Dissertation Final May 2012
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THE EVOLUTION OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION POLYMATH: HOW THE ROLE OF THE CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER IS BEING IMPACTED BY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY FORCES Jerome P. DeSanto A DISSERTATION In Higher Education Management Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education 2012 Supervisor of Dissertation: ___________________________________ Blake Alan Naughton, Senior Fellow in Education Dean, Graduate School of Education: __________________________________ Andrew C. Porter, Dean Dissertation Committee: Blake Alan Naughton, Senior Fellow in Education Laurence Moneta, Adjunct Associate Professor of Education Rodney S. Tosten, Professor of Computer Science, Gettysburg College THE EVOLUTION OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION POLYMATH: HOW THE ROLE OF THE CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER IS BEING IMPACTED BY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY FORCES COPYRIGHT 2012 Jerome P. DeSanto DEDICATION To Lynn: For your countless sacrifices, encouragement, and support. My success to a substantial degree is due to your love, patience, and positive influence over my life in innumerable ways. To Erica, Rebecca, Jay, and Jeffrey DeSanto: Thanks for showing faith and confidence in me and expecting me to excel. Every day you make me proud. and To all my colleagues and friends: For your unwavering confidence in me and for providing me assistance in achieving success in this educational and scholarly endeavor. iii ABSTRACT THE EVOLUTION OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION POLYMATH: HOW THE ROLE OF THE CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER IS BEING IMPACTED BY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY FORCES Jerome P. DeSanto Blake Alan Naughton The role of Chief Information Officer (CIO) in the higher education space is receiving increasing attention of late. Relatively nascent and sometimes mysterious, the individuals occupying this role need to possess an ever-evolving set of talents that could characterize them as renaissance men and women, or polymaths. The information technology (IT) industry that is principally responsible for defining the work of the CIO is changing at exponential rates with no respite in sight. How is this hyper-changing IT industry impacting the individual with overall responsibility for providing vision and leadership, as well as delivering a portfolio of mission-critical services to their college and university? Undoubtedly, this phenomenon elicits descriptors like uncertainty, agility, adaptability or even controlled-chaos. In recent years several emergent forces have prevailed, which promise to change the IT industry in profound ways, and the CIO role in ways never before imagined or experienced. These forces and how the CIOs react to them could very well permanently alter the CIO profession propelling it on a trajectory to an unknown destination. This research focuses on the higher education CIO role and examines its evolvement over its relatively short history. Furthermore, this study considers the group of IT industry factors that are most influencing the evolution of the role, and assesses how the higher education CIOs are reacting to them. This study offers evidence-based assessments about the role in current day, and traces its iv projected advancement amidst the uncertainty of what lies ahead. Ultimately, the future relevance of the role is analyzed and evaluated. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ....................................................................... 5 THE CIO ROLE IN HIGHER EDUCTATION ........................................................ 5 The Evolving Profession ........................................................................... 7 THE ECONOMIC RECESSION AND BUDGET CONSTRAINTS .................................. 17 EMERGING IT PARADIMS IMPACTING THE HIGHER EDUCATION CIO ................... 18 The Tsunami of IT Consumerization .................................................................. 18 The Cloud .......................................................................................................... 29 Virtualization ...................................................................................................... 32 The Information Security Imperative................................................................... 33 Adding Value ..................................................................................................... 36 Reporting Lines and the Linkage to Relevance .................................................. 40 The Shrinking Relevance of the CIO .................................................................. 41 Summary ........................................................................................................... 44 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................................ 47 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 47 THE PILOT STUDY ........................................................................................... 48 THE LBCIO SURVEY AND QUANTITATIVE APPROACH ................................ 50 QUALITATIVE APPROACH ............................................................................... 52 PROCESS ......................................................................................................... 56 THE INTERVIEW PROTOCOL .......................................................................... 57 THE FOCUS GROUP AT EDUCAUSE .............................................................. 58 QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS ................................................................................. 60 OTHER SOURCES ............................................................................................ 61 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY ............................................................................ 62 PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE ............................................................................. 63 ETHICS ............................................................................................................. 64 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................ 64 CHAPTER 4: THE LBCIO 2011 SURVEY FINDINGS ................................................... 66 vi INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 66 FINDINGS.......................................................................................................... 67 DEMOGRAPHICS ............................................................................................. 68 IT CONSUMERIZATION .................................................................................... 68 IT SECURITY .................................................................................................... 70 THE CLOUD ...................................................................................................... 71 IT BUDGET CONSTRAINTS ............................................................................. 72 CIO ROLE RELEVANCE ................................................................................... 73 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................ 75 CHAPTER 5: QUALITATIVE FINDINGS ....................................................................... 77 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 77 FINDING #1—IT CONSUMERIZATION AND PERSONALIZATION .................. 77 FINDING #2—THE CLOUD—A REPACKING OF OUTSOURCING .................. 80 FINDING #3—SECURITY, RISK MANAGEMENT, AND COMPLIANCE ........... 82 FINDING #4—THERE’S NO ESCAPING THE CRITICLITY OF SERVICE ........ 86 FINDING #5—A SEAT AT THE CABINET TABLE ............................................. 88 FINDING #6—STRATEGIC OR OPERATIONAL ............................................... 90 FINDING #7—THE CIO ROLE—SKILLS, TRAITS, AND TENDANCIES ........... 92 FINDING #8—CIO AS TECHNOLOGIST OR INFORMATICIST ........................ 99 ISSUES THAT DIDN’T YIELD SALIENT FINDINGS ........................................ 100 Virtualization ......................................................................................... 101 Budget Constraints ............................................................................... 102 SUMMARY ...................................................................................................... 103 CHAPTER 6: DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS ...................................................... 104 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 104 vii DISCUSSION .................................................................................................. 104 The Impact of IT Consumerization on the Higher Education CIO Role . 105 The Impact of the Cloud on the Higher Education CIO Role ................. 107 The Impact of Information Security on the Higher Education CIO Role . 108 The Evolution of the Higher Education CIO Role in Practice................. 110 The Evolution of the New Higher Education CIO .................................. 110 Higher Education CIO Role Relevance ................................................. 112 IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE .................................................................... 115 Implications for Current