Lorraine Cosgrove Ware, CIO Magazine

Executive Summary

In May 2004, CIO magazine surveyed IT executives on their management practices and the importance and value of creating an agile IT department. Honorees of the 2004 CIO 100 award, including CIOs, CTOs and vice presidents in charge of IT, were invited to take the online survey.

For most companies in the study, agility was not only an IT objective, but a company-wide initiative undertaken to better pursue business opportunities. The process of becoming agile is not short-term, requiring between two and four years before companies feel the effects. Agile IT had benefits for the IT department, including greater alignment and reduced waste, but agile IT benefited the overall organization as well by improving customer service, strategic advantage and reduced costs.

Key Findings

Effective Practices
The most effective practices (rated on a scale of 1 to 5 where 5 is most effective) for becoming agile included deployment of companywide standard software base (4.32); establishing central control and accountability of IT costs (4.31); stressing repeatable processes for project management (4.30); developing a flexible software architecture (4.16); having a standardized development platform (4.14); maintaining a fluid balance of payroll employees, contract employees and consultants/outsourcers (4.13); use of flexible, short-term provider contracts (4.10); and maintaining a flat organizational hierarchy (4.11).

Greatest Challenges
The greatest challenges to becoming an agile IT department included high cost/investment in new systems and processes, lack of necessary staff skill sets, disconnect between IT and business units, intractable legacy systems and poor project management skills, in that order.

Top Recognition in Education 

Fairfax County Public Schools
Fairfax, Va.
www.fcps.edu
Student-teacher collaboration portal is used by 90,000 students, including hospitalized students. Moved from spaghetti architecture to a service-oriented architecture through a brokered integration platform and Web services.
Maribeth Luftglass, CIO
Dr. Brad Draeger, Interim Superintendent of Schools
FY03 revenue: $1.7 billion
Employees: 24,523


Golden Gate University
San Francisco
www.ggu.edu
Enabled turnaround effort with a project portfolio and governance structure for 48 academic and operations projects. Reduced routine use of consultants by upgrading IT staff skills through a career development program.
Anthony Hill, CTO
Phillip Friedman, President
FY03 revenue: $55 million
Employees: 1,500


Harvard Business School
Boston
www.hbs.edu
Drew on existing resources to build new Web-based application for faculty research and course planning that launched in three weeks.
Judy Stahl, CIO
Kim Clark, Dean of the Faculty
FY03 revenue: $294 million
Employees: 1,273


Tufts University
Medford, Mass.
www.tufts.edu
Open-source digital repository aggregates content from library systems, enabling rapid development of educational and research applications and garnering $2 million in support. GIS initiatives enhance teaching and research.
Bruce Metz, VP for IT
Lawrence Bacow, President
FY03 revenue: $519.9 million
Employees: 3,887


University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
www.upenn.edu
Web-based "purchase to pay" ordering system marries purchasing responsibility, authority and automatic budget check for 1,800 faculty and staff. PennKey gives secure access for 40,000 to 190 online services.
Robin Beck, VP
Amy Gutmann, University President
FY03 revenue: $3.6 billion
Employees: 12,000


Ventura Unified School District
Ventura, Calif.
www.ventura.k12.ca.us
Gigabit Ethernet connections in all classrooms used for class work and student information. VoIP telephones allow teachers to move classrooms easily but retain phone numbers.
Theodore Malos, Director of Technology
Dr. Trudy Arriaga, Superintendent
FY03 revenue: $150 millionEmployees: 1,800
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