IT Budgets: Connecting Technology and State Policy Decisions

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IT Budgets Connecting Technology and State
Policy Decisions

• Dennis P. Jones
• Presented to the
• SREB Educational Technology Cooperative IT
  Meeting
• Atlanta, Georgia
• February 15, 2005

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Alternative Title The Insatiable Appetite Meets
the Empty Cupboard
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The Needs from the IT Managers Perspective

• Adequacy of Funding for
• Hardware
• Software
• Communications Infrastructure
• Predictability of FundingAvoiding the One-Time
  Money Syndrome
• Life Cycle FundingSufficient Resources to
  Replace Depreciated/Obsolete Assets

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Complicating FactorThe Unit of Analysis Issue
Technology Solutions Are Needed at Multiple
Levels

• All of State Government
• All of Higher Education
• Systems of Institutions
• Individual Institutions/Campuses

Question What Capacities Should Be Developed at
Which Levels?
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Not a Question of Centralized/Decentralized but
Rather of What Should Be Centralized and What
Should Be Decentralized
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Fill in the Blanks
State Higher Campus (Centralized) Education Sys
tems (Decentralized)
Communications Unique Infrastructure Application
s
But Where (in an Ideal World) Do You Put

• Administrative Systems
• Course Management Systems
• Library Systems
• Student Support Services
• Analytic Databases

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The Funding Environment
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The Flow of Funds
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A Further Look at State Revenues
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State and Local Surplus or Shortfall as a Percent
of Baseline Revenues in Year 2010
Source Rockefeller Institute of Government 2002
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Percentage Change in Spending to Maintain Current
Services
Source Rockefeller Institute of Government 2002
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What Do These Observations Suggest?

• No Simple Solutions
• Unlikely that Needs Will Be Met Solely Through
  Increases in Revenue
• Internal Reallocations Will Be Necessary

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The Keys

• Economies of ScaleMany (but not All) of These
  Opportunities Are Already Being Explored
• Elimination of Duplication
• Increases in Productivity
• Academic as Well as Administrative
• More Technology Requires (Proportionally) Less of
  Some Other Factor of Production (Particularly
  Personnel)

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Conditions for Success

• Get the Unit of Analysis Right
• Enterprise Solutions in Some Cases
• OneNet in Oklahoma
• ConnectND in North Dakota
• Campus-Based Solutions in Other Cases

(continued)
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Conditions for Success (cont.)

• Make the Investment Decisions One Level Above
  Users/Implementers
• Forces the Trade-Offs, or
• Curbs the Appetite
• Use Devices that Limit Opportunities to Backslide
• Borrowing
• Revolving Funds

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First Set of Trade-OffsEnterprise Level

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First Set of Trade-OffsCampus Level
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Alternative Is a Dedicated Source of
RevenueFunding Flow Diagram Modified
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