IT PLANNING FOR STRATEGIC SUPPORT: ALIGNING TECHNOLOGY AND VISION

Abstract While the appropriate adoption of modern technology creates new opportunities to facilitate life‐long learning, universities have to grapple with how to provide on‐ and off‐campus students with appropriate knowledge and transformative skills in an increasingly competitive environment. As universities revisit their mission and consider ways of dealing with the expectations of both society and students, a major challenge comes from aligning strategic planning and Information Technology (IT) planning. It is essential to have a strategic Information Technology Plan which assists in achieving core academic priorities. The challenge is to maximise the benefits of ongoing investment in IT by focusing on ways which ensure that the educational aims of the University are optimally supported. This paper considers such an approach to strategic IT planning in the context of a large international technological institution and critiques the implications of such an approach in the light of experience and in the ...