Serving Your Campus Serving Your Campus Clients Through Clients Through

TechnologyTechnology

Tirrell HowellSystems Manager

Columbia International University

The Gift of TechnologyThe Gift of Technology

Technology allows us to accomplish so

many tasks on a day to day basis. With so many technical options at our disposal, it can be daunting task in selecting the right technology to maximize the success of your clients.

Bridging the gap…Bridging the gap…

Bridging the gap…Bridging the gap…

(students, faculty, staff, & others) (tasks, information, timeliness, safety, etc.)

The right technology bridges the gap and leads to successful clients

Technology should “only” be used to get your clients where they truly need to go…

Gap philosophies …Gap philosophies …

“Build it and they will come”

VS

“Build it after they come”

Technology should be used to get your clients where they truly need to go

Building a successful bridge…Building a successful bridge…

Determine the Gap: Assess who your clients are and their specific needs (communication)

Select the Right Bridge: Choose the right products to address your clients’ needs (tools)

Support the Bridge: Support the relationship between your clients and products to maximize success (support)

Keep in mind…Keep in mind…

What is good for one institution may not be good for another. There is a misconception that if one institution has successfully implemented a type of technology, that technology is quickly and easily deployable by all institutions. Network infrastructures are different and these backbones dictate how easily or difficult technologies can be implemented.

Recent examples: Wireless in Classrooms, Office 2007, Password

Safe, Handbook/Agreement forms, etc.

Let’s explore further…Let’s explore further…

Assessing your clients’ needsChoosing the right technical products for

your clientsSupporting the relationship between your

clients and the technical products they use

Determining the gap…Determining the gap…

Correctly assessing who your clients are and what their specific needs are insures your quest in providing something relevant and useful (of value) to your clients.

Clients are different and therefore bring different needs. False assumptions that all clients are the same will lead you to select products beneficial to some of your clients but useless to others.

IT staff commonly do not listen to what their clients are actually requesting or research all options pertaining to client requests.

Determining the gap…Determining the gap…

Inaccurate assessment of who your clients are and what their specific needs are can lead to the following:

Poorly spent funds on less effective productsUsage of more money in the long run to replace

ineffective systems before their normal life cycleAcquisition of products that you cannot maintain

after implementationStress among all involved (clients and IT staff)Just to name a few…

Proactive ways to assess…Proactive ways to assess…

Surveying your clientsProviding IT Forums for your clientsProviding users groups or special task

forces including clientsScheduling departmental visits

ITIL says…ITIL says…

Selecting the right bridge…Selecting the right bridge…

A good assessment of your clients and their specific needs gives greater success in selecting the “right” technology to meet those needs.

With a plethora of technology options, the more criteria you have to narrow your selection, the better.

Due to other factors such as funding and infrastructure limitations, you may also need to be prepared to select the best alternatives for your clients.

Examples of helpful products…Examples of helpful products…

Online Video ToolsCamtasia, SlideShare, etc.

BlogsBlogger.com, etc.

WikisPBWiki.com, etc.

Classroom TechnologySmartboards, Promethium boards, etc.

Online Application SuitesZoho.com, Google Apps, etc.

Supporting the bridge…Supporting the bridge…

Support includes implementation, maintenance, and training for technology products. In order to successfully support clients and products, you simply have to have all of the ingredients.

A competent staff A compassionate staff Adequate manpower to keep up with

demand

Technologies that help you Technologies that help you serve…serve…

Remote technology◦ Logmein (free), GoToMyPC◦ VPN ◦ Synchronization technologies

Laptop synchronization of email/calendar items off site PDA synchronization of email/calendar items off site

Collaboration sites◦ SharePoint demo demo, Central Desktop demo

Centralized management tools◦ AV centralized management demo

◦ Inventory equipment management SharePoint, Logmein Reach

◦ Ticket tracking SysAid (free) demo, SharePoint, more

◦ System outage notification tools Room Alert, ENVIROMUX-MINI

◦ Mass communication tools VOIP systems Campus alert systems--smseverywhere.com

Technologies that help you Technologies that help you serve…serve…

Equipment standardization◦ Leased equipment

Training tools◦ Online video tutorials

Captivate demo

Atomic Learning (free) demo

◦ Online assessment tests for new hires demo

◦ Knowledgebases or Wikis for your clients

So what did we learn…So what did we learn…

Although technology provides us with

so many options, selecting the right technology and supporting that

technology adequately is essential in maximizing their success of our clients.