echnology comprises hardware, software, network infrastructure, cloud platforms, and personnel resources. IT leaders must be prepared to accurately assess each when making technology procurement decisions.
The assessment must integrate both internal and external factors. The internal factors are grounded in the contingencies described in a previous section. Software, for example, has system requirements, and if the existing hardware and operating systems do not meet those requirements, and there are not sufficient funds to upgrade the existing systems, then the software should not be purchased. In this way, the technology leader applies technology knowledge to avoid bad decisions.
External factors include the technology that is available on the market and the decisions that have been made by similar schools. When Chromebooks and iPads arrived on the market, for example, many educational institutions quickly adopted them for a number of reasons, including cost and the fact that other similar organizations adopted them. It was discovered too late that the devices did not meet the needs of the users.
One important internal factor is the capacity of the technology staff to install, configure, train users, and otherwise keep the system functioning. When new devices or systems are obtained, the existing staff must have the time and knowledge to keep them operational. For this reason, the technology leader must ensure their team is appropriately represented when plans are made to apply for grants, initiate curriculum projects, repurpose spaces, or otherwise make technology decisions.
The best technology leaders are the ones who accommodate reasonable requests, so they don’t become “the department of no” by refusing to make the changes or provide the capacity needed by faculty, staff, and students. Consider, for example, the decision to provide Chromebooks for users. There are many situations in which these devices are excellent technology choices. They are relatively inexpensive, quick to startup, and easy to manage from the perspective of the IT staff. They are, however, limited in what can be done on them. If an art department wants, for example, to teach students how to use professional digital arts applications, then they must have devices other than Chromebooks. If the technology leader insists only Chromebooks will be provided, then they are making a curriculum decision they are not qualified to make.
In other cases, the technology leader must lead the “department of no.” If the leaders of a grant writing team decides they want to purchase laptop computers for a program that is being started, but the space for the program has a weak Wi-Fi signal, the technology leader has a responsibility to alert the grant writers and either convince them to abandon the plan or to include in the grant funds to upgrade the wireless network.