrative systems. The UW’s aging and functionally inadequate systems are now resulting in inefficiencies that are eroding the productivity of faculty, staff, and researchers at every level of the institution.

Up to this point, the UW has been able to maintain its core systems on a small and unpredictable budget. However, this funding model will not support the capital investments needed to move to a new generation of systems. A new funding model is needed to support baseline operations and maintenance, ongoing technology renewal, and major projects. A sustainable and predictable life cycle funding plan is needed to optimize decision making and ensure that investments in new systems are leveraged through the ongoing maintenance and technology renewal required to keep those systems current.

The University of Washington is a premier higher education institution that repeatedly is recognized as one of the best in the world. Yet its administrative systems are among the oldest and most archaic of its peers. These systems do not meet the University’s current business needs, and they cannot support its future aspirations.

The University does not need the world’s best payroll or accounts payable system. But it does need modern, flexible systems and accurate, timely information to support a complex, global enterprise. It is time for this institution to move from discussion to action—and make the investments necessary to position the University of Washington for the future.