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New concept of operations to drive IT changes across University

Credit: Tom Klimek / Penn StateCreative Commons

Penn State Information Technology (IT), which supports students, faculty and staff members at 24 campuses and the Penn State World Campus, is adopting a new concept of operations — called Plan-Build-Run (PBR) — that will better position the organization to be customer-centric and focus on the delivery of IT services that support the research, teaching and administrative needs of the University.

PBR, which is used in many top-performing organizations, is a set of standards and practices that will help Penn State IT reach specific goals to improve program and project management, standardize key processes and metrics, and develop financial acumen and agility, according to Matt Decker, interim vice provost for Information Technology at Penn State.

While some work has already started, over the next few weeks and months various changes will take place within the IT enterprise to enact PBR in a way that aligns with Penn State’s mission and strategic goals.

As part of this effort, two new leadership positions have been created and filled on an interim basis — and four more are planned — to ensure future PBR planning and directions are executed with consistency across IT. The new interim positions that have been filled include a chief of staff for the Office of the Vice Provost for IT and a senior director for Enterprise Infrastructure and Operations. Future positions include a senior director of the IT Project Management Office, senior director for business relationship management, chief technology officer and chief data officer. All of these positions will report to the Office of the Vice Provost for IT (in the future to be called the Office of the Vice President for IT and Chief Information Officer). Teaching and Learning with Technology will continue to report directly to the Office of the Vice Provost for IT. 

“As Penn State IT continues to transform to a more customer-centric organization focused on the delivery of IT services, these roles will be integral to shaping the future of how students, faculty and staff members interact with, are supported by and use IT across the entire University,” Decker said. “The resources required to support these organizational changes and new strategic positions will come naturally from better planning and streamlining of operations. This will enable a more efficient alignment of services in Information Technology Services, the University’s centrally funded IT organization, and throughout the broader IT enterprise.”

In addition to the new leadership roles, other current PBR initiatives include the consolidation of IT support services, growth of virtual machine hosting, streamlining of communication and networking services, and opening of the new Tower Road Data Center (in conjunction with other University data center locations).

PBR education and engagement efforts within the IT and broader Penn State communities will take place throughout fall 2016, and the new leadership roles under the Office of the Vice Provost for IT will be filled on an ongoing basis. The search for a vice president for Information Technology and chief information officer is also currently under way.

Last Updated August 10, 2016