Dr. Curtis A. Carver Jr. emphasizes the need for innovation in the University System of Georgia to address challenges such as IT personnel shortages and the shift to cloud services. The document details the strategic vision for improving IT services, focusing on customer engagement, and successfully implementing significant IT infrastructure changes. Key achievements include a new learning management system and the development of a private cloud offering to enhance the educational ecosystem.

1. Transform Today
to Innovate for Tomorrow
Dr. Curtis A. Carver Jr.
Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer
University System of Georgia
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2. Dinner Conversation Topic
Each table will self select an IT trend,
from the four provided,
discuss passionately while masticating , &
present back to the larger audience
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3. • Shortage of IT personnel in Education
• Clouds and Economies of Scale
• Consumerization of IT
• Data, Big Data, Location-based computing and
Data-Driven Decision-Making
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4. GALILEO GeorgiaBEST GeorgiaFIRST Georgia ONmyLINE GeorgiaVIEW GIL PeachNet USG123

5. Advantages of
Statewide Network
• Economies of Scale
• Proactive Growth
• Campus Agility
• Traffic Prioritization
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6. • Clouds and Economies of Scale
– Market pressures are driving consolidation and
moving IT services to private or public clouds.
– Economy of scale pricing example: the cost of 35
colleges and universities HR contract is much less
than the cost of two R1 institutions (Georgia
Health Sciences University and Georgia Tech)
combined.
– Library consortiums are the same.
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7. Now
HR Fin LMS SIS BI NET LIB
•Shared •GeorgiaFIRST •GeorgiaVIEW •GeorgiaBEST •USG123 •PeachNet •GALILEO & GIL
Services •32/35 at ITS •31/35 at ITS •8/35 at ITS •Being rebuilt •35/35 at ITS •35/35
•32/35 •34/35 soon to be •34/35 Banner •35/35 at ITS •Extensive centralized
centralized PeopleSoft 34/35 •520 GA Mods •Not fully external state • Extensive
•Outsourced to •34/35 BlB/D2L utilized participation external
ADP participation
Public USG Educational Race to the
Cloud Cloud Top
Soon
State Ed Ecosystem
State Educational Cloud
Public Longer
Cloud State Ed Ecosystem
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8. Consumerization of IT
– Bring Your Own Device will change
campus culture, security, and instructional
delivery
– Managed/Unmanaged Applications
– Private/Work Split
– Who Owns the data?
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9. “On the Internet, the First Amendment is
• Data…. a local ordinance,” said Fred H. Cate, a
law professor at Indiana University.
• Big Data…..
• Location-based Big Data…..
• Big Data Driven Decision Making…..
What are folks saying about your
Need decisions now
organization on Facebook?
Requires a report
What are doing about what they
Report requires a collection
are saying?
Collection requires months
Do you even know?
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10. Background
• Central IT organization responsible for state
educational network, virtual library system,
and many centralized IT services for 35 public
colleges and institutions (UGA, Georgia Tech,
Georgia State, Georgia Health Sciences, etc.)
• Budget of $75 million, 200 employees,
two principal offices 60 miles apart.
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11. Starting Point CIO
• Two CIOs ago politically connected CBO
and effective but limited long term CAO
relationships
• Previous CIO transititioned
• Strategic plan from April 1, 2004
• Office of Information and
Instructional Technology (OIIT) or
more commonly known as
Office of the Intervention of Technology
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12. Starting Point
• No IT policy and limited security policy
• System office not a customer
• No pay raises in 5 years and worst economic
downturn in decades
• Serious salary inequities
• Really low morale & very risk averse organization
• Other divisions hidden in my budget
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13. Starting Point
• Audit findings from 2004.
• Shared Services Center started with explicit
instructions that every IT company in the
world, except OIIT, could bid.
• Adversarial relationship with state CIO and
state procurement office.
• All state educational agencies working in silos.
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14. Early Wins
• Visit all your customers
• New strategic plan from customers
• Reorganization
• Realignment and reduction in force
• Administrative Committee on
Information Technology -> CIO
Advisory Council
• Rename organization to focus on
customer service
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15. Vision Statement
To be a nationally recognized leader in providing secure higher-education
information technology infrastructure, learning support, knowledge
management, and services such that if our customers could choose any
educational IT provider, they would choose us.
Mission Statement
Anticipate and respond effectively with innovative, robust, reliable, and
secure technological and decision-support services and applications to the
University System of Georgia and its constituent institutions so as to educate
and inspire students, empower USG educators and administrators, and
advance the state of education in Georgia and the nation.
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16. Early Wins
• Reserved Parking
• Tackle worst internal salary
• ITS Leader Team
inequities
• Address morale • Praise and Progress
• Perception, not fact, matters • Town hall meetings
or death by routine
• Lunch with CIO
maintenance messages.
• Drive functional performance • Dinner with CIO
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17. GALILEO GeorgiaBEST GeorgiaFIRST Georgia ONmyLINE GeorgiaVIEW GIL PeachNet USG123

