EDUCAUSE | ROI

The “Developing Country” Model of Information Technology

ckeller — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:44:39 -0500

The authors discusses the struggle to keep a school's technology up to date and the ability to finance it without breaking the bank.

Exploring Tangible Benefits of e-Learning: Does Investment Yield Interest?

ckeller — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:40:38 -0500

The first decade of the 21st century is already on the wane and we stand at an interesting point as regards the use of technology to support and enhance learning and teaching. The fact that we still refer to much of this enhancement as e-learning (and still disagree about what the term actually means) signals that the relationship between technology and learning is not as yet an entirely comfortable one. e-Learning still carries with it a sense of something 'other' and few institutions can say that a sound understanding of available technologies, their capabilities and current examples of appropriate usage, forms a cornerstone of the curriculum design process.

Within the academic community there remains a sizable proportion of sceptics who question the value of some of the tools and approaches and perhaps an even greater proportion who are unaware of the full range of technological enhancements in current use. Amongst senior managers there is a concern that it is often difficult to quantify the returns achieved on the investment in such technologies.

On the other hand those in the vanguard of technical developments are already signalling the 'Death of the VLE' (Stiles 2007) and heralding a new set of approaches based on a different pedagogic outlook and on the underlying technologies and social and collaborative tools that are collectively labelled the Web 2.0 phenomenon.

Sustainable Computing: It's Not Easy Being Green

ckeller — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:41:01 -0600

"CIO William Hill had an admirable, if unanticipated, return on investment when he overhauled the IT infrastructure for Dayton, Ohio: He helped the environment. Hill's strategy included replacing the old setup -- a disorganized mix of 80 archaic networked terminals and numerous ad hoc PCs of varying ages and operating systems -- with thin clients for 60% of the staff and PCs for the rest, strategically positioned for optimum use. Hill opted for thin clients for technological and cost reasons, but says he saw a corresponding drop in how much energy his organization uses -- a drop that saves the city between $60,000 and $90,000 annually."

Top 12 Green-IT Users: No. 1 Highmark Inc.

ckeller — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 10:16:18 -0600

From cars to condos, "green" is all the rage these days — and IT is no exception. Eco-friendly computing promises the twin win of saving money and the environment. In this groundbreaking awards program, Computerworld honors 12 user companies and another dozen vendors that are leading the way.

Complete Guide to Security and Privacy Metrics: Measuring Regulatory Compliance, Operational Resilience, and ROI - Book Review

ckeller — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 11:36:39 -0500

The reviewer states the "Complete Guide to Security and Privacy Metrics is a good reference book for individuals developing or managing metrics for performance management programs." This book has more than 900 ready-to-use metrics designed to measure the following;

Compliance with current security and privacy regulations and standards
Operational resilience of physical, personnel, IT, and operational controls
Return on investment (ROI) on controls used to manage risk of information and IT assets

Innovation and Investment in IT and Outcomes Assessment

drupal — Wed, 09 May 2007 20:39:39 -0500

The University of Vermont, School of Business Administration (BSAD) is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), such accreditation challenges schools in ongoing IT investments. BSAD IT investments have evolved over two decades and now include a student convertible/laptop requirement and homegrown software applications for outcomes assessment. These initiatives affect continuous quality improvement of the processes required to attract and retain high quality students, faculty, and staff.

The Ivory Tower of Babel

drupal — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 13:23:03 -0500

The author discusses the challenge of keeping technology costs down and meeting the needs of various campus communities.

An Integrated Digital Campus Delivers ROI and VOI

drupal — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 10:53:25 -0600

Integrating our digital campus brought together services, processes, and the campus community while delivering substantial returns and value on our investment.

The Myth about Techies

drupal — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 16:22:26 -0600

The authors discuss the importance of university CIOs and other senior executives having basic IT knowledge to make IT investment decisions.

The Myth about No Significant Difference

drupal — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 15:15:13 -0600

When asking the question, "does technology make a difference"? The authors state the answer depends on how the question is asked.