18. Mid Term Wins
• ITS Reliability: 99.99% Functional
• SharePoint
• Unified Communications
Transformational
• Portfolio Management
• Entrepreneurial Offerings
• Interagency Offerings
• Private Cloud Business Strategist
• Shared Services Center Oversight
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19. Innovation
If you are not failing
occasionally,
you are not
innovating.
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20. Innovation – Three Case Studies
• Learning Management System
• System Office
• Private Cloud
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21. Deploying a New Learning Management System
Opportunity to Innovate?
– Create a business owner
– Change the collaboration model
– Change the financial model
– Change the deployment model
– Change campus control and agility
Chancellor: Use the deployment of the learning
management system as your model of how to do it right.
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22. Innovation at the System Office
Old New
• Windows XP • Windows 7
• Number 1 threat to USG • Chat, SharePoint, VOIP
• Decade old data system • Cognos, ODI, & participation
• Proportional allocation of • Business cases and portfolio
funds management
• Explicitly excluded from SSC • Day-today oversight of SSC
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23. Data System Example
• “This is a crisis”
• No Self Service
• No engagement with senior
leadership
• No campus accountability
• No unity of command
• No written procedures
• No customer engagement
• Library of 1,000 reports
• Hardware decade old
• Migration nightmare
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24. Campus Quotes from New System on Day 1
• "This is a positive move from the past , quickest
implementation that has been done very well. Thanks that
you incorporated all of us into this."
• "These metadata reports are awesome...you should have
done a BIG launch for the ODS with all campuses in it...you
should consider presenting this in RACRA."
• "These errors reports are so modern, so much easier to use
and access. Much better than the current system we use."
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25. Campus Quotes from New System on Day 1
• "I love the SharePoint website, it is very helpful method of
communication."
• "Data submission application is built very well, I am looking forward
to using the error relief option.“
• “You really need to publicly celebrate this – this deserves a moment
in the sun”
• “I almost stood up and clapped when I saw what you have done
with Cognos: this is amazing”
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26. Campus Quotes from New System on Day 1
• “If this is what we are getting then all of this hard
work has been worth it – you listened”
• “This system runs two times faster than the
previous one and is so well organized from a
campus perspective that it changes everything”
• “Thumbs up!”
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27. Private Cloud Innovation
• Interagency Offerings
• Storage as a Service
• Backup as a Service
• Virtual Data Center as a Service
• Project Management as a Service
• Database Administrators as a Service
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28. Innovation Cycle
• Stabilize
• Deliver early results
• Build political cover
• Transform collaboratively but hold firm on
shattering glass ceilings and eliminate bad actors
• Never claim credit but instead create a legacy of
quiet successes
• Start building the foundation for the next round
of innovation
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29. Musings
• Long term relationships and partnerships are key.
• Tenacity, patience and courage are key attributes
of transformative leadership.
• Innovation involves risk. If you cannot accept
failure, you cannot innovate.
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30. Questions, Comments,
A Conversation
Dr. Curtis A. Carver Jr.
Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer
University System of Georgia
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